Doctor's Find on Martial Arts and Disorder

[pressureguy]

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=14185547&BRD=1306&PAG=461&dept_id=187834&rfi=6

 

Comments?

[ravenzoom]

This is great. I hope some parents who's kids have this sort of disorder send them to martial arts schools where it can benefit them in many ways and not only for their attention disorders. I feel this is a great contribution to the martial arts and medical world. Sometimes it's better to find an alternative to medication and this may just help

[markusan]

I find it mildly amusing that some medical boffin has made a breakthrough discovery that I think most instructors would have known about for years.Our academy has had many such kids over the years and a few adults with attention deficit. It is all about discipline and being tough without destroying their self esteem. It is also about never reinforcing their negative behaviour and rewarding their positive behaviour....just like the rest of us. There's no "unique" method. Plenty of parents send their kids to us for that very reason. Nothing new.

[TangSooGuy]

While I personally believe ADHD is one of the most over-dagnosed disorders on the planet, there are a few kids that legitimately have a problem, and require outside help from medication and other treatments.

 

I actually have a student who has a severe form of ADHD, and could literally not look at anyone or anything for more than 1 second without diverting his attention elsewhere, and could not keep still for even half a second.

 

His doctor recommended martial arts training, and they found me...and it has been a challenge, but I really feel that kids like these are the ones that need us the most.

 

He has just been awarded his brown belt (an intermediate level in our system), trains in my advanced youth class, and his progress has been amazing.

 

he still struggles from time to time, but he is doing better at home and in school as well, and his parents attribute his progress directly to his training...

 

Martial Arts may not be able to solve every problem...but it comes close, sometimes.

[swdw]

I find it mildly amusing that some medical boffin has made a breakthrough discovery that I think most instructors would have known about for years.

 

People "knowing" from experience and having it PROVEN are 2 different things. Rather than putting this study down, you should be happy that you now have medical proof for your convictions.

[Muaythaiboxer]

ive never had any helth problems (thank goodness) but some of the kids i train with have really shown inprovement i think that MA is probably one of the best way to do just about anything helth wise.

[monkeygirl]

I once had a student with learning disabilities and severe ADHD, according to his parents. They actually took him to Johns Hopkins for testing and treatment...but the parents rejected the treatments they gave him. They basically sedated him to where he was a zombie...he was less of a disruption, but wasn't achieving anything. Normally, the kid was wound so tight, I often wondered if he could ever calm down enough to sleep. He was definitely the most challenging student I ever had the privelige of teaching. He was difficult because as soon as he did what you asked him to, he felt no obligation to keep doing it or just stand still. For example if I told him to punch, he would punch and then spin around a few times in place. When I told him to focus, he would tell me that he was not in control of his own feet.

 

With a lot of time, patience, and one-on-one instruction, he made a lot of progress. Although he did not advance as quickly as the other students (because he had difficulty memorizing kata and techniques, as well as performing them without adding his own "special flair"), he made remarkable steps in focus, and eventually regained control of his feet

 

I have to be thankful for this kid. When he first came along, I was a new and inexperienced instructor. Outwardly I was patient as I took him aside and helped him in class, but inside I was pulling my hair out. As he started to show progress (and eventually moved in to the class I personally instructed), I realized that I had made progress, too. In trying anything and everything to get this kid to focus, I learned a lot about teaching, patience, and maturity.

 

I've also seen less extreme cases where the students show a lot of improvement in their report cards.

[Juniper]

This is an awesome article. I can affirm from personal experience that it is true. My son has ADHD and practices martial arts. All I can say is that his practice has helped him immensely. In fact, he said to me the other day, "Mom, when I am in school, I think of kung fu class and that helps me to focus and stay quiet." When I heard that, I was so proud of him. He made the connection by himself.

[cathal]

Its an interesting study, I would be interested to see the results of some logitudinal studies on this.

[markusan]

We had an adhd student some years ago 13 years old and had been suspended from school 12 times that year. When he was medicated he slowed down, his speech slurred etc. Our academy has regular camping weekends for instructors and to give his parents a break we took him with us prepared for a hectic weekend. He said he didn't want to take his medication so we went along. The kid didn't put a foot wrong all weekend, he was attentive focussed, polite and helpful. He worked hard and contributed well to the group. Since then we have done the same thing with four other troubled boys with similar results. I don't know why it works but I can vouch for the method. Three of the kids are still with us and have made great progress. The other, the first boy we took away, left and gradually went back to his old habits. He is about 18 now and heavily medicated all the time. Like I say, I/m no expert but I suspect some forms of attention deficit are helped by strong authority figures.