.png)
Batten House Podcast
Batten House Podcast
Batten House Podcast
Ep 14 The Art of Martial Discipline
What if martial arts training was less about combat and more about character building? This compelling question forms the heart of our conversation with Ben Clarke, the remarkable 26-year-old entrepreneur who owns two thriving Douvris Martial Arts locations in Ottawa's east end.
Ben's story is nothing short of inspirational. Beginning karate at just five years old, he earned his black belt by age ten, started teaching at fourteen, and took the extraordinary leap to business ownership at nineteen when most of his peers were still figuring out their university majors. This bold decision to drop out of business school when opportunity knocked has paid off magnificently – his Orleans location now boasts 430 members, while his newer Rockland school has grown to 97 members in just eight months.
Beyond the impressive business metrics lies a deeper philosophy that drives everything at Douvris Martial Arts. "Any martial art, it's not always about fighting," Ben emphasizes repeatedly throughout our conversation. "We teach things like discipline, focus, perseverance... I think that's more important than learning how to fight." This approach makes his dojos particularly valuable for children struggling with attention challenges or those whose social development was affected by pandemic isolation. Having faced his own childhood struggles with focus and shyness, Ben brings authentic understanding to his teaching approach, creating an environment where every student can thrive regardless of their starting point.
The COVID-19 pandemic tested Ben's entrepreneurial mettle as he pivoted to online instruction – a particularly difficult transition for teaching physical skills to young children. Yet this challenge merely demonstrated the very resilience and adaptability that martial arts training instills. Listening to Ben's journey reminds us that true success comes not just from physical prowess but from developing the mental discipline to persist through challenges. Ready to discover how martial arts might transform your life or your child's development? Visit douvrismartialsarts.com to learn more about their programs and approach.
Any martial art. It's not always about fighting. It isn't always about, you know, knocking someone out right. I think there's more to martial arts and there's more to our school, here and my business. We teach things like discipline, focus, perseverance, all those little things that you learn in martial arts. I think that's more important than learning how to fight.
Speaker 2:This is the Batten House Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbours come together. Here's your host, sean.
Speaker 3:Dutton. Hello everyone, welcome to the Battenhouse Podcast. Again here for another episode, I am with Ben Clark from Duveris Martial Arts. How you doing, ben.
Speaker 1:Not bad how you doing. I'm good man Enjoying this weather. Come on now. I know. Me too.
Speaker 3:It's been a great last couple of weeks, so I can't complain totally cruising into spring and and, uh, and and the hot, hot weather, which will be so nice. But today I'm really excited to get to know what you guys do out in uh orleans, right out in the east end of ottawa.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, so, um, yeah, I'm the owner of dubris Martial Arts Orleans and Dubris Rockland, so we're a franchise. Here in Ottawa we have 10 locations and I own the two out in the East End and I also own now the name as a whole, dubris Martial Arts, along with Master John and Sensei Peter, the founders of Dubris the brothers. So basically, like going forward, any new school that we're opening up, it's going to be us three, if that makes sense. So I've been with the organization for a while, good for you.
Speaker 3:Thank you, that's awesome, and so you're obviously an entrepreneur down deep.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I think that's a good way to put it for sure.
Speaker 3:That's awesome. So tell us about that journey Like how did you? Is that? Like something that started when you were like 10 years old, at the end of your driveway selling lemonade, or what?
Speaker 1:So I'm 26 years old now. My parents put me into karate when I was five years old Five turning six, just for something. You know, I was one of those kids. I tried soccer, I did gymnastics, I did. You know all one of those kids. I tried soccer, I did gymnastics, I did, you know all kinds of different sports. Um, you know, try piano, all the usual stuff, but it was nothing really stuck. Keep me busy, right? I was one of those boys, you know, I focus, could use more focus, and I was just all over the place.
Speaker 1:So we all yes, so when I was six or five years old, my parents all try karate. It'll be good for your focus, good for your discipline, and ever since then, um, I loved it. I started at the dubious location on in westborough. It was on richmond road and then they moved to carling since then, but, yeah, dubious special arts westborough was where I started with um, dominica versa and fortunato versa. Um, they were the owners of that location and started with them. And then, um, you know, going through my ranks and I got my black belt. In 2010 was when I got my black belt in karate. So I was a young black belt. I was only 10 years old when I got my black belt, just because I started so young and I was doing it so consistently that I was a pretty young black belt.
