Karate classes were a vital part of Connor Doman’s childhood. Now the 20-year-old black belt is sharing his skills with Agassiz and area youth.
Doman opened Fraser Valley Karate Club in January and now has 20 students in his twice-weekly class at Kent Elementary. While he lives in Chilliwack, Doman said Agassiz was the right place for his club.
“I looked at the Agassiz-Harrison area and I saw that there just weren’t that many activities for kids or even for adults so I figured this would be a really good place to set up a karate school,” he said.
When he was nine, Doman’s mom pushed him to try karate, and he has been in love with martial arts ever since.
“I tried it, I cried two seconds into it and I thought, ‘That’s it! I’m never going to do this again!’ ” he recalled. “But my mom made me get back out there and do it and I just… I love it!”
Doman holds a second degree black belt in Meibukan Goju-ryu and has won gold medals in competitions across North America. At only 20, he’s thrilled to be sharing his passion with local youngsters.
“I love observing progress,” he said. “Watching a kid come in that day and thinking they can’t do this or they can’t do that. Or actually, they can’t do this or they actually can’t do that … and then they leave knowing how to do it! And that’s really cool, getting to see learning right in front of you like that.”
Kids in karate learn more than punches and kicks, Doman says.
“When I was in it, as a kid, I mostly gained confidence …knowing that I could be comfortable with who I was and what I wanted to do,” he said.
“It was a place I felt safe. I had friends all around me that were interested in the same thing I was. I think the biggest thing, though, is [the] mental health [and] personal relationships that kids build up that sometimes they really need.”
Each class starts with warm-ups and stretches before moving into some simple punches and kicks.
“We might do some games in there … later on we usually do more complicated exercises like patterns and even fitness and conditioning,” Doman said. “It changes every day.”
For now, Doman’s classes focus on the six-to-12 age group, but he hopes to keep expanding.
“First I’m going to start adding more classes, then hopefully within a few years I’d like to get my own building and have my own setup. And then down the road maybe a competition team or something like that.”
