With karate, these kids are taking back their power from cancer

It's unusual to hear a chorus of shouts in a pediatric ward. But that’s exactly what is happening in hospitals across South Africa as children learn karate. Kids Kicking Cancer is an organisation supporting children through their treatment by coaching them in martial arts. Sensei Ilze van der Merwe is an instructor based in the Western Cape, where she empowers children with cancer and chronic illness to fight back against disease. 

Cancer treatment can be debilitating, often taking an extreme toll on patients both physically and mentally. “The road to health often requires painful treatments,” Van Der Merwe says. Between operations, chemotherapy, radiation, and medication, it can result in kids losing out on their childhoods. But in the weekly karate classes, they learn the fundamentals of the martial art along with breathing and meditation techniques. “These exercises that we teach the kids can ease the pain through breathing in all the good stuff, the light,” Van Der Merwe says. “The breathing out represents pushing out that pain, fear and frustration.” 

Kids Kicking Cancer focuses on three core values – peace, power, and purpose. Van Der Merwe is enabling kids to deal with the stress of illness and build their resilience. “Martial arts gives children the strength to fight back and feel like victors over their illness instead of victims,” she says. “When children are empowered they feel like they can overcome anything.” Through karate, they’re providing kids with the space and freedom to live beyond their illness.

Footage by Kids Kicking Cancer was used in the creation of this film.