RICHMOND, Va. — Roger Dabney has been listening to the choreographed mayhem of karate classes for nearly half a century.
He started practicing at 14, but at his Competitive Edge Karate school in the West End, he works with kids as young as six — beginning not with kicks or punches, but with building trust between student and teacher.
“It’s gonna be a little scary, but just a lot of moving around. The scary part for the kids is that they’re always afraid — ‘Are you going to get hurt?’” Dabney said. “So I try to get them to understand that you’re going to see these things going on in class, but I’m going to build you up until your confidence is there.”
Dabney has seen firsthand how karate can transform a young person’s life…