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SUNDAY, APRIL 19, 2015 | NORTH HEMPSTEAD-OYSTER BAY

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BY MORGAN LYLESpecial to Newsday

Tom Kershaw andDavid Lombardispent a recentSaturday throwingpunches at eachother and flinging

one another to the ground. Noone inside the brightly lit butchilly room in West Islip triedto stop them, because theywere being schooled in how todo the same thing.

Sally Braman was nearby,giving instructions on how toput a bad guy on his back.That day’s class consisted ofeight students working inpairs, practicing ninpo ninjut-su, a discipline taught forself-defense.

All of the students — andthe instructor roving the room— are blind.

Welcome to Third EyeInsight, a program of martialarts, yoga and meditation forthe blind and visually impairedat the L.I. Ninjutsu Center inWest Islip. Participants gainfitness and self-esteem as wellas knowledge of self-defense,and take part in activities thatinclude skiing, surfing andfishing — even archery.

The program, which willcelebrate its fifth anniversaryin May, is offered at no charge.

“I didn’t want anybody tosay they can’t get healthybecause of finances,” saidprogram founder DevinFernandez, who is also blind.

Weekly classes are held inspace donated by L.I. NinjutsuCenter, and its martial arts,yoga and meditation teachers

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Devin Fernandez, seated,founder of Third Eye Insight,withAllie Alberigo, who ownsthemartial arts school where thegroup holds weekly classes, andSkittles the guide dog.

A martial artsprogram for thevisually impairedbuilds strengthand self-esteem

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Anne Mauroworks on herstance at asession with ThirdEye Insight inWest Islip. Mauro,45, of MountSinai, who hasbeen blind sincebirth, said trainingin the martial artshas helped her. “Ifeel it’s built myself-confidence,”she said.] Video andmore photos atnewsday.com/lilife

Get in touchThird Eye InsightP.O. Box 415West Islip, NY 11795631-445-3464thirdeyeinsight.org

are volunteers. Third EyeInsight spends its annual bud-get of just under $10,000 onaccounting, bookkeeping,insurance and utilities at thedojo, or training facility.

Fernandez, who lives in WestIslip, had been training avidly atL.I. Ninjutsu since 2000. But by2009, he was forced to stopdriving, and his training regimenfell off. Over the coming winter,Fernandez said, he decided toserve others by sharing hismartial arts knowledge. “This, Ican teach,” he said.

‘A warrior never quits’Fernandez, 58, is a Bronx

native and former electrician.In 1987, he was working at aBOCES building in Hempsteadwhen an electrical panel ex-ploded. He spent two weeks in

a drug-induced coma andendured skin grafts on his faceand hands after the accident.He recovered and returned towork, but by the late 1990s hehad begun to develop retinitispigmentosa, a condition that

leads to blindness.Retinitis pigmentosa is

usually inherited, but doctorsconcluded that Fernandez’scase stemmed from his acci-dent. He recalled that one gavehim a grim prognosis, telling

him: “This isn’t going to be abattle, it’s going to be a war,and you’re going to lose.”

As Fernandez began losing hissight, he practiced walking inManhattan with his eyes closed.As his vision continued to fade,Fernandez turned to the stateCommission for the Blind,which provided him training inwalking with a cane, navigatingsubways and railroads and usingcomputer software designed forpeople who cannot see.

“My brother was managingthe changes very well andwasn’t looking for more sup-port, but we would gentlyoffer,” said Fernandez’s sister,Kim Fernandez, a food indus-try consultant in Los Angelesand executive director ofThird Eye Insight. “He was

See COVER STORY on G6

Fernandez, guided by Skittles, walks from his West Islip home to the dojo, or training facility.

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ON THE COVER DevinFernandez, who lost his sightafter a work-related accident,teaches martial arts at the L.I.Ninjutsu Center in West Islip.

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‘ANINJANEVERQUITS’encouraged to remember, as ablack belt: You’re a ninja, anda warrior never quits.”

The siblings came to believethe blind and visually impairedneeded health and fitness facili-ties of their own. While othermartial arts schools teach theblind within classes of sightedpeople, only one in the area —World Seido Karate in Manhat-tan — has a program dedicatedto people who can’t see.

Third Eye Insight waslaunched in May 2010. Braman,45, a private-school kindergar-ten teacher from Baldwin, hasa form of macular degenera-tion called Stargardt’s disease.She has been a student sincethe first class.

“I used to be really active,”she said. “I was diagnosed whenI was 35. I decided I could eitherbe miserable or I could take onchallenges. I never thought thatmartial arts would be my thing,but I’m hooked.”

Lombardi, 37, of West Baby-lon, is a clinical therapist atHands Across Long Island — amental health care service inCentral Islip — who has beenblind since 2004 as a result ofcomplications related to diabe-tes. He agreed that martial artstraining is good for his overallwell-being.

