Jim Wild of Amherst recently earned a fourth-degree black belt at the age of 71. He is a student at Western New York Karate Center, 4209 Transit Road in the Transitown Plaza, Clarence. Photo by Scott SchildPurchase color photos at www.BeeNews.com For nearly 19 years, 71-year-old Jim Wild has been training at Western New York Karate Center under the leadership of Jim Cvetkovski, the business’s founder and master instructor.

“I am as old as and was born a couple months apart from Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris,” Wild said.

A resident of Amherst, Wild earned his fourth-degree black belt on Nov. 12. He said he is proud of the accomplishment and is extremely thankful for all that karate and Cvetkovski have taught him.

“It’s a way of life for me,” he said. “There’s even a lot more to learn. I just want to keep truckin’.”

Wild trains three times per week at the center, 4209 Transit Road in the Transitown Plaza in Clarence. A native of Lancaster, he graduated from Lancaster High School in 1958 and served in the Army for three years, stationed in Europe.

Cvetkovski said he can recall one of the first conversations he had with Wild about maintaining a healthy balance in his life.

“I saw him smoking, and I told him it was either cigarettes or karate, not both,” Cvetkovski said. “It’s almost impossible to smoke and do karate as well. The health habits that people develop here can last a lifetime.”

For Wild, Cvetkovski’s ultimatum worked. He quit smoking cigarettes and focused on being healthy as a benefit to learning karate.

“I recently had a stress test done, and the nurses said [my stress level] wasn’t good,” Wild said. “They said it was excellent.”

Wild said that although karate has helped him become healthier, he underwent quadruple heart bypass surgery in 2000.

“I am so thankful for my doctors and nurses at Millard Fillmore Gates Circle Hospital,” he said.

In the past 12 years, Cvetkovski said, Wild has been an inspiration to many of the students at Western New York Karate.

“I know I am here for a reason,” Wild said. “Whether or not it’s to inspire people, I don’t know. I just really enjoy karate and being around other people.”

He said the key to staying healthy physically and mentally is exercising. Wild said he has remained dedicated to karate and rarely misses a class, regardless of the weather.

Wild said he wants people to know that karate provides a great outlook on life as well.

He said he intends to keep training and perhaps work toward a fifth-degree black belt, which is the master’s degree.

“I personally don’t know how to do anything else but keep going,” he said.

For more information about Western New York Karate or its two-week trial program, which offers unlimited classes for two weeks and includes a uniform, visit www.wnykaratecenter.com.

Further information is available by calling 631-5065.