Isaac Toman is a thoughtful, charismatic, active, 12 year old martial art student from Ottawa, Ontario. When he was young he had behavioural issues caused by Attention Deficit Disorder, he would get into fights, had trouble concentrating and was very forgetful.
Isaac is extremely intelligent, sensitive, enthusiastic and has dreams of becoming an engineer with the Canadian Forces when he is older. He hopes to one day design, repair and improve vehicles, mainly tanks and build devices to help people stay safe. He loves creating, fixing and modifying his toy weapons, skateboarding and martial arts.
Isaac has overcome many of the challenges and behaviours that led doctors to believe he has ADD. His parents decided early on not to put Isaac on medication but to try alternative ways to handle the disorder.
Isaac Shows off a small part of his "weapon" collection. His collection includes a variety of non-lethal "nerf" handguns, shot guns and launchers. He also has one air/paintball gun and his own daisy air rifle.
Isaac has been in Jiu Jitsu for close to three years and recently got his green belt. He says that being in Jiu Jitsu has taught him "discipline", and helped him learn to "walk away" when faced with conflict at school. He takes his lessons very seriously and plans to continue studying Jiu Jitsu for as long as he can.
Isaac and his sister, Celeste, 11, also a fellow green belt, practice their moves at the Therien Dojo in Stittsville, Ontario
He attends classes three days a week and says he enjoys the "ground combat, grappling and sparring the most." His sensei has taught him how to handle tense situations in which he is provoked by others calling him names using the "warning" method. This method teaches Isaac to use his words and tell others when they are angering him instead of resorting to name calling, violence or retaliation. "I usually give them like two or three warnings to stop saying dumb things, then I walk away."
Isaac and his favorite teacher, Jean-Yves
Theriault work on the mats during saturday
afternoon training class.
Isaac also likes spending time playing video games with his older brother, Jeremy, 15, and his dad Glenn. Isaac is the middle child in the family and at times has tested his fathers patience by acting out, talking back and having "melt downs". His father claims that Isaac liked to "question authority" and was very "hyper" and "destructive" when he was younger. Since starting martial arts Glenn believes Isaac is a lot "calmer" and "more in control." "He has to know why for everything" and he still has trouble "respecting people in authority" but "he listens more now."
A rough first draft
A rough first draft