For 35 years, Aranui's Mary Patu has been helping youngsters build self-confidence by teaching them self-defence.
The Okinawa-Te Karate Aranui club has now grown to about 80 students.
Mary charges them just $2 a class, a fee that hasn’t changed since the sensei started teaching.
She said there is a more important reason behind her work than money.
"The whole angle is to get the kids off the street and doing something."
"We’ve done everything in here, like mirrors, matting and that, we’ve (paid for) it with barbecues and different things."
Mary started taking part in Okinawa te Karate classes when she was 48 after getting bored watching her sons at their weekly lessons.
"I didn’t have any training whatsoever, and the first thing I ever did was do karate.
"That nearly killed me when I was first doing it."
It was there that Shihan, the club’s master instructor, encouraged her to start her own karate dojo at home.
She said karate teaches self-discipline.
"It improves their schoolwork, it improves everything.
"It builds up that confidence. You see some kids come in here and they’re shy and don’t know what to do. And then after a while, you just see it slowly developing.
"And that’s the best part of being a teacher - watching them grow."
Mary said the students are part of her family. It isn’t uncommon for former students to return with their kids who are also eager to learn the martial art.
And despite her age, she aims to continue running the community karate classes for as long as she is able or "until I kick the bucket".
- By Geoff Sloan, made with the support of NZ On Air
