Sunday, Jun. 22, 2008

Ceres boy, 5, rises in martial-arts world, with a Power Ranger watching his back

Vincent Garcia was 4 months old when he began displaying the signs of an athletic prodigy.

Lying on his back, the infant would watch his hand while he intently used his thumb to systematically touch the tips of his other four fingers, back and forth, similar to a sobriety test.

He amused himself like this for long stretches of time. His behavior was so odd that his mom, Lisa, felt compelled to take pictures of it.

At 18 months, he could hold a bat and hit balls pitched to him from 10 feet away. And he would rarely miss. At 2, he could throw plastic balls across a room and strike almost any target he wanted. On the Ceres family's trips to Disneyland, people gathered in amazement to watch the toddler who had managed to master carnival games. He won prizes nearly every time.

"Everyone was like, 'Oh, my God, this is crazy for such a little guy,' " said Ruben Garcia, the boy's father. "He just kept showing all these incredible abilities. But the big thing was that he would do this stuff all day long, just walking around

doing these amazing things. It was very excessive."

By the time Vincent was 3, Lisa and Ruben knew it was time to get their oldest of three children involved in something. They explored their options but discovered Vincent still was too young for sports such as T-ball and soccer. Then fate intervened.

One day, standing in a restaurant while waiting for a table, Lisa noticed a woman wearing a shirt from the Edwards Black Belt Academy in Ceres. The woman turned out to be the academy's co-owner, Denise Edwards. The two struck up a conversation that ended with an invitation for Vincent to give the karate school a try.

"From the moment he stepped in here, he showed an absolute interest," Lisa said. "And his trainers here immediately immersed him in the karate culture. Two months later, he was able to go out and perform routines that he had memorized. He wasn't even 4 years old yet."

That sparked an 18-month period loaded with tournament competitions and public demonstrations. The past four months in particular have been a whirlwind since Vincent caught the eye of martial-arts guru Michael Chaturantabut, aka Mike Chat, aka Chad Lee, or the Blue Ranger from the 1998 movie "Power Rangers: Lightspeed Rescue." Chat, a member of the World Martial Arts Hall of Fame and the founder of the Xtreme Martial Arts program, said he instantly became impressed when he watched Vincent perform in February at a national tournament in Las Vegas.

"Vincent could do any sport and excel at it, but he's found his passion in martial arts," Chat said. "He already understands the martial-arts philosophy, which is something some people who try this never grasp. When kids that young find something they love and have parents who can support them in that, it's huge.

"There are people in their 30s and 40s who still have not found their passion in life. We've got kids in college who are still waiting for something to fall out of the sky and hit them on the head. Vincent is very special to have found this at such a young age."

Chat -- whom some liken to the Tony Hawk of martial arts -- since has taken Vincent under his wing, offering to train the boy at Chat's headquarters in Hollywood. And that's no small development. Chat, who has worked in numerous films and routinely trains big-name stars for upcoming roles, is well connected in the movie industry.

His studio is frequented daily by actors and their agents, a phenomenon not lost on the Garcias. The endeavor that began as an attempt to help their son do something with his abilities now has the Garcia family thinking bigger thoughts.

In July, the Garcias are moving to Hollywood to enable their son to train regularly with Chat, as well as dive into the possibility of a promising showbiz career. Predictably, the TV and film industries are short on 5-year-olds who can handle a sword. "It's still strange to us to be uprooting our family for our 5-year old," said Ruben, who owns a production company called Rubymoon Studios, essentially allowing him to work from anywhere. "Had he not had these opportunities, we wouldn't be moving. He hasn't even started kindergarten yet, and he's doing demos in front of thousands of people. It's all pretty crazy."

The possibilities are not lost on Vincent. When you ask him what he wants to do with himself, his answer never changes.

"I want to be on TV," he said. "Just like SpongeBob."

To learn more about Vincent Garcia or to watch a video of him performing in competition, go to www.vincentgarcia5.com.

Bee staff writer Ty Phillips can be reached at tphillips@modbee.com or 874-5716.