American Kids

[Mystic Wolf]

The news states that the average teenager cannot pass the physical fitness to enlist, or pass the President's Physical fitness exams.

For the past year I've been getting kids in class who can barely do 2 push-ups, can't chainpunch for 30 seconds, nor have the flexability to touch their toes, much less stay in a crunch position on the floor to even practice beginning anti-grappling kicking.

The majority of the schools in the U.S. have been cutting out their P.E. programs, and it's really showing in the kids classes.

I believe that it's our responsibility to pick up the slack, where the schools are failing our kids. This is a serious situation, our youth's obscene health issues will affect us all in the long run.

But on a good note, once a child does enter my class, his physical performance (and weight loss) does improve greatly within a months time.

 

[Kacey]

Honestly? I teach in a middle school, and except for the kids who choose to go out for sports, I see the same things you do. In addition, many of these kids are flabby, if not outright overweight; their energy levels are low; their concentration, especially in the afternoon when they've been sitting most of the day, is poor. This is a rotten way to teach kids - to tell them that exercise has no place in their daily lives, unless they go out of their way to get it.

I have the same problems you do with kids (and adults... but that's another thread) who enter my class... except the one from Korea; he came in very capable physically, even though he knew very little about Taekwon-Do.

 

[Fiendlover]

I agree. Being a senior in highschool, I know we only need two years of P.E. to graduate so of course everyone's going to only take the two years. Usually teens take the two years during there freshmen and sopmore year to get it over with. I did that but it really was a waste of time to be honest. We stretched and then were told to have free play, which a lot of us just sat in the shade. :disgust: I go to the gym now and excercise on my own to get into shape and theres of course my training too.
I joined karate in middle school in hopes to get into better shape (among other reasons) and take up the slack that P.E. lacked at school. It has definately improved my fitness and it's what I expected from a martial arts school. :asian:

 

[mook jong man]

Mystic Wolf its not only happening in America its in Australia too, kids are out of shape and too soft (can't handle mild pain or discomfort) .
I remember a couple of years ago we had a contract to teach some senior high school boys from a local school.
It was for their P.E lesson or something, anyway i had to demonstrate breaking through a boxing type guard with a pak sau and punch.
So i chose the biggest guy in the group to demo on as we were taught to do, a big solid guy, i did the pak sau and the dude looked like he was going to start crying and then stood off to the side holding his forearm for about 15 minutes i didn't put anything extra in it, it was just a stock standard pak sau.
By the same token i have taught elderly men who had an iron grip and you really had to do your arm grab counters properly to get out of it and they had a high tolerance to pain as well, you do a pak sau on them they'd barely bat an eyelid.
I don't know whether they got this from the jobs they did or age or what but they just seemed tougher.

 

[KamonGuy2]

I have heard that a lot of games at school have been banned
When I was at school we played football, tag, stuck in the mud, British Bulldog, and elimination ball, every day, three times a day

Most of this has been discouraged, either due to health and safety laws or political correctness gone mad

Kids can't do weights or circuit training - it is unhealthy on their underdeveloped bones to do that, but simple cardiovascular exercise is essential.

Another factor is the huge amount of rubbish that kids eat

Sweets (candy for you Americans) aren't too bad, but meals of hamburgers and fries or sugary drinks are so so bad at that age. Jamie Oliver has the right idea

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

Thank goodness the school systems around here have not eliminated PE. Still having said that the amount of over weight kids is staggering. Thank goodness my own kids attend martial arts training and understand the rigors of it.

 

[Sukerkin]

I'm astounded in a way at the decline in P.E. at schools - then I recall the Nannie State Cottonwool Existence that kids grow up in now and I'm not surprised anymore.

We used to do track and field, football, rugby, cricket, tennis (table & full court), cross country running, circuit training, hockey ... and that was just in school time .

I saw the effects of not doing this stuff in my nephew. Up until we got him playing football seriously, he was a right wimp because he hadn't had any 'normal' rough and tumble.

I remember very well that you soon learn to take a bit of pain when you're getting slammed into the frozen ground whilst playing rugby :lol:. Mind you, if you want to talk about sports related pain, try playing hockey against the girls !

 

[LoneRider]

My .02 cents on the matter: Yeah kids are horribly out of shape, because they live in the nintendo generation. I was kinda the same way myself, I was a physically mediocre recruit when I first joined the Navy in 2001 (pre-9/11) as an enlisted man in the Reserves (2001-2002) before I went to my to the Naval Academy. Through many years of hard physical work I was able to become a far stronger man, strong enough to attempt to try for a Marine Corps Commission. While I ultimately failed to become a Marine and was commissioned in the Navy, I still pursue physical excellence to a point that I had among the highest scores of the Navy Physical Readiness Test at my unit. (I'm actually starting the process of switching my commission to the Army on a personal note). I now run, swim, surf, lift weights and circuit train, and of course I do martial arts on a daily basis.

