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October 2004

(Forward: This is a re-write of an article from May 2002. The aim is to update you on progress made with the above development programme and to save you, the reader, with the need to wade through multiple other articles [with, where appropriate, one or two exceptions] that I have written since then. One thing has remained a constant throughout my time in martial arts: the need to work constantly at this Programme as, unless you know different, there is no sports development initiative specifically aimed at martial arts for disabled people, with the obvious exception of judo, recently featured in the Paralympics).

I have been training in martial arts since the early/mid 1980's. Hello! I'm Terry Taylor, a shotokan karate instructor based in the Medway Towns of Kent. I have been teaching for approximately fifteen years, some thirteen of those as instructor in my own clubs.

During the 1990's I began teaching a group of visually impaired young people. In some cases they had other disabilities too. The location was a nearby special needs school/college. Their request from me was (approximately): "Where can I train during the holidays sensei?" At the time I did not have the network of contacts that I do now so I was sadly unable to put them in touch with other fellow instructors. That is a lot more different now but more of that later.

And so came the idea of setting up what has evolved in to The South of England Martial Arts Festival for Disabled People (for the history of this event please have a look at www.twt.org.uk). The aim of it was and still is to encourage people with disabilities in to martial arts because of the benefits they will accrue from training in such 'regimes'. Those benefits are just the same as for their able-bodied contemporaries but I believe those benefits are even more important to this particular sector of the community as, sadly, even in this day and age they are still marginalised.

Inevitably over a number of years I have been offered comments/'opinion' about whether or not martial arts should be an activity for disabled people to engage in. This writer's response is: "Why not?" Indeed there are many people with disabilities out there successfully engaging in this kind of activity. Here are some negatives and positives imparted to me at various times in the past:

• The negative: "We don't think martial arts is the right kind of activity for disabled people to do."
• The positive: I have personally coached a good number of disabled students over a period of several years. All of them have done very well indeed. I am currently coaching a deafblind student (absolutely no hearing at all [profoundly deaf] and very limited tunnel vision, registered blind and who can see literally not much further than a few inches in front of his face). Although it is early days yet he has already won his first competition. Because of the geographical distance between us (he lives in the Midlands, I am down here in Kent) I coach him only once a month, not enough but in reality what is practical and pragmatic for both of us. Equally he benefits from one-to-one intensive training to meet his very specific communication needs, a combination of hands on signing (Block Alphabet) and using large print type on his very sophisticated laptop. He is doing very well. I believe he is currently on target to grade again before the end of this year. He is also working hard to present his own kata 'demo' to Festival.
• Another negative and positive: Whilst watching a series of martial arts 'demo's' being performed by a mixture of adults and young people with disabilities at our last Festival in 2001 someone said to me (approximately): "Wow! They really can do martial arts." ...to which I replied: "Of course they can." The standard of these 'demo's' was very high indeed.
• A few more positives: Some instructors I have had the pleasure of working with, in some cases very closely have the following: two adults with cerebral palsy, one of them also a wheelchair user, the other whose level of spasticity is severe; also another instructor (based in Canada) who has an adult who holds sandan grade - he is totally blind.

As we prepare for Festival 2004 - and thanks to the kind support from various sectors of the martial arts community - it is pleasing to hear from (a) a number of practising martial artists with disabilities and (b) from an increasing number of instructors who are already coaching people with disabilities thus widening the network amongst both practitioners and coaches. This is just as it should be.

What I would also respectfully point out to fellow instructors is that when coaching a disabled person please remember that in some cases you may need to tinker with your syllabus. In so doing please also ensure you have the support of your Association (and, if appropriate, your Governing Body) as there would be nothing worse than you preparing your disabled students for their upcoming gradings only to be told that they will not be accepted for said grading unless they meet x, y and z criteria/are able to perform x, y or z move which due to their disability they are physically unable to do. What I am endeavouring to explain here is that both you and the hierarchy within your own chosen martial art need to be open-minded and laterally thinking to, where necessary, adapt your art. In short, work with your student and use your art but seek to vary it should it prove necessary. There are one or two examples of this in the coaching appendix later in this article.

