Clapp became the national runner-up in the Black Belt Women's Forms division in both 1978 and 1979 and went on to be inducted into the World Martial Arts Hall of Fame as Woman of the Year in 1991. But, the emphasis on fitness in the '80s and an evolution in the way karate is taught has changed all that. Nearly one-third of the approximately 3.5 million martial arts students in the U.S. are female, up from 9 percent just 10 years ago, according to the International Martial Arts Association. The sport's popularity with children increases yearly. Today, many people recognize that practicing the martial arts helps participants to develop concentration, self-discipline and a sense of serenity.
Physicians recommend martial arts training as therapy for children with attention deficit disorder.
Clapp's enlightened approach to teaching martial arts has helped to transform the sport. As recently as the early '80s, most martial arts schools had no separate program for children. Even when schools did separate classes by age, they continued to teach the same curriculum to all students. Teachers simply introduced the concepts in smaller chunks. By 1985, Clapp had also created a curriculum for children as young as 3.