Kung fu capability

LAWRENCE, Kan. -- Most people around Lawrence know Steve Carrier as the nice, mild-mannered guy in the wheelchair who works at Borders Books and as a social services liaison at Trinity Respite Care.

And, at first glance, that's who he appears to be: a guy in a wheelchair.

But look closer.

Carrier, 34, has forearms like fire hydrants and a chest that's a bit like a beer keg. He's got big shoulders and meaty hands with a vise-like grip. Those who think Carrier must be a pushover because he's disabled are sorely mistaken.

In fact, he's downright lethal -- when he wants to be. Carrier has practiced a martial art called white dragon kung fu -- an open-handed form of Chinese self-defense -- for the past 10 years, and he's been teaching it to others for six years.

That's despite being born with a disability and needing to use a wheelchair and lower-leg braces to get around.

And, disabled or not, he can take care of himself.

That's something Dave Carrier, 51, Steve's uncle in Colorado Springs, Colo., can tell you from experience. Also a martial arts enthusiast, Dave practices Okinawan karate, called shorin-ryu. When the two men get together, they like to test their skills against each other.

"I know that we sparred one Thanksgiving about three years ago, and I don't give him any mercy," the older man recalled. "I placed a crescent kick on the side of Steve's head, and it knocked him out of his chair. Twice. The third time, he broke my foot. So he learns quick."

People are often surprised to learn that Carrier is able to practice martial arts.

"I get a lot of that: 'Really?'" Carrier said. "A lot of people have misconceptions of martial arts and of disability. When you put both of those misconceptions together, they can't comprehend it," he said.

Carrier has a congenital condition called arthrogryposis. During fetal development, the bone and joint structure of his legs did not develop. He has muscle and movement, but he needs braces to hold his joints in place when he tries to support his body weight.

When he decided to take up kung fu, the 1993 Kansas University graduate was at a low point in his life. Carrier was on disability, staying in Ottawa at the time, where his parents live.

When he first met Master Larry Collins, "my instructor and mentor, physically and health-wise I was a complete mess. I had endless health problems. I felt horrible both outside and inside; that's the best way to put it," he said. "I had a defeatist attitude. At that point I said, 'I've gotta do something; I'm ruining my life."'

That's when Carrier discovered Collins' kung fu school, or dojo, in Ottawa. Wanting to learn self-defense and get in shape, he began taking instruction there. Soon, with encouragement from Collins, he was going to classes every night.

"This was something different, and I liked it," Carrier said.

Practicing kung fu, adapted by Collins to his student's physical capabilities, turned things around for Carrier.

"What drives me to do this is the way of thinking I adopted that came out of the discipline. That's why I call it a lifestyle: It's your entire approach to everything in life," Carrier said.

Through the course of the past 10 years, Carrier has lost more than 100 pounds. He's gone from a 42-inch waist size down to a 30. And he's earned a second-degree black belt in white dragon kung fu.

The main obstacle Carrier had to overcome to learn kung fu wasn't physical -- it was mental.

"You have to understand that because someone has a physical handicap, it usually gives them a mental handicap," said Collins, who has a fifth-degree black belt in the white dragon kung fu system. 'You start showing them that yes, they can take advantage of momentums that the wheelchair and their opponents will offer them."

Carrier has been able to do that.

"Steve's in a wheelchair; I cannot deny that. But he is not handicapped mentally because of it. The wheelchair is actually a weapon for him now. He has been taught to use it to his advantage," said Collins, 56.