Speaker 3:But yeah, it shows also that you're super interested and so you're really devoting your, your passion and your, your mind to thinking, hey, how do I get better? How do I get better? Right like that's, yeah, it's awesome when you find something like that um so young, it's so awesome for for the child it is like, oh, it's awesome it's great.
Speaker 1:And then I started teaching, or I started competing, when I was 13 years old just a little bit locally, um, and then I went to my first world championships in 2012. Uh, it was in montreal. Actually it's not too far from here, but with my first wkc world championships in 2012, I got silver there. And then every year since then, I've been to the world. So I've been to italy, I've been to ireland a few times, um all over the us, so it's been one of those journeys that's um I'm very grateful for. I've been able to compete um internationally. I'm off to alberta tomorrow for teaching someone out there, so it's pretty cool.
Speaker 3:I've been able to do a lot with it so I bet you never thought you would be doing all of this over the last 15 years. No, it's, it's it's crazy.
Speaker 1:It's crazy. And then in 2018, well, and when I was 14 years old, I started teaching, just like part-time, you know, a little bit of money here and there, and, and at our main headquarters at the bank street location, I was hired as an instructor. And then in 2018, you know, I finished high school and I went to university at Carleton for a year for business. I knew at some point I wanted to open up my own martial arts school, but then the following year, so I only went to university for a year, and the following year, john Dubris, the franchise owner, he was like hey, ben, you know, I want to open up a school in Orleans. Do you want to open a school under me? So I wanted to finish university, but when I you know, when opportunity arises, I couldn't say no. So I dropped out of school, opened up my business, and I haven't looked back ever since.
Speaker 2:Good for you, man.
Speaker 1:I've been open for seven years now and it's been. I have 430 members at my Orleans location. I have 97 members at Rockland with my partner. That one I co-own with my partner, robbie Lavoie, so me and him co-own that location and we're up to 97 members there and it's only been eight months in Rockland. So, it's been great. We've really exploded, so I'm forever grateful for this opportunity and it's been great Absolutely.
Speaker 3:Well it's, we've really exploded, Um, so I'm forever grateful for this opportunity and it's been great, absolutely Well, good for you, man. Well, clearly, you're doing many things right and hiring the right people and, um, having a great. You know, especially these days, parents aren't just going to pass their kids on to just anybody, right? And so clearly have that trust and that, um, that dedication to their students learning or their kids learning right. So I honor you for that, man. Like, that's a big deal, that's pretty awesome, which actually kind of rolls into our next question about myths or misconceptions that you, now that you've been in the business well, you've been in the business all your life, but now in a business world yeah, your life, but now in a business world. Um, what tell us about a myth or misconception that you that has kind of come up, um, as you've been running your business?
Speaker 1:Like a business point of view, do you mean? Or like from a yeah for like in your?
Speaker 1:industry, in your industry, um yeah, you know, I think for our industry it's a very, you know, niche kind of sport that we do like niche thing, right, like usually kids will do soccer, hockey. Those are like the bigger, especially in Ottawa, I find, or just in Canada. Those are like the main sports, right. So when people hear karate, a lot of the time it's like you, oh, you're just going to be karate's used for fighting. You know it's not a great sport for learning how to, not a very good. You know it's not a very popular sport.
Speaker 1:That's a big thing we hear is. You know why you're not doing hockey? You know you're trying to. You should be trying to make it to the nhl. You should be trying to do this, that, um. So I think that's one thing. When clients come to us or members come to us I don't like using the words clients, cause I think you know members isn't more, it's a better term to use. But when our members come to us, it's, you know, I think it's already. Them coming to us is cool to me because, like I said, most parents put their kids in other activities that are a bit more common, right, and not as niche. So yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:That's been kind of not a barrier we've had to overcome, but it's just one of those like um I don't know how to word it, but you know what I mean by that like it's just yeah yeah, yeah, no, absolutely.
