Millions of Americans are born with or develop life-long disabilities that adversely affect their lives in one form or another. But, how a person with such a setback deals with it throughout life can make all the difference to themselves and those around them.

One such local resident, Jacob “Jake” Peercy, was born with a defect many suffer from, that being Cerebral Palsy, or CP. However, through an unwavering faith and will, he has not let that handicap stop him from living–and working–life to its fullest.

In fact, despite the crippling disease, Jake is not only living a normal life, but through hard work and support, earned his Black Belt in karate.

Peercy is a native of Somerset and lived part of his life in Somerset and Monticello prior to coming to Albany and quickly noted during a recent interview with the NEWS that he was “raised in church,” and “always tried to see the brighter side of things.”

Peercy’s parents were divorced when he was younger and he currently lives with his mother and stepfather in the Concord area in Clinton County and visits his father in Monticello on weekends. He also attended school in Clinton County.

He did admit that in his early life, he saw the handicap as a curse, but as he grew older, began to see the brighter side.

“I didn’t have a lot of friends in high school,” said Peercy, but noted there was one he had that would be there for him “in a heartbeat,” and his strong belief in God made him feel like that was a blessing.

Peercy explained that Cerebral Palsy is a disease that affects the muscles in a person’s body, and sometimes the brain, but it affected only his legs and he’s had to get botox treatments to prevent muscle loss.

He was diagnosed when his right knee just “went out at an angle” at one point early in life. He added that it appears he has one leg shorter than the other, but it is actually just “curved out” due to his leg’s condition.

When the knee went back at the wrong angle, his parents took him to the doctor and that is when he was diagnosed.

Peercy said he had a combination of feelings when the realization of the diagnosis sank it, but again, he referred to his faith.

He noted he had been brought up in Sunday School and said in the Bible, all things are possible.

He referred to some of his favorite people and parables in the Bible, including Samson, the story of David and Goliath and the parable of the five men who each received talents, five down to one, with only the one using his talent proving to be trustworthy.

Peercy said the moral of the latter parable was the one talent that was used grew, while the others hidden were wasted.

Peercy has been working at McDonald’s in Albany for the past three years, first hired as a janitor, but says now he does a little of everything needed after learning and picking up on the business.

When asked how he became interested in martial arts, Peercy said he used to be bullied in school, mainly due to his stature, but had learned in church that violence was not a first response.

He said he watched a lot of shows that featured characters like Power Rangers, saying they were all strong, but did not fight unless they had to, which is something he likens to martial arts.

Peercy then began practicing and taking lessons from martial arts experts and instructors Ricky Pickens and, later ,his brother Tim. When the latter stopped teaching locally, Ricky Marcum took his place and is the instructor who bestowed the Black Belt degree to Peercy on June 2 of this year.

Peercy had taken lessons from Ricky Pickens in 2016 and 2017, and about eight months more under Tim, prior to Marcum assuming the instruction role.

Marcum said he was thankful for the new building Flip N Fly on Copeland Drive, which they are allowed to take martial arts classes in. Classes are taught three days a week for youngsters and adults, male and female, and are age group specific “adhered around the skill level.”

“We’re fortunate to have this facility,” he said.

Marcum said the class offers a full spectrum of martial arts training, realistic to self defense in such areas as armed mugging and active shooting.

“We teach the students to lean into pain,” the instructor said, “to press forward and overcome adversity. Our goal, through defense training, is to better ourselves and better our community,” Marcum said.

Martial Arts degrees include several colors, leading up to the Black Belt honor. They include yellow, orange, blue, green, purple, brown, and red. Each is measured on how a student performs at each degree on the ladder.

“We start off small and do better on each test,” said Marcum, noting that only two students had earned the Black Belt honors and both had been practicing for five years. “Everyone earns everything here,” he said.

Peercy’s test took two and a-half hours, and included, among others, kick boxing, grappling and self defense in weapons.

The training, exercising, practice and all that goes into learning martial arts skills can be hard and grueling at times, but most students, including Peercy, are proud to be a part of it.

“All (of it) is fun when you don’t think about it, but I know I’ve earned it,” Peercy said.

Several students take martial arts classes and “it turns into a family really quick,” said Marcum.

The instructor said he tries to give them something, some confidence or skill.

“Being a good person is an individual who will only do violence for the right reason. Help your fellow man protect those who need protecting,” he said.

How did Peercy feel when he actually received the Black Belt?

“A little strange,” he said. “It’s something I worked for for so long. It took time to sink in. I done something that many said I couldn’t do due to Cerebral Palsy.” He added, “I didn’t do it for them, I did it for me.”

Peercy had some advice for others who may have a handicap they feel is holding them back–or just people without a handicap fearful to take a chance–number one, he said, trust in God and your family and find your passion, whether it be a sport, dancing, music, or whatever you want to do to motivate yourself to do better.

“It’s tough,” he said. “You need trust and support from people.”

Marcum said he sometimes refers to Peercy as “the professor” because he likes to read, and said earning the Black Belt was hard enough in and of itself. You have to come in and sweat, bleed, and laugh. “If you can’t be proud of a person like that, there’s probably something wrong with you,” he added.

Marcum, noting the inspiration Peercy was to everyone, said he had also been blessed. He said he had been a police officer for 21 years, received some of the best training from across the country and wanted to bring that back home and pass it on.

Even though Peercy has obtained what would be only a dream of someone with his condition, a local Black Belt in the martial arts, his dreams don’t end there. He said he wants to continue training and one day wants to become a World Champion.

“Glory to God,” Peercy said. “With Him all things are possible.” He said he didn’t have anyone in his family growing up do something like this.

“You can show people, with hard work, you can change anything,” Peercy concluded.