Coach Americo Pena leans over at his hips and rests his elbows on his knees.
He yells over at a lineup of young wrestlers, encouraging them to jump over him one by one. Some of them smile and laugh while they charge at him, and soar over him with their arms stretched out like superheroes.
Others take a serious approach, line up their coach in their sightlines, and charge forward like bulls. And each time they clear their coach's body, they land with on the gymnastics mat behind him with a thud, a smile and plenty of cheering.
It's a fun moment in a two-hour practice filled with games, encouragement, emotions, and above all, training.
Coach Pena and Coach Bill Brooks move the group of about 20 middle-school and high-school aged wrestlers through an escalating series of exercises. They start small and warm up as the evening progresses, in the loft at the Landing Sports Centre.
They meet there four times a week, and wrestlers are welcome to come to as many — or as few — of the meets as they like. And while the ages and sizes of the wrestlers vary, they are all matched equally. And they're watched closely.
Pena, a former athlete, coach and national wrestling champion in El Salvador, has been with Brooks since the beginning of the club.
He eventually joined his family here in Canada, and found a home with a variety of martial arts gyms before meeting Brooks.
"Bill, he put an ad in the paper," Pena said. "That caught my attention. I called him and we met on the same day and from that day we are together."
Since then, they've been developing wrestlers with a wide range of goals. Some just want to learn the sport for fun, while others are there to ladder up and compete on a higher level.
He said those who see wrestling as a fighting sport are not seeing the full potential.
"No, that's a big mistake," he said. "You go to practice first and you are growing your skill, strength, speed, technique, then you can go to fight."
It can take some time for a wrestler to be ready to grapple with others, while they learn the moves and also learn to enjoy the sport.
"They need to be strong before to fight," he said, and "their confidence must be so high."
It's important for kids to try multiple sports, Pena added, and not get discouraged if they try a sport and don't like it.
"When you try to fit in one team, sometimes they don't want you and then you don't feel well," he said. "So you need to try another, and you need to try another.
And while he gets immense pride from seeing the kids succeed both in practice and at competitions, it's when he sees his wrestlers out in the community that really reminds him of the work they do at the club.
Sometimes, he says, he'll hear someone yell "hey Coach!" and he will turn to see a former wrestler all grown up.
"Yeah, that's the best. That is satisfaction to me."
To learn more about the Chilliwack Grapplers Club, check them out on Facebook or email infocgwa@gmail.com.