Even in the Navy I see horribly out of shape kids all the time, a product of the school system. I know of one guy who had to cut almost a hundred pounds to even enlist and they had to work with him for over a year to get him within physical standards to get promoted, but he's doing well.
And even in the officer corps there are some horribly overweight and out of shape lieutenants I've worked for and with. I hear the sailors remarking on these guys and that's even more incentive to keep myself in the best shape possible.

It's been forcing the services to lower physical standards and leadership really's gotta have to step up to get these guys up to specs or they get booted from service. I tend to find myself explaining physical fitness is a necessity because of the fact that there are many physical tasks in the Navy (firefighting, security watchstanding, line handling, etc...). Any servicemen see what I see?

 

[dungeonworks]

When the Playstation, DVD player, 200 Channel Digital Cable package, or any combo of the aforementioned become most American Kid's Nanny's because Dad is too busy/lazy/tired to play catch or kick a ball in the yard with Junior/daughter, this is what happens. Toss in the fact that the family nutritionist is named "McDonalds" or "Burger King", well there you go. That food pyramid most of us grew up with was quietly replaced with a newer one, which is better but not entirely. The old one was based off of how to feed livestock (not kidding). I will see if I can find the .gif of the new one.

 

[stone_dragone]

this is a piucture floating around our office (an Army Brigade HQ, btw) rather appropriate for the direction that this conversation has headed...more on the military readiness side than kids, but is a result of the same problem...

 

[tshadowchaser]

I have to agree that the majority of the kids I see on the streets are completely out of shape. I would be willing to bet that at least half of the kids between 6th and 12th grades in this town are obese.

 

[Phoenix44]

This is a huge problem.

In the NYC school system, 25% of entering kindergartners are OBESE. Not merely overweight--OBESE. We're talking about 4 and 5 year olds! Kindergarteners who weigh over 100 lbs! Kids in elementary school who outweigh me. Now THAT's a problem.

I know toddlers who drink more than a quart of fruit juice every day (parents think it's healthy). That translates into about half the daily caloric requirement of a toddler--from sugar water. Then you add on the fast food McDonald's, chips, cookies, ice cream and other garbage. And TV and Nintendo.

You can market martial arts to overweight kids (we've tried), but it won't fly, and here's why: When Mom weighs 210, and Dad weighs 270, they don't think their 100 lb kindergartener is a problem.

Those kids will just pop their Lipitor, Glucophage, and Vasotec--just like Mom and Dad.

Sorry about the rant, but this is something I fell strongly about.

 

[jkembry]

Geez...I remember being forced to go to PE in Middle and High School many...many...many years ago and hated it. I hated it mainly because I wasn't the jock or good at sports. But I did go and ran around and did only what I had to do. In 1976 I joined the Navy...that was when I found that I enjoyed PT. After retiring I let myself go and gained a bunch of weight...finally brought it back to normal in 2001 while training for a marathon...which I did complete. I then let it go again...until last year when I started MA. I have lost since weight since then...and still have a bit to go.

Now to the point...the wife and I went to see the movie WALL-E. The thing that I noticed most of all was that everyone was trained to be 'plugged in'...be 'waited on' hand and foot and to do as little as possible. In the past few years, I think that we have been training our kids...world-wide...to sit around and stay plugged in and do very little physically. We are beginning to see the results of that. The good news is that it isn't too late to change. We just have to do it.

 

[terryl965]

Well I get so many kids that do not even know how to run let alone stand for more then five minutes, the way these country is heading is down the toilet with physical fitness. They would rather have the kids in front of TV or a computer all the time. It is a sad state we are in.

 

[Phoenix44]

I don't know...maybe it's an adaptive mechanism. They'll last longer during the seven lean years to come...

 

[rick_tsdmdk]

Another factor is that parents are too protective - they don't let their kids go outside and play. Too scared of kidnappers and bad guys. So the parks are empty, kids don't walk or ride their bikes any where, and are trapped indoors due to fear.

 

[IcemanSK]

The fact that kids don't get exercise that they need is precisely why I include push-ups & ab work in both class & in belt tests. I do it at belt tests as a measurring tool. Not for me, but for them. Then they can see how far they've come.

They simply don't get an opportunity for fitness anywhere else.

 

[Brandon Fisher]

I don't think its just PE courses being eliminated because I know in this area they are still in the schools. However Ohio requires 1 year of PE to graduate. But its not the schools job to get these kids in shape nor is it the responsibility of the martial arts instructors. Simple fact is the problem starts at home. Parents are to busy to make dinner so its fast food, parents are to busy to do physical activity with their kids so the kids play video games for hours on end. Instead of kids jumping on a bike and going to their friends house they have to have a ride or instant messaging is good enough. Instead of kids going outside to play sports they do it on the wii. At what point do we as a society say enough is enough.

 

[Phoenix44]

But again, if the parent is over weight and underfit, they're not going to get it, and they're not in a position to be much help.

My teenage son is thin, a martial artist, and reasonably fit, but when I come home from work to find he's been video gaming all day, I haul out MY OWN bicycle, and tell him to turn off the games, he's coming with me. With the obesity epidemic in America, most parents can't do that themselves.

 

[Sukerkin]

Now that's setting a good example :applause:.