Disabled Students in the Martial Arts

I'm interested to know how people feel about those with disabilities studying martial arts.

I personally support it. In my aikido class we have a student with cerebral palsy, who is confined to a wheelchair and has limited mobility in his arms and hands. There are many things in the art that he cannot do, but what he can do he does really well. He has gained a lot from the classes, as have those of us who have had the opportunity to train with him. He may not be a great fighter, but he is a great aikidoka.

Please, share your thoughts.

Tags: arts, disabilities, disability, disabled, martial

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Permalink Reply by Indur Dawndeath on January 18, 2009 at 2:57am: Thanks for responding, Phill.

I definitely agree about the self defence side. One of the things that I really admire about my aikido sensei is that when he teaches self defence courses, he doesn't just focus on the physical techniques. He also goes into the psychology and 'common sense' of self protection. For people like my disabled friend, that kind of thing is especially important, and in my opinion, it's all part of the martial arts. Being a warrior is not just about being able to let fly with lots of kicks and punches, or to throw people clear across the dojo. It's about consciousness, awareness, and spirit! In these terms, my friend is leaps and bounds (irony intended) ahead of many of the able-bodied students in the class.

And yes, I also agree that the world needs more places for training in the martial arts - with the emphasis on 'arts', as opposed to martial 'thuggery'.

Thanks again!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Indur Dawndeath on January 18, 2009 at 5:13am: Really? Huh!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Indur Dawndeath on January 18, 2009 at 5:29am: Fair enough. Though I'm generally interested in hearing what people have to say, when they've taken the time to say something (apparently) substantial.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Indur Dawndeath on January 18, 2009 at 6:36am: It is a shame that more people don't give thought to their posts. There's nothing wrong with brevity - even a single word can be significant - but it's nice to see some evidence of consideration. I just love the opportunity to participate in meaningful discussions!

Of course, random humour is a wonderful thing, too! People (myself included) need to laugh more!

All in all though, with the possible exception of spam and people being plain mean or insulting, I'm just happy to see people participating in this community in any way they see fit.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Indur Dawndeath on January 18, 2009 at 1:54pm: I know what you mean. This place made me feel like I could be myself, too. Now I'm making an effort in real life to be more like I am here - that is, having more self-confidence, and more of sense of humour.

I'm usually happy talking to anyone, here. ^_^

And of course, there's nothing wrong with being weird!

Permalink Reply by Indur Dawndeath on January 18, 2009 at 3:08pm: Yes, it is a shame when conversations are killed by interruptions. But they can always be resurrected again - as happened with the I Hate Your Fear thread. I'm sure the same sort of thing will happen to this thread if it takes off; but disabled martial arts doesn't seem something many people are interested in.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Dragonchild on October 15, 2009 at 10:29am: I beleve it is awesome, I used to teach TaeKwonDo and had a cupple dissabeld people, one in a weelchair the other had twisted up armes that he could not use well. The one in the weelchair became really good with blocks and strikes and went pretty far, the one with twisted armes had wickked kicks and even competed a cupple times, to practis with them i would tie my arms up or sit in a chair depending on who i was training with.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Peppy le Spaz on October 16, 2009 at 2:19pm: thats so cool!; ▶ Reply to This

Disabled Students in the Martial Arts

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