Beginning on June 2, 2012 and continuing until August 25, 2012, One World Karate is offering a Saturday summer camp for the entire family!
The camp will run from 11AM until 4PM each and every Saturday (except July 21, 2012) and will include tons of fun activities, a movie, and Karate!
GO HERE to read all about it, or click on the Summer Camp menu option under “Programs” at the top of the page.
We here at One World Karate are adding a FAQ page (Frequently Asked Questions) to the site to answer some of the more common questions I am being asked by parents of prospective students.
You can also click on the link “FAQ” at the top of the screen.
Thanks!
Teacher/Bully:
How My Son Was Humiliated and Verbally Tormented by His Teacher and Aide
If you live in our world – the world of a special needs family member – you have most likely already seen about Stuart Chaifetz, and his son, Akian. You can go to his website to hear more about it, but essentially a sweet, young autistic child was systematically ignored, tormented, teased, and abused by his teacher. The father sent his son to school with a wire on and got over 6 hours of a day from hell on tap.
When I first heard the story, I went to the video expecting to see a story about an exasperated teacher and an ignored child. Instead I hear a story so close to home yet so alien it frightened me.
The teacher worked in a self contained class for autistic students. She had teacher aides, and – presumably – she had the training to properly do her job.
Guess what? For 3 years I taught a self contained class for students on the spectrum. I had teacher aides, and a rigorous and comprehensive yearly set of continuing education on the latest teaching methodologies. I was just like this woman.
And yet we could not be further from each other had we been on opposite sides of the world.
Is it hard to teach these students? Yes
Is it frustrating? Yes
Are you emotionally tested every day? Yes
Is it EVER OK to do ANYTHING these women did in their classroom? No. Not Ever.
Lets start with the gross unprofessionalism. They ignore their students to discuss excessive drinking, late nights during the school week, and wildly inappropriate discussions about their husbands and sterilization. They also discuss the specifics of an IEP meeting on front of students – not only unprofessional, but not even legal. Students have a right to privacy.
Are you kidding me?!?!
Let’s move on to the despicable subverting of the entire special education process. The Teacher, OT, and Social worker all collude to blame the behaviors of the child on the parent at the IEP. A stunningly gross destruction of the entire reason for such a meeting. This is so morally, ethically and legally wrong it beggars description. It makes me sick to my stomach and makes me ashamed to have been in the same profession as them.
What kind of person even entertains these ideas?
Now on to the most heart wrenching aspect. These “professionals” took a well mannered child and turned him into a wounded animal.
How did they do this? Simple really, they did everything wrong. Everything. I was waiting and waiting and waiting to hear something on those tapes that would redeem these adults in the slightest way. I wanted to be able to say, “See! Right there? They were nice to their students. They care, they just need more training / rest / help.” But I never heard one thing like that. Not one.
That’s the very worst part about this. These grown ups literally did nothing they should have, and only an aide was sacrificed to appease Stuart Chaifetz, and his son, Akian.
The teacher, the Social Worker, the OT - they all still have jobs, which means that they are all STILL DOING THIS TO SOME POOR CHILDREN RIGHT NOW.
Verbal abuse, emotional abuse, ridicule, anger, cruelty. Stuart Chaifetz had to endure 6 hours of it. His son had to endure it every day. A child without the ability to communicate like we do, so he communicated the only way he could. He lashed out and got mocked for it.
I wish I could step back emotionally and write about how maybe the school system let down everyone by not helping the teachers get enough training to do their jobs properly. It is a very difficult job, and it needs a specialist, or at the very least specialized training.
These so called educators exhibited none of that. None at all. They do not deserve their jobs, and no student deserves to have them as a teacher. Teaching is a sacred trust, and these people destroyed that trust for all of us. Shame on you all, and thank you Stuart and Akian for forcing this travesty to light.
Akian – I wish you could know how sorry we are that you went through this, and how much we wish it could be taken back. I hope one day we can be forgiven for allowing this to happen to you.
In part one of this series we discussed modernizing the behavior modifications of the traditional Martial Art school. Then, in part two we discussed adapting the curriculum for working with the special needs of the student. In part three we discussed the usage of technology.
Our fourth and (short) final installment is about how we can integrate our instruction into the life of the student.
One of the wonderful innovations of the modern Martial Art school is the concept that the school is not an isolated, separate entity from the rest of the students life. Their home life, school life, work life and martial arts life are all facets of the students existence.
