'We were intrigued and wanted to do it too'

Before there was a dojo, there was a living room. Like a lot of kids, Kimya and Nika Najafi liked watching their dad. “It was really cool seeing him practise at home,” Kimya told the Langley Advance Times in 2016. “We were intrigued and wanted to do it too.”

Their father, Ali Najafi, had been a member of Iran's national karate team before he moved to Canada and settled in Langley with his wife, Kamelia. When the girls were seven and six, they convinced him to train them, and then, the paper reported, they “hounded their father to open his own dojo.”

He did, and he named it after them. KimNik is “a combination of the two girls' names.”

Three families and about 10 students

The dojo began with three families and about 10 students, and by 2016 it had about 140. Accounts of the exact opening year differ (one paper's math points to 2008, another's to 2010), so that's one of the first things we'll ask Ali. His YouTube channel also has a short interview with him about how the dojo was born, which is worth a watch before your first class.

His credentials are serious. In 2018 the Aldergrove Star reported that he holds a 7th dan black belt from the Japan Shotokan Karate Association and a 7th degree black belt from Karate Canada. Kamelia, a second-degree black belt in 2016, is listed with him on the dojo's site as owner and sensei.

A family dojo, literally

“KimNik Karate all started with a family's passion for the same practice, Karate,” the dojo's website says. Both daughters became first-degree black belts and competed for Canada. In 2018 the club came home from the Karate Canada nationals with six gold medals and a silver, Nika's in junior female kumite. “They did awesome,” Ali told the Star.

Back in 2016 the sisters said they hoped to take over the dojo one day. Today the website lists both Kimya and Nika as assistant instructors.

From Tiny Tigers to the high-performance class

The youngest students start in Tiny Tigers, a program meant to help children “gain the confidence they need to enter kindergarten or elementary school.” The White Belt Program, for ages five and up, is “designed for families who like to train together.”

At the top is an invitation-only high-performance class: at least three sessions a week, sparring gear required, and a sensei who keeps an eye on nutrition, sleep and school performance too. The dojo's stated mission is “to seek a balance of body and mind through physical training and mental development.”

'Like a smaller version of the entire world'

It holds a perfect 5.0 on Google across more than 200 reviews, and reviewers keep coming back to the word family. An adult with more than 20 years of karate wrote that the mix of ages, backgrounds and cultures makes it feel “like a smaller version of the entire world all in one place together.” A parent wrote that Kamelia even helped their son with scholarship and university applications.

“It is not overly competitive and kids are simply encouraged to do their best,” another parent wrote.

The dojo offers a two-week trial for new students, so call 778-871-5324 to find the right class. It's a good way to see what happens when a dad listens to his kids.

Photos: KimNik Shotokan Karate Academy and Ali Najafi's YouTube channel.