Also, where some elements of the learning disability spectrum are concerned please also ensure that what you coach them in is used purely for either training and/or self-defence only. Here is a theoretical example as to why:

Whilst the student may present as respectful and well-ordered within your dojo, it is worth you considering working with the student's carers/parents in case the skills s/he has learned are being misused. For this reason it is therefore even more important to emphasise at regular intervals about the need to only use any martial arts skills learned as purely for self-defence and not for the need to 'let off steam' on someone else.

On the other side of the (self-defence) spectrum I used to have the honour of coaching a profoundly deaf boy. He did very well. One lesson he told me about a fellow pupil who had been bullying him when he went in to school. So one day he defended himself using his martial arts skills and the bully never came near him again. I, once again, emphasise the self-defence issues here.

Thus it can be seen that martial arts can work both positively and negatively.

Returning to the learning difficulties spectrum I was once advised by a teacher of autistic children that, in his professional opinion, martial arts would not be the right kind of activity to teach to this group of disabled people. Based solely on this piece of advice I have personally tended to steer clear of autistic children. However I am aware of instructors, especially in the USA who have succeeded with children/adults who have some degree of autism.

With Aspberger's Syndrome it is possible to witness the high functioning end of the autistic spectrum. People with this condition may present socially as being nothing more than perhaps a bit 'odd'. They require a high degree of order in their lives which martial arts through its regimen of strictness can offer.

So, in short, as I have also learned from my own personal experience as well as listening to that of others, consider all the different informed opinions and weigh up the balance of discussion in your own mind and act on it, whichever way your thought processes take you. My own experiences have principally been from within the physical disability spectrum (and again within mostly sensory loss [sight and hearing difficulties]), some with learning difficulties but in each case every one of my disabled students has succeeded and, as I have already said earlier this is exactly how it should be.

At Festival later this year we already have a number of martial arts 'demo's' lined up. On the list thus far will be my own deafblind student (and please remember that in the main he largely trains on his own), a student with no arms and one of his legs missing (he wears a prosthetic leg in this case), a blind judoka who is part of the British Team and a group of teenagers who have severe learning difficulties coming from Wiltshire who are already ecstatic about taking part in their first-ever competition - and they haven't even made the journey to the event yet!

Within the world of disability there is a form of words which also appears regularly in job applications: "Being positive about disabled people" which in plain English means that applications from disabled people are positively welcomed. At Festival this is exactly how it has always been. Although there is much to debate about whether disability sport should specifically be kept separate - or not - everyone needs to achieve at his/her own level. This is also regardless of whether your student is disabled or not. We have had the honour of over 1,000 people pass through our 'doors' since 1996. All of them have left at the end of the day beaming literally from ear to ear, ditto the instructors and volunteers who very kindly give of their time willingly.
Whilst the competitive element is new this year it will be open to people with even some quite severe disabilities - again, see comment later.

Plans are already in the early stage for a 10th anniversary Festival with a 'double feature'. This is tentatively scheduled for early 2006.

And so, what has the Festival done for the armies of instructors and 'buddy' volunteers? For many, it has provided a very intense form of disability awareness training. By actively working at close quarters with this particular client group it has given them the basis of a set of skills to take back to their own clubs, to then actively open their own doors to disabled students and develop a new way of coaching.

At this year's Festival there will be a good mix of instructors/volunteers who already have previous experience of working alongside disabled students plus those who want to.

In previous years the expressions of satisfaction and enjoyment from the instructors themselves have been truly incredible.

Example (1): "I'm not sure who was the instructor today - them or me."

Example (2): "This was not about us (the instructors) (some of whom are very senior indeed), it was about them (the participants)." (although equally please bear in mind my earlier comments about the value of disability awareness training to instructors).

Both statements are very true.

Also coaching people with disabilities is very rewarding - at least from this writer's viewpoint and I have not found this to be otherwise from anyone else with whom I have debated this topic.