Speaker 3:Again, it's not a lot of people know, uh, the ins and outs of martial arts.
Speaker 1:I mean really other than like fighting and the movies you know, yeah, well, you see that, with Cobra Kai and Karate Kid, all that stuff. It's glorified right and the fighting is glorified, right and so when you get down to martial arts, but the discipline, and like it's so valuable, discipline, the camaraderie, the you know. It's so much more right? Yeah, absolutely yeah, so much more. It's just so much. It's. It's so much more right? Yeah, absolutely yeah, so much more.
Speaker 3:That's good. So when? When you're not running your business and not teaching obviously that takes a lot of your time what are you doing for fun?
Speaker 1:I like to snowboard. I mean I try to go out. It's. It's hard because running a business and whatever, if I'm not running the business I'm competing in karate or whatever. I'm doing Two exactly. So it's been tough the last six years. But you know I like to snowboard. I try to get out and doing that on the weekends. I'll hang out with my friends in the evenings if I can, but to me, you know, I love what I do, you know. So it doesn't really seem like work. You know, I don't mind coming and teaching every day, I don't mind working on the business, doing emails and stuff, because to me, you know, I think it's great to have, you know, a different life besides just karate and besides just my occupation. But I love what I do, you know. So for me it's not a job, you know. It really isn't.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's awesome. What a blessing to have that, especially so young.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:And being successful and making it through COVID land and all that stuff. Right, like that. That's awesome that you you're here seven years later. That's no small accomplishment. To still be in business seven years later, it's huge. So like congratulations, like that's a big deal, thank you.
Speaker 1:And I think during I mean during COVID right, because we're a fitness oriented business and with karate it was tough to get by just because we moved. We moved everything to zoom Like most people most people did, and we did all our classes through um online learning. But teaching karate to a four-year-old in front of a camera is not the not the easiest thing to do, so I'm happy we made it through there and it's easier now for sure, absolutely.
Speaker 3:You've kind of pivoted so I mean that's that's, that's a hardship. You went through clearly, right, like just trying to okay, I've got this business, I'm open for a couple of years and all of a sudden COVID's happening. What is that? And then how do we pivot? So we keep going Exactly. So that's. That's a huge thing to overcome thing to overcome.
Speaker 1:It was you and your team. It was tough and it was. It was like that right, it was a matter of weeks or days that just things would change all of a sudden, and you know the stress of you know, are we going to lose members or are we going to have to close down? Are we shut down again? Are we open again? Do we have to wear a mask? Do we not have to wear a mask? Um, so, and just making sure that we, we stood, we wanted to always be ahead of, you know, um ahead of the ball and make sure that we were, as a business, we were looking like we were, you know, ahead of where we're supposed to be and we're, you know, our safety came first. Right, safety always does come first. So we didn't want to, you know, be behind in any terms.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and respect that, right, but still you're really passionate about your, your industry, and so like let's, let's keep going, but how do we keep going? So no, keep going, so no, that's, that's a huge thing to overcome. So good for you. 100, 100, 100. Um, what's the one thing you wish?
Speaker 1:uh, our listeners knew about your business specifically, um, I mean, when they think of diverse martial arts, um, I want them to know that it is karate that we teach here. I think that's something that's super important and kind of what we talked, talked about. You know, people think, oh, I'm gonna come here, I'm gonna learn how to fight, um, one of the things you will learn, but it's not the main. I don't think people think of just karate in general or, um, any martial art. It's not always about fighting, it isn't always about, you know, knocking someone out, right?
Speaker 1:I think there's more to martial arts and it's more to our school here and my business, um, because we teach things like discipline, focus, perseverance, all those little things that you learn in martial arts. I think that's more important than learning how to fight, learning how to win a tournament. Those are all great things to know, um, but, you know, being able to defend yourself, the confidence, all those little things, um, it'll help in school for kids, right? It'll. It's helped me just in work, um, besides this, uh, with the discipline aspect and the focus aspect. So, um, that's what I want people to. You know, any viewers are listening here just to know that Dubris isn't just that. And we're also a family. You know we're a very family oriented business here in Ottawa. Being with Master John at St Peter Dubris now for more than 20 years, they're like second fathers to me. You know the other instructors they're all like my closest friends, you know so yeah, yeah, that's that's.
