Terry Cunningham: The Karate Teacher

Terry Cunningham is very well known around the school for being a charismatic history teacher. In addition to being a history teacher, Cunningham is actually a black belt in Karate and Kung Fu. Cunningham has been practicing both forms since he was a teenager. Mr. Cunningham says that he started ¨when I was in high school. Probably when I was sixteen or seventeen¨. Cunningham recalls shortly after earning his black belt when he was twenty two to twenty three years old, he was drafted into the military. ¨I had to take a break to go into the army,¨ he says. After returning from the army, Cunningham went back to Karate and Kung Fu. Since then, Cunningham has participated in hundreds of tournaments, winning ¨six-hundred and fifteen trophies, awards, and medals¨ he says, and he is still going strong at the tournaments. Over the years Cunningham has put his skill to good use. He says he has been a bodyguard, and even a bouncer at one point during his college years.

Landon Bruce, a senior at Carter, remembers fondly having Cunningham as a teacher. ¨I had Terry Cunningham first semester sophomore year for contemporary issues. It was a pleasure listening to him and I am excited to have him for American at war next semester,” he says. In the past years the school always had up to thirty minutes of activity time and Cunningham made sure to use that time to teach students Karate. Landon Bruce was one of the many students that participated in his lessons. ¨His karate lessons are good but i’m more skilled than him and he knows it too,” he states.  It is unlikely Landon would be able to beat Cunningham’s years of experience, but it’s always go he’s passing his experience down.