“Part of being a therapist is

that we have to take care ofourselves,” he said.

Despite being able to seelittle more than shadows,Fernandez moved easily aboutthe studio at L.I. Ninjutsu asthe four pairs of studentscoached each other andworked on their movements.

Because all were visuallyimpaired to varying degrees,the more advanced studentscarefully explained each move-ment to their partners.

“The verbal description hasto be exact,” Fernandez said.

The partners extended theirarms and touched fists to estab-lish their distance from eachother. The attacker would callout “hit” as he or she made aslow punching movement. Thedefender would block the blow,then apply a sequence of maneu-vers, sometimes with a punch,and usually ending with theattacker tripped or thrown overthe defender’s shoulder.

Fernandez said he is not

COVER STORY from G4

Anne Mauro, left, and Margaret Shearing face off as Fernandez, right, instructs and Allie Alberigo, owner of the center, looks on.

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Far left, David Lombardi gets a lesson in self-defense from Fernandez. Above,Jessica Garcia, Margaret Shearing and Anne Mauro bow as they finish their class.

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that we have to take care ofourselves,” he said.

Despite being able to seelittle more than shadows,Fernandez moved easily aboutthe studio at L.I. Ninjutsu asthe four pairs of studentscoached each other andworked on their movements.

Because all were visuallyimpaired to varying degrees,the more advanced studentscarefully explained each move-ment to their partners.

“The verbal description hasto be exact,” Fernandez said.

The partners extended theirarms and touched fists to estab-lish their distance from eachother. The attacker would callout “hit” as he or she made aslow punching movement. Thedefender would block the blow,then apply a sequence of maneu-vers, sometimes with a punch,and usually ending with theattacker tripped or thrown overthe defender’s shoulder.

Fernandez said he is not

aware of any Third Eye Insightstudent having to fend off anattacker in real life. He ac-knowledged there is little ablind person could do about apunch they can’t see coming,but said if an attacker were tograb them, their training couldmake all the difference.

Self-confidence boostAs important as self-defense

may be, students cited exer-cise, self-esteem and thechance to socialize as thethings they enjoy most aboutmartial arts training.

“I feel it’s built up my self-confidence,” said Anne Mauro,45, of Mount Sinai, who hasbeen blind since birth.

Kershaw, 58, of Wantagh,injured both eyes in an acci-dent in 1987 and has gonethrough 26 surgical proce-dures. Now retired from ca-reers as an engineer and stock-broker, he said he missedbeing physically active as his

sight decreased.“I used to get up at 5 in the

morning to Rollerblade on theboardwalk at Jones Beach,”Kershaw said. After losing hissight, “I was stuck in thehouse,” he said.

“I do [martial arts] for socialreasons and physical fitness,”he added.

In February, Kershaw madethe TV news when he wentskiing — for the first time — atPico Mountain in Vermont aspart of a Third Eye Insightfield trip with the group Ver-mont Adaptive. That’s notunusual for Third Eye Insightstudents, who regularly takepart in outdoor activities.

“I never surfed when I wassighted, but I surf now,”Fernandez said.

Working last July withCamp Abilities, a four-daysleep-away camp for childrenwith impaired vision at Adel-phi University in Garden City,and the Skudin Surf school in

Long Beach, Third Eye Insightstudents rode the waves onspecially designed boards withtrained teachers.

And then there’s archery,about which even Third EyeInsight staff and students’parents can’t resist joking. “Wehave trouble finding people tohold the apple,” Fernandezsaid with a laugh.

The classes are held in astudio at the dojo. After feelingthe target to gauge its heightand distance, students tookbow and arrow in hand —coached by a sighted instruc-tor for up, down, left or right— and let fly. The instructorlets them know the results.Students even tried theirhands at shuriken, the ninja“throwing stars” familiar tomartial-arts movie fans.

Devin and Kim Fernandez, 54,as well as their sister RoxanneFernandez, a program coordina-tor at Stony Brook Universitywho serves as Third Eye In-

sight’s marketing director,aspire to a facility of their own.

“Right now, our next step isto get our own facility, so wecan offer things besides themartial arts — weight training,strength training, a track peo-ple can come to in the winterwith their dog,” Devin Fernan-dez said. “We’d love to have apool for water aerobics.”

And that’s not all. The Fernan-dez siblings would like to seethe Third Eye Insight modelrepeated around the country.

“Our long-term vision is tohave our own facility and fran-chise the model so the blind andvisually impaired — in Chicago,in Miami, anywhere — can havea fitness center,” Kim Fernandezsaid, comparing the concept tothe women-only Curves orLucille Roberts fitness centers.Regular commercial gyms arenot set up for the blind, sheadded.

“We’ll be the prototype,” herbrother said.

After teaching at the Third Eye Insight program in space donated by L.I. Ninjutsu Center, Fernandez locks up the dojo in West Islip.

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