For, as I said earlier, it is about working with the student (and his/her disability) and not being so rigorous about the chosen style/skills to be learned. I do realise many of you may make counter-claims of diluting martial arts but please think of it another way - are we, as instructors there to put obstacles in the way or are we to be pragmatic and to ensure that all of our students succeed? Isn't that one of the principal tasks we are there for in the first place?

Example: my deafblind student is really struggling big time with his kicks. This is because the balance organ in his ear, the organ of corti, is damaged. His height at well over 6' also doesn't help either. I believe therefore he may struggle to achieve a good level with some of them (and if you elect to coach someone with congenital hearing loss please remember this may be the case for you too). However he really does try in this skill area. To use his own words he is not a quitter.

And what of the future? The competitive element is only just beginning. This was something that I had in my mind for several years' time. However it is already happening elsewhere. Although we have seen the growth of both the Paralympics and the Special Olympics there is clearly a gap - there needs to be a more grass roots, broader ruled competitive event. This is based on an expressed need both from this year's Festival as well as that demonstrated (literally) three years ago.

In 2001 we were presented with a 'demo' by some adults who, under normal circumstances would not be likely to get past even a regular 9th kyu grading test. This is because they have severe learning difficulties. Their sensei had been working with them to present kihon kata at Festival for quite a long time. The joy not only from the 'audience' as well as the elation from the students themselves was a sight to be beheld.
This year, thanks to some well-targeted pre-Festival publicity we have a group of adults also with severe learning difficulties who will actually compete not only for the first time ever but under rules that would not usually meet the 'normal' standards required. Their instructor will take them each through a basic kata (i.e. he will actually be doing it with them) and/or a selection of basic moves. Competing is something that these students had never even dreamt of, ditto (I believe) their sensei. Although this does not fit the 'normal' criteria for competition entry I have personally witnessed this as an active working solution elsewhere. In other words these students will achieve at their level - the word here is empowerment.

I also heard recently of a judoka who had been prevented from competing because he wears a prosthetic leg. I genuinely understand this from a safety viewpoint. However this comes back to an issue I raised earlier: that we should be working with the student and thinking laterally of ways around the martial art to make competition entry/any other aspect of their training possible.

And, yes, I will be the first to agree that these are not 'rules' in the 'normal' sense of how as instructors we would usually expect competitors to take part. However, do we ban people from competition just because they happen to have a disability that does not fit 'the norm' and therefore prevent them from entering in to same or, again, do we empower them?

As I've said already that group of adults I mentioned above with severe learning difficulties are literally elated at the prospect of competing for the first time. And so they should be. For, who are we running this event for? Us or them?

Over time as this competition grows in stature and size (i.e. in terms of the number of entrants) I believe it will be possible to divide it up, like the Paralympics in to different disability categories. But this will need to be based on ability and not disability - for we must concentrate on the positive.

I feel confident much of what I have written today will give you, as fellow instructors, a lot to think about, agree or disagree with me, etc. Please feel free to let me have your thoughts - both negative and positive but please remember one thing...as instructors we should in this day and age be seriously looking at total inclusivity. We can still continue to produce 'stars' within our own dojo's but I would respectfully suggest these 'stars' should be at all levels.

Finally if any of you would like more information about the Festival Programme please feel free to get in touch. For me, I do this work because it is something that I am truly passionate about, not for any sense of self-gratification or halo job. For martial arts (and indeed any other activity) is and should be for everyone. After some twelve years of having coached people with special needs, I still feel I am a beginner. There is so much I still have to learn not only from the students themselves but through this ever-expanding network that the Festival Programme has generated, through fellow like-minded instructors and other professionals.
For those of you who are wary about coaching people with special needs, just try to think about what it was like for me on my first ever experience of this - absolutely terrifying. And yet it was (a) those students who put me at ease and (b) some of them with whom I remain in regular touch as personal valued friends.

If you want to set up your own club to include special needs students, there is no magic formula - just do it. You will learn along the way, just like I have and will also learn what works and what doesn't. Oh! and good luck with your endeavours.

Thanks for taking the time to read this. I hope you found it both thought-provoking, possibly even opinionated, but in the end we all have our own opinions, thoughts and ideas on how to coach. This is just one opinion amongst literally millions.

