Dyslexia and Kung fu

[Little Tiger]

Hi

I wonder if anyone can help.
I am dyslexic and am learning kung fu, but I find forms very hard to remember and it takes me ages to learn.

Does anyone have the same problem and/or have any tips hints and advice of to remember them.

Cheers
LT

[xcakid]

I taught a dyslexic kid way back when I was teaching. So maybe I can help.

What part are you having problems with. Is it sequence of the strikes or is it which way you are facing. Or perhaps both?

The kid I taught, had problems with strikes. He would reverse sequences and sometimes strike with the wrong hand. I had him say out loud the sequences as he was doing it. This basically synced his brain with his movements. IE: Horse stance then left punch(then he would execute it), turn left to bow stance/left block/right punch(then he would execute it). He would do this until he could do the form. Although I did ask him to whisper when in class. This seemed to help sink the form in to his head and coordinate with his body movement.

This may help too if you are having problem with which way you are facing.

[Eddie]

Hi,
Dyslexia shouldn’t have any influence on your martial arts training, apart from the usual problems everyone always face. I ‘was’ dyslexic as a child, but with hard work, I overcame most of that. I struggled to read and spell, and as a child, I used to always get the directions of forms wrong.

I was also ADHD (still are) and couldn’t concentrate to long on something. I think Martial Arts really helped allot with this type of thing.

I had to work double as hard in school (normal school and kung fu school) as my friends did, but eventually it all worked out in the end. I’m very sure that the Martial Arts had something to do with it, and I recommend MA to kids who has ADHD and or dyslexia.

While I still sometimes find it hard to spell certain words (actually, its not that bad anymore), I don’t see it as a bad thing. I see myself as an intelligent person, and don’t think I’m any different to anyone. I studied at university, and I speak a good few different languages. I seem to have a talent for that, which obviously makes up for the ‘disabilities’.

Advice to you is to forget about the ‘label’ of being a dyslexic. It doesn’t affect your whole life, it might just make things slightly harder for you, but that’s part of the challenge. In martial arts class you shouldn’t even know the difference anyways.

Hard work is what Martial Arts is all about. Its difficult for everyone. Don’t worry about the labels people put on you.

E

[TenTigers]

I agree with Eddie. I am also dyslexic, ADD, and my daughter was also dyslexic. You can be trained out of it for the most part. Form is learning through movement and body feel-proprioception, and rather than being a problem, it seem sto have a positive effect on people with dyslexia. My daughter for one, and a former student who I taught as a child.

[Becca]

Hi

I wonder if anyone can help.
I am dyslexic and am learning kung fu, but I find forms very hard to remember and it takes me ages to learn.

Does anyone have the same problem and/or have any tips hints and advice of to remember them.

Cheers
LT

How did you learn to read? I'm not being sarcastic; I'm also dyslexic. I learn my forms the same way I learn anything.... And occasionally I manage to add parts to the form that were never s'posed to be there.

I basicly make an association in my mind. One of my self-defences is "monkey punch turn and punch". It's catchy and it helps me remember the flow. I know the proper name for it, but the proper name does nothing for me; it's too much like several other defence names. And I know many formal defences for a side head lock. But self defence# 7 is "monkey punch turn and punch."

[5Animals1Path]

My training partner has the same problem. How long are the forms you're doing? I only ask because I've seen him remember short forms with no problem, but longer ones I know he's done 10 thousand times he flubbs up.

[SifuAbel]

Practice you sets with your eyes closed a few times. Feel it

[Little Tiger]

Hi

Thanks for all the response, my dsylexia affects memory, so unless I constantly going over the form I get a bit muddled.

I would say it takes me 3-4 times as long too learn (I find this quite frustrating).

I have done various martial arts before and have always struggled when it comes to forms.

I am currently just started learning 7 star praying mantis so I would say the forms are medium in length.

I struggle with reading as it takes me longer to recognise letters.

Dont get me wrong Im not after simpathy, i just wondered if there was any different ways of learning forms that would help me remember.

Thanks for the idea of saying the movements I will try that sounds good idea.

Cheers
LT

[Mr Punch]

For the people saying it shouldn't matter, there are differing degrees of dyslexia you know, with differing degrees of crossover with more aphasic disorders.

My dyslexic friend was definitely not the type to let it take over, but he had similar problems. His teacher just let him focus more on applications. Talk to your teacher and maybe you can come to some kind of understanding. And I don't know what your art is and how much you like it, but there are a lot of arts around that don't have forms (gasp!):

boxing
most JJJ
BJJ
you can do without them in judo
you can do without them in aikido

etc
etc

[Anthony]

Don't mean to sidetrack this thread but some of you mentioned ADHD or ADD. I'm wondering.......is this an actual disease (mental) or simply a type of societal conditioning particular to our fast paced culture. I know that you can take prescribed medication for it but that doesn't make it a disease. Heck you can get prescribed medication for almost anything these days.