Speaker 3:That's cool for them to see you develop through the ranks and now become this, this young man who's taken over to well, you've opened this one and now you've opened a second one, right, yeah, to do that and be successful at it and maintain the qualities that made them successful in the first place. Right, and continue driving that. How do you find these days like discipline, focus, like it's really hard these days for everybody, but especially kids, for sure, yeah, and so how do you find the kids respond to that and the parents respond to that?
Speaker 1:I mean it's you know. I think part of it has been harder with kids, especially younger kids. Is COVID right? A lot of these kids didn't have much of a social life. Let's say they're five years old, they were born during COVID, right? So their social aspect isn't always there, their focus isn't always there, their focus isn't always there. And I'm not blaming COVID, but I think it does have a part in the younger kids for sure. You know, and you know, kids come to us a lot of time for, you know, add, adhd, anything like that, just to help them focus a bit better. So I see that every day We'll have new members starting. You know, kind of like me when I was little, my focus didn't need more focus. I was super shy at times, right I. I wouldn't talk to my teachers at school, things like that. So karate helped me a lot that way and I think it's helping a lot of our kids and adults too, with a variety of different little things, you know but I think you hit the nail on the head there.
Speaker 3:It, it, it helped you, and your personal experience now really would help and guide you to understand what the child and what the parent is feeling like. You know A hundred percent, you know, and especially when you had those challenges, you know, as you were a kid and I did too actually the discipline and the focus right. So, no, you're on your man. Yeah, I think it's super important for that especially the discipline and the focus right.
Speaker 1:So, no, get on you, man. Yeah, I think it's super important for that and you know I don't see any child or any student differently, right? You know I try to keep every student I see them all the same right, and try to teach them all the same. We'll change our methods from here to there, obviously, but you know the focus aspect, I think every child or every student can focus just fine, as long as you help them the way they need to be helped.
Speaker 3:You know, I think that's super, super important as well, absolutely that part of it, and you can pass that on to your other coaches, instructors, right, and that culture can build, then, right, it can be a hugely positive thing for our community, right, and the work with kids is just so vital. So, as another fellow Ottawa resident, thank you for just pouring into kids, you know.
Speaker 1:It's important. They're next generation, yeah, future leaders, future generation, even like myself, my peers, like we're, I think like the future, we are the future right. So it's important that we instill you know, monkey, see, monkey, do you know we instill positive values for kids to come. And I always wanted a job that like if I could give back and make a difference in someone else's life, then you know I was happy, you know. So I'm happy to be able to do that now.
Speaker 3:And you are doing it, my friend, so that's, that's awesome.
Speaker 1:I.
Speaker 3:I respect that brother. It's awesome. Thank you, Um so for our listeners can, uh, how can they learn more and contact, contact you.
Speaker 1:Um. So if they want to know more about um, our business or our franchise as a whole, you can go up to online to do brisk martial artscom and then on the website there our locations we have 10 in ottawa, again. Mine's the orleans location, um, located just off of trim road at 511 lake hallway. Um, so that's my location here. And then I have my location in rockland at 1624 laurier street, just off the main street. Um. So again, dooberscom is the is the place to go if you want any more information. All our emails, all our addresses are all on there your phone number and such yep, exactly awesome.
Speaker 3:Well, I really appreciate your time. I know you are a busy young man.
Speaker 1:No, I appreciate you guys having me on.
Speaker 3:No, and I'd love to actually talk with you again. I think there's so much to talk about with what you're doing for kids and youth and adults as well. Probably right, you've probably got older people, so anyway, thank you for your time and we will be in touch and if you want to learn more. Go to duvarismartialartscom, is that right? Yep, yeah, and find out more and support this guy and the family that's there. All right, you take care and we'll talk to you again. Thank you, sean, take care. Thanks, man.
Speaker 2:Thanks for listening to the Batten House Podcast. To nominate a favourite local business to be featured on the show, go to battenhousepodcastca. That's battenhousepodcastca. Thank you.