Yours in budo

Terry Taylor

Festival Director: The South of England Martial Arts Festival for Disabled People

Proprietor: Disability Media and Martial Arts

© Disability Media and Martial Arts 2004. All rights reserved.

For further information please contact Terry Taylor:

E-mail: terry.taylor@twt.org.uk

STOP PRESS (December 2004): I thought it would be useful to include within this latest offering some news about what actually happened at this year's Festival. Although it was our smallest event so far with just over 80 people attending, the instructors, as has always been the case in previous years, got stuck in to make sure everyone had a really great time. On the instructor/volunteer side all the feedback I received was very positive too.

Here are a few stories from Festival 2004:

• Amongst the team of assistants were two young people (just 9 and 13 years of age and therefore our youngest ever) who wanted to volunteer their time as their father also has a disability - well done to you both;
• I was very proud of my deafblind student (mentioned earlier) as he won third place in our first-ever open competition;
• Although in its early stages of development, the competitive element went off well. The winner even ended up on BBC TV;
• The BBC report was a first for the Festival and was organised at only 24 hours notice. Let's hope it will boost the profile of the event as well as martial arts for people with disabilities;
• We were also pleased to welcome guest instructors from Belgium and USA and hope in the future to encourage groups along from overseas too;
• There were a number of participants present who have been positively encouraged to join a local club not just by me but by other instructors present too. This is basically what the whole purpose of the day is - to encourage any who attended to actively take up martial arts on a regular and inclusive basis;
• I also took the opportunity at this year's Festival to announce our next: early 2006. I am always keen to hear from anyone who wants to attend. As an instructor/volunteer you will benefit from an intensive close-quarters learning experience; as a participant you will get the opportunity to sample a wide range of martial art styles and, for those of you who are already in a club somewhere, you will also get the opportunity to demonstrate your skills and/or take part in a competition.

A final note: thankyou to all the instructors and volunteers for your time and effort. This was very much appreciated. This applies for both this year as well as for previous Festival Days. All of you have basically enabled each Festival Day to take place so, thankyou again. I hope you each got as much from the Days as those that you came to work with. I also hope you will now be able to take these experiences back to your own clubs so that you can now feel a lot more confident about welcoming a disabled person along with anyone else. Again, some of you have already done this as the whole aim of the Festival Programme is/has been to encourage anyone with a disability in to a local club: you have already all shown you are all happy to do this.

APPENDIX (1): COACHING ISSUES

The most important aspect of any disabled person's being is that, like non-disabled people they are all individuals and none of them are alike including aspects pertaining to their disability/ies. Thus work with their ability level i.e. take in to account their disability but work with it and not at it.

Another way of looking at it is this: A fellow instructor once said to me that basically anyone who comes to his club for the first time is in effect disabled as they do not have any knowledge or skill level to undertake any martial arts training. As instructors, we just go ahead and train our students anyway and deliver the skill and knowledge to them so that they can develop in to martial artists. This applies to everyone whether they are disabled or not.

In terms of coaching I do not feel that there is much that is different to teaching non-disabled people. The possible exception I would say might be teaching those with a learning difficulty whereby you need to keep aspects of teaching simple and maybe, where necessary, adapt your syllabus to suit an individual's needs. I would certainly recommend undertaking some specialised training for this although, again, it does depend on the degree of the learning difficulty - if it is very mild it should not be too difficult but those with moderate or severe learning difficulties will (a) need more attention and (b) I would suggest consideration be given to running a separate class for this group so that they do benefit from closer coaching.

