St. Tammany News

Dupaquier; competitor and instructor who cares

Mandeville resident and 1980 Mandeville High School graduate Joe Dupaquier is a seventh degree black belt.

Joe Dupaquier, a Mandeville High School graduate in 1980, is pictured doing a sidekick, during a sparring competition held in Peoria, Ill., back in June (Staff Photo by Chris Kinkaid)

He has numerous accomplishments in karate and teaches the sport he got involved in as an 18-year-old college student at Louisiana Tech University.

He competes about once a month and preaches commitment to his students.

Dupaquier's accomplishments include 22 individual world titles, 12 national and 11 national point wins. He is also a certified United States Karate Instructor.

Unlike other sports, in karate, the adult black-belt division winners battle each other for the grand championship. Someone like Dupaquier, who weighs 140 pounds, may end up fighting against a 240-pound competitor.

That scenario came up while he was competing in Indianapolis over the Labor Day weekend, fighting the Professional Karate Commission International Tournament. He won his weight division and the grand championship. In the second match of the finals, he defeated Tom Awad, a 250-pounder from Cincinnati, Ohio. In the final match he fought against Matt Grenoble, a 180-pounder. He won both.

The reason there is an adult black belt is because someone under 16 can become a black belt, but it is referred to as a junior black belt. When that person turns 16, they can become an adult black belt after passing a test.

Dupaquier, who moved to Mandeville from New Orleans in 1976, said he likes the format for the competition and other reasons.

"From the self-defense standpoint, I can appreciate it. The weight classes are a little more generalized, but if I win, I have to fight the heavyweight. He may be more than 200 pounds. I can't just brawl with the guy because I'm going to lose that. I have to move around and do what karate teaches you to do for the small guy to beat the big guy," Dupaquier said.

In April, Dupaquier was looking for a new way to get motivated from the competitive standpoint, so he started working out with Chad Englehart, an assistant in Pelican Athletic Club trainer Kurt Hester's speed and strength program. He worked on improving his explosiveness.

He works out for an hour and a half, three times per week.

He felt so good about the workouts, he went to New Orleans for the world championships at the Riverside Hilton Hotel and won the black-belt kata division.

Kata is a Japanese word describing a choreographed pattern of movement. The competitor must be able to demonstrate what moves to use in different situations.

He also placed second in sparring.

Dupaquier said it was nice to see the fruits of his labor come out in the competition.

"It felt good because it had been a few years since I had competed in the world championships. It was fun to see I could still push myself like that at age 44," he said.

Dupaquier also has a strong passion for teaching. He graduated from Louisiana Tech in 1984 with an architecture degree and got started in teaching while working in his major.

He went to his college instructor Dr. Dave Jordan because he wanted to stick with karate and compete more.

Jordan suggested becoming an instructor, so Dupaquier started teaching basic karate classes in the MHS gym.

He said a week or two after the "Karate Kid" movie came out, he opened up his own place. In 1989, Dupaquier put his architectural skills to work and built the Mandeville Karate Training center.

Wanting to expand it, in 2004 he added a new room with punching bags, dummies and mirrors, along with a small set of bleachers for spectators. He also put in an upstairs portion overlooking the floor, which allows him and his instructors to get a better look during belt tests.

Dupaquier said he feels confident in his ability to help someone who is willing to dedicate themselves, get better.

"I feel real comfortable with my ability that if they are willing to make the commitment, I can at least push them to that level or attain it," Dupaquier said. "What's really cool is to take a guy like Travis Bush, who had no aspiration to be a black belt, is now 26 and doing this for a living."

Bush, who got made junior black belt in 1995 and is a 2000 Mandeville High School graduate, started working with Dupaquier as a 6-year-old. He is a third-degree black belt.

He said he was not really an outgoing person, but Dupaquier brought out his personality.

"Joe's been like a father figure to me," Bush said. "When I started I was shy and withdrawn, which was an obstacle to get passed. If it hadn't been for him I wouldn't be able to speak on the phone."

Despite his accomplishments, Dupaquier cares about his students. He wants them to do well in life, school and karate. Each person he teaches must have chores while at home and keep their grades up. As they continue to do well, Dupaquier gives them a stripe, which is placed on their belt. This allows him to see who has been working hard outside of the sport.

Dupaquier's family is full of karate students. He has been married to his wife, Monique, for 19 years.

She is a third-degree black belt. The two of them have three daughters, Samantha 17, Brittany, 17, and Kristin, 14.

All three are karate students. Samantha, who turns 18 soon, is a brown belt and a senior at Fontainebleau High.

She competes on the tennis team. Brittany, who is a junior at FHS and competes on the volleyball team, is a purple belt. Kristin, who is a junior black belt, began training at age 4.

She goes to L.P. Monteleone Junior High School and plays on the softball team.