MA with a disability

[Judge Pen]

I know that several sifus post here and I was wondering:

Do you have any students with a handicap or disability in your class? (Mental handicaps aside as we all have a few of those in our kwoon.) If so, what kind? What do you do to adapt their training to their handicap? What are the goals of their training? Do any of you turn them away because the system can't be adapted to their handicap? How do other students seem to react? Just curious.

[chen zhen]

I know that u might GET handicapped by the training itself, but that doesnt answer ur question of course..;)

[MasterKiller]

After several schools had turned him away, we trained a wheel-chair bound guy for about a year. Northern styles are difficult enough to practice when you have 2 working legs, so my Sifu heavily modified the system to fit this guy's abilities.

[templefist]

The founder of Penjack Silat Serak was said to have a gimp (lack of better word) arm and leg on opposite sides. And that has to be one of the most ruthless styles I have ever crossed hands with. I think everything is adaptable if the student is willing to work hard enough.

templefist

[Judge Pen]

Originally posted by MasterKiller
After several schools had turned him away, we trained a wheel-chair bound guy for about a year. Northern styles are difficult enough to practice when you have 2 working legs, so my Sifu heavily modified the system to fit this guy's abilities.

I can imagine. Did the student stick with it beyond the year? How was the system modified?

[chen zhen]

I can imagine that it will be tough to teach a wheelchair-bound guy & to train being one as well.

Mok Gar is said to be founded by a midget. Maybe that can answer something..:p

[MasterKiller]

He got a girlfriend after a year, and we never saw him again.

Basically, he took out all the footwork (which is vital to a Northern system) and let the guy focus on his hands. If he ever got a-hold of you, he could do some damage, but we were never really able to make him into a decent fighter. He had no mobility and could not maneuver, and since his center of gravity was connected to his chair, he had a hard time controlling opponents once he did latch on to them without falling out of his chair.

[Shaolin-Do]

Are you looking for modifications specific to any type of injury/disability ?

[Judge Pen]

No specific disability, just curious how someone with a disability would train and what would they get out of it. It may come up if I ever decide to teach.

MK, maybe the guy got enough self-confidence to ask the girl out. It seems he got something out of the class.

[JusticeZero]

We have a mostly blind student.. not actually much in the way of changes in how to teach. Different exercizes and letting them examine movements by touch mostly. They do fine.

[CaptinPickAxe]

SD was know at our kwoon for his bum knee. Sifu even told his family about his spirit to learn kung fu. On his trial day, SD dislocated his knee during streaches. Even though he used profane language in the kwoon, Sifu still respected him more than most students. He was supposed to have surgery and was planning to learn to fight w/ a cane...

[Shaolin-Do]

Im a hardcore mofo :)

Knee still suxors, Just train hands when it hurts too bad to train legs.
Bet sifu was real glad people sign waivers when I yelled "F*CK"
:)

[Ford Prefect]

One of the old-school Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu hard cores only had one full leg. He had a nasty half-guard. No joke. ;)

[jun_erh]

masterkiller- that was nice even though it didn't work out so well at the end.

I came across this (http://www.geocities.com/HotSprings/Oasis/2154/)

once when researching some qigong stuff. He has I think a couple of disabilities

[russellsherry]

hi judge pen , i am a disabled person and i have been training in wing chun, kung fu snice 1976, i have cerbal palsy midl, and pedi mail epalipsy also i could not walk , unit i was 14 year"S old i was in calipers until then. at first i did not think i could stick at it
but, the training paticular, sil im tau helped me overcome many, drama"s the first two years were the hard part, but after that it came a little more easy , a word of advise basic are the key russell sherry

[russellsherry]

hi judge pen also, don"t worry about sparring for a good year , form and basic punches and correct posture are most important dont get upset at slow learning it comes time with any matrial art it is just time and hard work peace and cherrs russellsherry

[Jook Lum]

I would say adapt the training to what they can do.It would be the same as adapting the style and techniques to fit someone who is shorter,weaker,taller or slower than another person.Most styles are very versatile in being able to change and adapt to any situation. I know the P.C. way of thinking is that everyone is the same,but that is not true.Each person is different so you have to train people differently it does not mean better or worse just different.I think you should be honest with the person,by telling them that they may have to train things twice as hard as others to compensate and if they are willing to do that then you will train them to be the best they can be. Tell them they may be trained different but not treated any diiferent, and the same as everyone else -no excuses are exceptable.

[Judge Pen]

Originally posted by russellsherry
hi judge pen also, don"t worry about sparring for a good year , form and basic punches and correct posture are most important dont get upset at slow learning it comes time with any matrial art it is just time and hard work peace and cherrs russellsherry

Thanks russell. I'll rembember how hard you had to train whenever I think things are getting difficult in the kwoon.

[russellsherry]

no worries , judge pen, do you know? when i first started sparring, , my friend australian flyweight champion chris stamilous, made me do slow footwork type sparring kinda, like a long range chi sau and when i got ok at this he and the other senior"S beat the crap, out of me and while sometimes i got ****ed at being not, able to get manypunches ete , back at them, when i got into, touraments, i found i could use my wing chun punches, against brown belts and some black belts in karate and win sometimes also my kicks were ok as well but it took me three to four years to get any god at them , but my best roundhouse was to a persons head in compertion and i droped him , and he was twice as big as me ,never give up kung fu means hard work it come:s with time peace and cherrs russellsherry

[Shaolin-Do]

Good to know you train regardless.
Hope everything continues to go well in your training.

:)

[CaptinPickAxe]

check your pm, SD

[BentMonk]

Nice thread JP. I have a mild form of Cerebral Palsy. I have been a martial arts enthusiast my entire life. I have studied Shaolin Do for nine years. I earned my Black Belt in '99. My mobility isn't too bad. My balance sucks. Master Price changed all of my kicks to knees or elbows. I'm basically a striker trapped in a grapplers body. God saw fit to give me above average upper body strength and fast hands to make up for the gimpy walk. It's been a great form of PT for me. I can also handle myself pretty well against folks who have no disability, despite the perceived handicap of being an SD practitioner. lol Peace, Love, & Happy training. :)

[apoweyn]

One of my teachers, Sensei Joe Singleton, is wheelchair bound. He's also a skilled martial artist and powerlifter. Obviously, he's had to make modifications. He can't kick, needless to say (though we always say those things anyway). And he doesn't get a whole lot of hip rotation into punches. But he's strong, his trapping is good, and his weapons work is good.

He even had a couple of moves where he'd roll his wheelchair over your foot, trapping you there. Or feed your stick into the spokes of his chair and roll backward, locking it. Or slam your head off the armrest, etc.

Good times.

Granted, I haven't seen him do this in full contact sparring, etc. That's a real trick. But it does go to show that a person with a handicap can have a fulfilling martial arts practice.

And inspire a few people along the way.


Stuart B.