Jiu jitsu for kids with disabilities???

[Cash Bill 52]

Thanks, guys. Keep the stories coming. I taught mentally retarded adults and kids to ice skate and it was great. I really felt like I was making a difference. The autistic kids were a different story. I felt helpless trying to tie their skates.

I think jiu jitsu would be easier to teach. This is what I'm thinking for the private:

hip movement
"animal" crawls
forward/backward roll ?
gi gripping
standing
falling from knees (ukemi from knees)
Maybe the rnc (fan favorite)
playful rolling and wraslin

I will make it fun for him. My goal will be to see a smile on his face. I taught him how to play tether ball a few weeks ago. It was cool when he said, " I can do this."

[radnads]

I think BJJ would be absolutely amazing for a kid with down's syndrome maybe not so much for autism. But here's why, BJJ pure isn't so rough that he will absolutely freak out. Also, even though there is a real intelligence needed, it is physical. After the basic principles of a move are taught, they are only told to help you get a feel for this. There in my mind is absolutely nothing stopping a person trisome 21 from becoming a Black Belt.

[Steelviper]

I haven't seen it, but I liked the sound of the Gracie Games on the Gracie Bullyproof DVDs. While I've seen some very young kids doing some pretty darn good jujitsu, I fear that there'd be a danger of them burning out if their participation is primarily parent driven. (Something about the way the jujitsu dad was screaming "Sankaku jime! Now!" at his kids reminded me eerily of the SNL skits about Tiger Woods' dad crazy gluing a golf club to young Tiger's hands.)

It does seem like you ought to be able to teach the fundamental movements and concepts of jiu-jitsu without creating a juvenile-offender-to-be. The drills Bill listed sound good. Especially rolling and breakfalling. That's a life skill that everybody, regardless of their interest in martial arts, ought to learn. I don't mean to sound overly dramatic, but think about how many lives might be saved (or at the very least injuries prevented) if everyone knew how to fall properly and practiced it regularly.

[Chalito]

I think it would be great for children with disabilities. It would help them focus and give them some self esteem.

[FLoWitheGo]

Originally Posted by Cash Bill 52

I was just wondering if you guys know of anybody who teaches a grappling art to kids or adults with disabilities. I've watched Kyle Maynard and others with severe physical disabilities, but I haven't seen kids with autism, severe ADHD, processing disorders, or other mental challenges.

A parent has asked me to work with a kid who is challenged physically and academically. He's a great kid and everyone loves him.

My thought is that jiu jitsu is good for anybody and everybody. Do you believe this statement is true?

I'll let you know how it goes. I scheduled a free private lesson for the kid and his friend for Tuesday. Afterwards, we'll watch the kids' class together and see if this is something that can work for him.

Awesome, probably one of the nicest things anyone could do. God bless you.

[Darkslide632]

I'm actually a Behavioral Health Professional working towards my LCSW and hopefully my PhD in child psychology eventually, and my specific focus has always been children and adolescents who were high risk/high need.

It's really going to depend on the individual. Some kids, especially those with some kind of sensory integration issues enjoy certainly kinds of physical stimulation. If you have ever seen a PT at work you'll see they have a lot of different textures, etc for the kids to work with. They make things like weighed blankets for kids who respond to the pressure caused by them, and there are many joint compression exercises etc that work well. I imagine that there aspects of BJJ that replicate some of these things and that certain kids would respond well to them.

That being said, some kids do not do well with the close contact that takes place in grappling and I imagine that those kids would respond adversely to grappling in any form.

In any event, I think that it's well worth the effort to find out whether or not it is an activity that can be enjoyable for that particular individual.

I'd caution some of the people who are posting in this thread about making uninformed assumptions about anyone with a disability.

