Emory & Henry Sensei Finds Martial Arts Success At 50

At 50 years of age, local Abingdon, Virginia, resident Dane S. Harden has met with unprecedented success after exploding back onto the National Karate Circuit following a more than 25 year respite from active competition.  Within the past two months, Harden—a 40 year practitioner of the martial arts—has captured both the Maryland and Pennsylvania state championships in the forms and self-defense competitions of the adult male Black Belt divisions.  In both state championship competitions, Harden bested the cream of the crop amongst nationally-rated regional competitors, some of whom were nearly 30 years his junior.

“It was simply an amazing display of raw talent and power,” said one of the state tournament organizers, 8th Degree Black Belt and Karate Master, Garry Holman.  “It’s one thing to see a young man in the best shape of his life come out and execute a dynamic performance, but seeing such strength and intensity and perfect form in a man of Dane’s age is nothing short of extraordinary.”

Harden began his nearly life-long affiliation with the martial arts when he began taking Aikido lessons at age 10 in his hometown of Frostburg, Maryland.  “The minute I set foot on the mat, I was hooked,” he explained. “I was fascinated by the fluid motions of the instructor as he effortlessly tossed off the attacks of his students, and I knew I’d found the sport that I loved.” 

Harden went on to earn black belts in not only Aikido and Ishin-Ryu Karate, a Japanese style of the traditional martial art, but Tae Kwon Do, studying with the man credited with bringing the Korean style martial art to the United States, famed Grandmaster Jhoon Rhee.  It was in Tae Kwon Do that Harden went on to leave his most enduring legacy, rising to the top of the National Karate Circuit ratings at the zenith of American sport Karate in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s.

Peter Marghella, now a retired Navy Commander, recalls being amazed at Dane’s skill back then, saying that no one could match the speed and technique Dane exhibited.  He recalled an example of Harden’s kicking ability by relaying a story about borrowing the Jug’s Gun from the Frostburg State University baseball coach and using it to clock the speed of one of Dane’s kicks.  He recalled clocking a roundhouse kick from the floor to its apex at 90 miles an hour. 

Harden built a successful Tae Kwon Do program in Western Maryland, then retired from active competition and teaching in 1987 to pursue his academic and professional interests in the field of medicine.  He graduated from the prestigious Physician’s Assistant Program at Johns Hopkins University. 

For most people, achieving such significant success in two challenging fields would be enough.  Harden went on to accept a commission in the Army National Guard shortly after his graduation from college, and has risen to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel as a Senior Flight Surgeon.  With multiple deployments to such locations as Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Louisiana to provide aerial rescue missions for victims of Hurricane KATRINA, Harden has become one of the most highly decorated Combat Flight Surgeons in either the active or reserve component of the U.S. Army.  His military awards, accolades, and honors are numerous.

All the while, Harden has stayed close to his roots as a Martial Artist.  “I never stopped training,” he explained.  “In the twenty years since I last competed or actively taught a class, I never stopped working on bettering my technique and honing the skills that I had learned.  They’ve just become such an integral part of my life.” 
Harden explains that he has learned to blend his martial arts training and experience into nearly everything that he does, including the most challenging of his ongoing experiences.  “Whether it’s remaining calm and focused in the emergency room when managing a critically ill patient, or learning to slow my breathing and remain on ‘mission point’ during a combat search and rescue, I credit everything I’m able to do and do well to what I have learned as a Martial Artist,” said Harden.  “It’s taught me to be disciplined and fully confident that I’m capable of achieving anything I set my mind to.  It’s been so much more than just having learned how to throw an effective kick or punch.  Maybe it’s at 50 that I’m just starting to realize what this is all about.”

In addition to the recent competitive achievements, Harden was recently named into the Karate World Hall of Fame, a significant career honor for any Martial Artist and one of which he is particularly proud.  “I’m really grateful for this selection and I’m absolutely humbled to be considered among some of the giants of the Martial Art’s world,” said Harden.  “I’ve been absolutely blessed to have achieved so much so far in this lifetime, and I can only hope that I can continue to give back to the friends, colleagues and loved ones that have supported me along the way.”

Mr. Harden is married to Dr. Sherry Harden and together they have one son Joshua, who at age 7 is already showing promise as a budding Martial Artist under the watchful eye of his dad.  Asked for a comment about her husband’s recent successes, Dr. Harden replied in what we’re told is her usual understated way: “Yeah, we’re pretty darn proud of the Big Guy.”  Proud, indeed.