For those with physical disabilities potentially it potentially will be easier. For example, with someone who has a visual impairment (we'll assume for now s/he is totally blind) (also this is the area with which I have the greatest expertise):

• you will need to give detailed verbal instructions e.g. where to place hands, feet etc.;
• also I have found one-to-one manoeuvring is also helpful but it does depend on the individual's acceptance of this - or not;
• also drawing plans/whatever on the student's hand has also proved to be useful;
  For those with hearing loss:
• I would suggest that the most important aspect is that you face them throughout the time you are speaking so that reading of lips is easier for the student(s);
• Possibly learning sign language might be appropriate, however please bear in mind that not all deaf people use sign language (typically sign language users are what is termed as 'culturally Deaf' i.e. they have been born in to a world of limited/no hearing and their distinct preferred method of communication is through sign language i.e. THIS is their first language and not English/any other speech-based language. With this also comes a different grammar structure);

For those who are deafblind:

• Assuming again we are thinking in terms of total hearing and visual loss, there are various forms of communication of which the Deafblind Manual Alphabet is a very useful skill to have. Indeed if you are a signer to culturally Deaf people you will find learning this quite easy;
• For my deafblind student I use a mixture of hands-on signing using a system known as Block Alphabet which is basically signing on his hand using block capitals. We also use his very sophisticated laptop which has something called Zoomtext (magnification software) on it i.e. I write in a large font. Typically the advice given in the visual impairment sector is to use Arial font as opposed to, say, Times New Roman but again please bear in mind my opening comments at the top of this appendix - my deafblind student does use Times New Roman!

For those in wheelchairs:

• You will almost certainly need to adapt the syllabus e.g. how kata's etc. are performed but, based on a fellow instructor's experiences, I would suggest fairly minimally;
• You would perhaps need to explain that in an integrated environment some teaching of leg techniques will be taught during which time wheelchair students could perhaps be asked to do something else.

In broad terms as far as any disabled student is concerned you adapt as you go and only where/when you need to. For example, one of my former blind students I arranged for him to do his kata separately from everyone else at his grading so that he does not get injured in possible clashes with other fellow (sighted) students, also, equally important that he did not injure others.

Also do not feel afraid of accepting advice from the student him/herself e.g. when teaching kihon kata I broke the three-quarter turn at the top and bottom of the movements in to three separate moves so that the student's orientation and direction was maintained as best as possible (by doing it as three separate quarter turns). It turns out that this is a variation on a mobility skill that blind people sometimes use including for Guide Dog users.

APPENDIX (2): SOCIAL MODEL ON DISABILITY

There is plenty on this on the Internet. However in simple terms it is making life easier for disabled people to access everything else that we, as non-disabled people take for granted. That includes in martial arts terms (amongst other issues):

· Having accessible premises whether this be a wheelchair ramp or disabled toilets or whatever;

· Making the service you are providing accessible in a way that best suits their needs e.g. reading out your Newsletters to a visually impaired person, or even if you have the equipment available, transcribing it in to Braille or providing it in large print format;

· Try undertaking what you're trying to teach by putting yourself in their position e.g. trying out a kata in a wheelchair or teaching the same to someone with no sight - explain, as I said earlier, the techniques in a non-visual way;

For further reading on the social model of disability I would recommend you search on the Internet. However as I have already said it is the way in which we, as non-disabled people conduct ourselves in setting up an environment that best suits us and does not take in to account the need to be inclusive of all including those with a disability e.g. when designing access to a building and/or making reasonable alternative opportunities for said client group to access buildings. Another way of looking at it is that we as non-disabled people disenable those with a disability because we have centred our needs around purely ourselves and have not taken an all-inclusive approach. For example, if you attend the A.S.P.I.R.E. National Training Centre at Stanmore you'll see lifts for wheelchair users to access the upstairs floor of the building, a swimming pool that will cater for all disabled people etc. - which is just as it should be. For no building should be built with just disabled people in mind. For we are then restricting access for all which, from a legal viewpoint, has been the cornerstone of the implementation of the final part of the Disability Discrimination Act i.e. access to anywhere for anyone, not just some of us.