I know people will probably tell me it's complicated and there are different degrees but from what I've seen of the children or people who supposedly have it I think it's a load of BS....sorry if I offended anyone but I just don't buy it. To me it's like calling laziness a disease.

[mickey]

Hi Little Tiger,

You may try to videotape yourself doing the form and then try to memorize the form as a "third party observer." Imagining yourself doing the form also serves the same purpose (it is also cheaper). If you are going to do either, play some smooth instrumental or classical music to help integrate your brain's participation in the video learning process.


mickey

[synack]

You may also want to try slowing the form down. Write down each move on a piece of paper hung nearby. (maybe at home on the wall) You can also abbreviate the moves on the paper so you can read it quickly.

Over time you can slowly speed the whole form up. Start with technique then try to work in some power then work on speed lastly.

Hope this helps.

[TenTigers]

Anthony-it really depends. In this era, with a lack of parental discipline, accountability, too much molly-coddling, school systems pidgeon holing, parents with Munchausen By Proxy, who due to their own innadequacies, won't be satisfied until their child is screwed,blued, and tattooed letting them off the hook of parental responsibility and accountability,(do I sound bitter?) Parents who destroy their children by instilling all their fears, and weaknesses in them....yeah-ADD, and ADHD,various forms of autism (Asberger's,personality disorders, etc) are thrown around quite easily.
I am not an expert,nor do I have a degree in psychology, but through over twenty years of teaching children and teens-and also seeing their parents and how they interract with them-as well as how they are without them, I have seen more signs of BS diagnosis than I ever would have imagined.
BUT, I have also seen bonafide cases, and trust me, there is a difference. You see a child who has autism, even mild, or ADHD, and you can spot it right away.

You can also spot pdq, a parent that is fukt up and is fuking up their kids with their own sh1t, and deserves a sound beating.

I had this woman come in to my school with her 7 yr old. Nice kid. The woman goes on and on about how her child has ADD,ADHD, ABC, LSD- you name it, all the while with this glazed, bug-eyed look on her face, leaning into me and, well, basically freaking me out.
Ok, so I'm teaching the kid, and he's doing quite well, albiet a few discipline issues, nothing that a good, strict (tempered with kindness) MA class doesn't cure.
So we're having this contest in the school, and the winner will receive a BMX bicycle. "Oh Richard can't have a bicycyle" Mrs.Crazy sez. "Richard has an equilibrium disorder!"
So, one day, I'm teaching Richard one on one, and I have him standing on one leg, doing a front,side, back kick drill. He not only does this, but can kick front,side,back,front,side,back-twice in a row,six kicks, without putting his foot down-at seven. Most kids that age couldn't do it once. I show this to Mrs. Crazy, explaining that Richard not only doesn't seem to have an equilibrium disorder, but has better balance and coordination than most kids his age. "Get him a bike."
She pulled him out of class. My guess is the kid fell a few times, got a skinned knee, and she went nuts. Kids are supposed to fall, it's their job. There wasn't a time when I was a kid-especially in summer, when I didn't have band-aids on both knees, and both elbows. I probably had Bactine in my bloodstream. Didn't we all?
That, is a problem. Trouble is, we are only teachers, not doctors, and not their parents. Our hands are tied, and in most cases, if we even mention to these parents from he11 that their kid might be ok, they tear-a$$ outt of the school with all haste,lest they see themselves...all we can do, is try for the one hour we have with the child, is give them the strength, confidense, and power they need, to somehow survive their parents.
Ok, so I digressed...a bit..strayed off topic...better pop a few more ritalins...

[Becca]

Don't mean to sidetrack this thread but some of you mentioned ADHD or ADD. I'm wondering.......is this an actual disease (mental) or simply a type of societal conditioning particular to our fast paced culture. I know that you can take prescribed medication for it but that doesn't make it a disease. Heck you can get prescribed medication for almost anything these days.

I know people will probably tell me it's complicated and there are different degrees but from what I've seen of the children or people who supposedly have it I think it's a load of BS....sorry if I offended anyone but I just don't buy it. To me it's like calling laziness a disease.

Not everyone being labled ADD or ADHD actually have those conditions. This makes it seem as if it is not *really* a condition. Notice I called it a condition, not a desease.

My oldest son has had many teachers who tried to lable him as both over the years. Now, he does have a form of dyslexia- it runs very strong in my family down my father's line. This causes him to act out with frustration and refuse to do work out of fear he'll "mess up". But rather than address his real problem, they'd rather lable him with something they can give him a pill for. Thank goodness our family practitioner does not have that mind set. Neither did the child psycologist he refered us to.

Laziness isn't a desease, but it is most definantly one of the causes of kids being mis-diagnosed with ADD and ADAH.

[Mr Punch]

Ten Tigers, Becca, excellent posts.