FOR more than 50 years Garry O'Çonnor has been passionate about karate.
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![Karate kids: Instructor Garry O'Çonnor (middle rear) with his students Beau Dalwood and Dane Sever (back) and Jack Rawlings, Tahlia Seymour and Jamon Seymour (front). Karate kids: Instructor Garry O'Çonnor (middle rear) with his students Beau Dalwood and Dane Sever (back) and Jack Rawlings, Tahlia Seymour and Jamon Seymour (front).](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/e8uBJxuTc2fGAziDArmhm5/ece02399-2b25-45ac-9daf-9167d66362e5.JPG/r0_305_2901_2452_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
It is an ardour that has seen the Porepunkah resident move from pupil to teacher.
Each week Mr O'Connor spends four hours with senior students and two hours with youngsters passing on his knowledge at the Mount Beauty Community Centre.
His efforts and the drive of his pupils has seen them both recently rewarded.
Mr O'Çonnor has been graded as a 10th dan, the highest level possible in his Shuri-te style of karate which developed on the Japanese island of Okinawa.
Five of his Tawonga pupils have attained new belts.
Beau Dalwood, 18, (brown), Jack Rawlings, 13, (blue), Jamon Seymour, 13, (blue), Dane Sever, 17, (senior green) and Tahlia Seymour, 8, (orange) all received certificates.
Mr O'Connor said Beau had become the first senior student in Victoria to receive a brown belt and will be in line for a black in 12 to 18 months.
He started five years ago.
It is stories such as Beau's that keep Mr O'Connor enthused about the sport he began at the age of 10.
"It's never about the teacher, it's about the knowledge you've gained,” Mr O'Connor said.
"The students of today are going to become the teachers of tomorrow and if we're going to preserve these old arts we have to spend time and invest in the students."
Mr O'Connor said he still believed there was a place for the qualities taught through karate, despite it being an ancient and painstaking discipline in a fast-paced world.
"Self-honesty, truthfulness, courage, respect, gentleness – these precepts are tested and important,” Mr O'Çonnor said.
He said students came to him largely through word of mouth, with self-defence a key attraction.
"The emphasis is not on fighting, it's on controlling the situation and being able to defend themselves," Mr O'Connor said.
"We trust that none of them have to use it in that way though."
Mr O'Çonnor has previously been honoured for his contribution to karate by US President Barack Obama.
He received the President's Volunteer Service Award in 2013 for his work.