DATE: Sunday, August 10, 1997               TAG: 9708080306

SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN             PAGE: 14   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY JAMES C. BLACK, SUN SPORTS EDITOR 

DATELINE: CARROLLTON                        LENGTH:   50 lines

FOX COMPETING IN PAN AM GAMES

IN THE APPROPRIATE situations, Brigitte Fox's voice drops a few octaves.

``Is that how you punch fast?'' Fox, demonstrating a weak forward jab, asks one of her karate pupils.

Usually, she speaks in a more rigid tone. She uses the same firmness in getting points across to her pupils that she uses to score points against her opponents.

She scores them so well that Fox, an instructor for the Isle of Wight County Public Parks and Recreation, has earned a trip to Mexico City to participate in this weekend's Pan-American Games.

The 28-year-old Fox is one of only five Americans competing in karate at the Pan-Am Games. She placed fourth in the national competition in Los Angeles.

Fox, a native of Germany and Yorktown resident, got into Tae Kwon Do 10 years ago. She earned a first-degree black belt in 1988 and then found herself competing nationally in 1993.

In 1993 and '94, she placed fourth in the East Coast Regionals. In 1995, she won the kumite competition and helped her kata team to a third place finish at the Goodwill Tournament. This year, Fox finally won the kumite competition at the regional championships. This weekend was her first time competing out of the country.

So what's been the biggest challenge to her reaching this level?

``To keep going,'' she said. ``At the beginning, you learn something every day. At the beginning, the progression is much slower.''

And as an instructor, she has definitely had to show patience with her 5-to-12-year-old pupils.

Fox finds herself, session after session, spending time with pupils who simply don't seem to get it. Until, however, that magical day when she least expects results.

``It's like `Oh, they remembered,' '' she said.

Patience has been a requirement for another activity she's involved in away from the karate mat - building her own house.

Fox and a friend are building a log cabin on property they purchased three years ago. The house has a roof but is far from finished.

``We have to do the plumbing, electricity and the walls,'' she said.

Until the house is completed, Fox will just have to concentrate on constructing an even more solid resume in karate. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MICHAEL KESTNER

Karate instructor Brigitte Fox leads her class through some warmup

exercises in Nike Park in Isle of Wight County prior to leaving for

Mexico City, where she's participating in the Pan Am Games.

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