Ariely Santana, 10, is Siler City’s newest black belt

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SILER CITY — The Iron Hand Hapkido School has another black belt in its ranks.

Ariely Santana, 10, officially received her junior black belt in May after passing her exam earlier in the spring. The honor was jointly presented by Larry Mabe, the head instructor and operator of the school, and Edna Santana, Ariely’s cousin who earned her own black belt in January.

Santana, who lives in Siler City, started working with Mabe when she was 7 years old. Over the next three years, she spent most of her Tuesday and Thursday nights at the Iron Hand Hapkido School, located at 223 E. Raleigh St., training for three hours a week.

“To keep a kid in karate for three years, it’s tough,” Mabe said.

But that wasn’t a problem at all with Santana, whom he described as “dedicated to the art of Hapkido” with a “good attitude” and a natural ability to work well with other students.

At her black belt exam on March 10, Santana had to properly execute about 50 techniques, among them takedowns, rolls, stick defense and knife defense.

The only reason her black belt ceremony was delayed over two months from then? The coronavirus pandemic, which also forced Mabe, 67, to temporarily close the school he opened in 2013. When Santana finally got the honor, Mabe said she was plenty excited.

“It was really a big thing for her,” he said.

In a release provided by Mabe, who has a 2nd degree black belt in Hapkido and 5th degree black belt in Taekwondo, Santana said the black belt “symbolizes a great achievement” and thanked Mabe and her mother, who brought her to and from classes.

“After three years of training, all the hard work has paid off,” she said in the release.

Santana was the 12th black belt Mabe has instructed in his 36 years of martial arts training. The “junior” title on Santana’s black belt, he said, is only because of her age, and doesn’t indicate anything lesser than the standard honor.

“Once you’re a blackbelt,” he said, “you’re always a blackbelt.”

Reporter Chapel Fowler can be reached at cfowler@chathamnr.com or on Twitter at @chapelfowler.