Martial Artists with Disabilities

[Roland]

Was wondering about some of your ideas on how to help train others who might not be in the same physical condition as your self.
Any ideas, postive stories or advice would be great.
I am sure there is a whole lot of experiebnce in here that we could all learn from!

 

[Shinzu]

the first thing i would suggest is to work within the limitations of the individual. try to train around the handicap if possible.

take things slow and do alot of repetition. but most of all have patience. getting very upset will only discourage the person and bring their self esteem lower.

 

[tarabos]

it would all depend on what the disability was. someone might have an arm missing, someone might be in a wheelchair, and then someone might be mentally handicapped. i have worked with a mentally handicapped student, and patience is the best tool to have when dealing with that. i just try to treat them as equally as i do others, but i would never be as tough as i am on the average student. plus, the child's father was just taking him to karate to have something to do with his son, and that just fine by me.

now with the physical side, you have to do some homework i think. analyze the disability, and see how it might actually be used to the persons advantage. i have seen people in wheelchairs use the chair as a weapon of sorts.

if a person doesn't have a hand or arm, the style needs to be altered. it's all about tailoring your particular art to what that person is able to do. one should be able to have enough understanding of the art to tailor it, if they don't they should be teaching, but learning.

 

[arnisador]

We've had several other trheads on this in this forum. Look back and you'll see a lot of discussion on it!

 

[Roland]

I am going to assist this fall with a class of differently disabled students, and want to find better ways to actually be an active helper.

 

[Chiduce]

Try giving them drills which would help them improve their abilities within the limits of their handicap. Give them continuous positive input concern their progress. Yet, if they get sloppy, try stern constructive criticism with an explanation of their positive outcome when they achieve the desired results.
Sincerely, In Humility;
Chiduce!

 

[Shinzu]

depending on the "handicap", some people feel that they will never get do do certain things in life.

this is where we can show them through practice and positive feedback that they can achieve anything they want to.