APPENDIX (3): REHABILITATION WORK

The aim and essence of a Rehabilitation Officer (RO) [my profession gained indirectly from my martial arts work] is to make his/her (visually impaired [VI]) client's environment as safe and independent as possible through teaching life skills. A RO will cover such areas as (amongst others):

• Mobility: teaching a VI person, for example, how to use a white cane and to generally get out and about to do the shopping, go to work/college/other friends or family members' homes or whatever;
• Independent Living Skills (ILS): anything from how to make a hot drink (if necessary with adaptive equipment) to making a meal to keeping home clean, also issues pertaining to personal care, use of adaptive equipment in the home (e.g. talking watches/clocks, large button phones, etc.);
• Communications: providing alternative ways of accessing the printed word e.g. talking books/newspapers, reading through large print documents and/or use of adaptive equipment to enlarge what's on screen, learning Braille/Moon, adaptive computer technology, etc.;
• Providing information/advice about all other areas of life e.g. employment, volunteering opportunities, leisure, benefits, other social services' services, sources of information, etc. In general terms acting as a referral point for as much/little as a visually impaired person needs, again, with safety and independence in mind (and in that order too).

APPENDIX (4): SOME USEFUL PEOPLE I'VE HAD THE PLEASURE TO WORK WITH TO GET MY MARTIAL ARTS FESTIVAL PROGRAMME OFF THE GROUND

1. Jackie Farr: she was Kent Sports Development Officer for Disabled People (part of my county's local Council's sports development team). Particularly in the beginning she did a lot of groundwork for me and was kind enough to continue to support me in my endeavours to help develop the Festival Programme in to what it is today. Please look up the following website for further details regarding the Unit's work: http://www.kentsport.org
She has moved on to 'pastures new'. The new Kent Sports Development Officer for Disabled People is Mike Bishop. He can also be contacted through the same website;

2. Pontus Johannson: is a disabled martial artist based in Sweden. He is also a former Paralympic swimmer but has since moved on to coaching disabled people in martial arts. He teaches wado-ryu karate. He has an excellent website in which he lists a number of contacts internationally. You can contact Pontus at: nhifbudo@telia.com Also it is again worth a look at his website, MAFDIR: http://www.itv.se/~a1050/intlreg.html
As at the time of updating it is not clear what Pontus's web address is. However like me he is very active in this field of 'sport';

3. The Sparkle Club: this is a martial arts club run by Ben Keenan who again contacted me a few years ago after having set up a club for adults with severe learning difficulties (in conjunction with his local MENCAP group). Ben until recently taught a mixture of shotokan karate and tai chi to good effect, again, as exemplified by the excellent demonstration given at 2001's Festival. Ben can be contacted at: benkeenan@kbnet.co.uk

4. Stanmore Bushido: Its Chief Instructor is Sensei Barry Mitchell, fifth dan in Okinawan goju-ryu, fourth in shotokan and first in jujitsu. The dojo operates out of the A.S.P.I.R.E. National Training Centre mentioned earlier and in 2001 enjoyed the success of its first disabled black belt. Barry is an exceptional instructor and operates, like me, an integrated policy of welcoming both disabled and non-disabled people in to his dojo's. He also has the honour of being the only instructor to have now taught at virtually all of my Festivals and at 2001's event he invited some of his own disabled students to give a demonstration, again, well received by all present. Barry can be contacted at: barrymitchell99@yahoo.com

5. Martial Arts Festival for Disabled People in Leicestershire. This is run by Michael Newton. It, too, has grown year by year. Michael has a group of disabled martial artists that he teaches weekly. He can be contacted at: Michael.newton5169@freeserve.co.uk

6. Although he does not openly advertise it, Steve Rowe is a leading light within martial arts, seventh dan and Chief Instructor of Shikon. I found out only recently that he has a number of special needs youngsters and adults in his Club. He can be contacted at: steve@shikon.com Also the Shikon website is: www.shikon.com

7. A husband and wife team, Simon and Donna Brooks are currently coaching a group of epileptic young people. They can be contacted at: simonbrooks@zoom.co.uk

I feel sure that there are other instructors also actively working alongside people with disabilities. I am very keen to network with all of you so please do get/stay in touch. Please also note the heading: people who have helped to contribute towards the Festival's DEVELOPMENT i.e. not just people I'm also in touch with about martial arts for people with disabilities. Therefore if I have missed any of you out please forgive me - it is not intentional.

Finally, I hope you, as a reader of this article have found the information contained above of use and that you will return to this website which I genuinely hope to keep more up-to-date in the future. Please feel free to contact me as detailed earlier in this article.