Modern schools often require notes from school and home providing proof that the student is getting good grades, performing chores, and behaving in the manner befit of a Martial Artist. One World Karate will continue this tradition where appropriate.
One of the prerequisites for moving to a new belt rank will be the approval of the students parents. teachers, and therapists.
The student will have to display the appropriate discipline, behavior, and growth required to advance to the next level.
1WK is meant to be a facilitator and tool to help shape the growth of the student in positive ways. We hope to help teach that good behavior and hard work is a habit of a lifetime, not a sometime “school” thing, or “home” thing.
The Nexersys Workout and Gaming system
From time to time, I will be reviewing products or training aides that the school uses, with an eye to determining if:
I’m going to start this series with the mother of all new mixed martial arts workout equipment: The Nexersys.
Let’s cut to the chase and give away the ending – this thing is incredible. The Nexersys claims to be a complete workout for the mixed martial artist, weekend warrior, or even just a person who likes a fun and engaging workout. Plus lets face it, we all need to hit something every once in a while. While the Nexersys does fall short in one or two areas, in truth there is simply nothing out there that can even approach the quality of workout that the Nexersys is capable of providing. I lost 18 pounds in the first 3 weeks of training – all extra weight I needed to lose.
Throwing a knee - watch the power or you'll shake the machine.
The Nexersys is not just a workout machine for the martial artist, though if you are a serious trainer, this machine along with a Muay Thai heavy bag and a pair of running shoes will provide you with a workout you absolutely can not get anywhere else outside of the gym. Period.
The machine performs as advertised and more as far as fun, high intensity cardio is concerned. Well thought out video instruction provides an adequate level of instruction for the beginner, ensuring a workout that doesn’t end with tweaked wrists, or other injuries due to bad form or technique.
Multiple types of rounds are utilized, including true cardio workouts, sparring, striking, and all manner of innovative and – I keep coming back to this – FUN workouts! This IS NOT a machine destined to be tucked in a corner and covered up with dirty clothes.
YOU WILL USE THIS!
However, drawback one is that the machine is simply too much fun. The pad placement, the engaging monitor, and the immediate live feedback all conspire to trick you into thinking this machine is about kickboxing. It’s not. It’s all about cardio and technique.
“Power” is conspicuously absent from a machine that just begs to be kicked and hit like a heavy bag. Unfortunately, if you hit or kick with any real oomph behind it, you get a buzzer and the game freezes up to let you know you are being a bully. Plus a price tag of more than $2,500 tends to put a damper on an all out assault. Who wants to break something that costs that much?
The good news for us here at One World Karate? This drawback means less than nothing to our students. The inability to really crush the pads is a total and complete non issue for us.
The Body Hook, or Dig as it is called - fun times.
For me the former kickboxer and occasional American Bando Association National Champ, the end result is that I must keep my Heavy bag around for the days I really need to kick until my shins hurt and my arms get too heavy to hold up. My style of training, and my years of doing it, make the kicking pads almost pointless for me other than an excuse to lift my knees during a cardio round. After more than a month, I literally still score 0% on lead and power kicks most of the time because I hit it too hard. In order to hit it appropriately, I am forced to slow down my round and give it a love tap. Incredibly frustrating to be working on a four strike combo only to pull up and tap the power kick for fear of getting buzzed at.
So what about the Nexersys as it pertains to a martial art school focused on special needs students? This machine is, if possible, even better for us than the general population. I am literally giddy with anticipation of utilizing this machine with my students. I love it.
Pad placement provides striking surfaces for students of all ages, sizes, and abilities. You can get a chair – wheelchair or otherwise – close enough in to hit the middle body and lower leg kicking pads with ease. The sparring rounds allow you to hit whatever you want, and see it registered on a human target – just like a video game. A huge, wonderful, FUN, positive aspect of the machine.
The only drawback is that at this time the machine does not allow me to personally program a round with specific strikes to specific target areas. For example, a student that needs to work kicks from the ground or punches from a wheelchair has to utilize the generic “sparring round” and it would really be incredible if I could build a targeted round working specific combos and techniques on specific pads.
I actually talked to the makers of this machine (they are a local Austin based company – another plus!) and they thought this was a great idea. So maybe one day, we’ll get a software update allowing me to do that.
Until then, I’ll just use the sparring round and try not to have too much fun when I’m supposed to be teaching my students.
FINAL GRADE: A
RECOMMENDATION: BUY