[Mikey Triangles]

Originally Posted by radnads

I think BJJ would be absolutely amazing for a kid with down's syndrome maybe not so much for autism. But here's why, BJJ pure isn't so rough that he will absolutely freak out. Also, even though there is a real intelligence needed, it is physical. After the basic principles of a move are taught, they are only told to help you get a feel for this. There in my mind is absolutely nothing stopping a person trisome 21 from becoming a Black Belt.

My little sister has Down's and I've taught her some BJJ, but she has a bit of a harder time with it than some of the autistic children I've taught. she was also in the early stages of leukemia when I was teaching her and we didn't know it, but now that she has beat it I'd like to show her some more. She also preffered boxing/striking

[Mikey Triangles]

Originally Posted by Cash Bill 52

Thanks, guys. Keep the stories coming. I taught mentally retarded adults and kids to ice skate and it was great. I really felt like I was making a difference. The autistic kids were a different story. I felt helpless trying to tie their skates.

I think jiu jitsu would be easier to teach. This is what I'm thinking for the private:

hip movement
"animal" crawls
forward/backward roll ?
gi gripping
standing
falling from knees (ukemi from knees)
Maybe the rnc (fan favorite)
playful rolling and wraslin

I will make it fun for him. My goal will be to see a smile on his face. I taught him how to play tether ball a few weeks ago. It was cool when he said, " I can do this."

A fun game for them to learn back control and the RNC is I (the teacher) get on all fours and let them put their hooks in with a seatbelt grip. At first all they have to do is hang on and keep control while I run wild on all fours around the room (like a horse back ride), then as they progress I do more difficult movements until I'm bucking around like a rodeo bull and they can still hang on with the seat belt and hooks. By this point their new goal is to tap me with an RNC before I can buck them off and make them lose their position. Obviously you can make it easy to difficult depending on their level, but this is a great fun drill to get them used to holding back control, and eventually they can also learn to sink the RNC live with proper timing; all while laughing and having a blast. this was a major favorite for the handicapped kids I taught.


I also do similar drills from other positions, but since you mentioned the RNC I think this one will work for you.

[Ranger]

Nice thread. Prior to working in Law Enforcement, I worked with some fantastic human beings who happened to have disabilties. I am very happy, even surprised at the responses in this thread,I admit I expected some ignorant sherdog comments. Kudos.

[Yozigi]

Physical disabilities such as being blind or not having a certain limb are nothing. I know a blind person who had already medaled in Paralympics in one sport, started judo in his twenties and after some ten years in judo has medaled twice in judo in Paralympics. He competes and trains with us "not-blind" and is no joke in regural divisions on national level. I've seen bjj'ers with missing limbs and it wasn't that long ago when someone posted something about a BB bjj'er who had only one arm. There's also a pretty succesful judo program aimed to disabled people not too far away from where I live (not to mention that people with Down syndrome compete in Paralympics also!).

I've never taught judo to anyone who's blind or would have a missing limb but I'd imagine it'd be pretty easy compared to the kids who have hard time concentrating. When we take in new kids we don't ask the parents if their children have mental disabilities (or any for that matter), it's easy to spot the kids who propably are somewhat challenged academically, are hyper etc. We don't do privates, we're a judo club and a pretty competetive one at that so all our classes happen in group environment - especially with kids.

Sometimes it's a bit challenging to lead a big class with a disabled kid in it because they might need more attention than the other kids but we've never had any problems with kids specifically because of their disability. Every now and then I wish we'd have the priviledge of giving privates to some kids but it's even more important that all the kids (disabled or not) get to be taught in the regural class and aren't pushed into thinking they can't be as good as everyone else. If any of the "regural" kids has a problem with practising with a disabled one the only chance is to be authoritative and to tell the brat how it is - they don't decide what goes on in practise that's the coaches job.

Some random thoughts loosely sewed together, I tried to be politically correct in the terms I used don't mean to piss anyone off I'm not a professional when it comes to working with disabled people - I've just some experience coaching disabled kids and in our club they're just kids equal to everyone else. Sports are for everyone.