| I have practiced the martial arts for almost 35 years. In | | | | community, TKD has few forms and the fighting style |
| that time I received many useful lessons - | | | | tends not to use those forms in combat. So, what |
| self-defense, discipline, compassion, teamwork, humility | | | | happens is that students learn one thing within the |
| and self-confidence among them. I've also learned | | | | context of the art and learn something else in the |
| some not so practical things --- the flying spinning jump | | | | context of its application. |
| kick pretty, but ineffectual, how to break concrete | | | | Kung fu relies more heavily on a balance between |
| slabs with various parts of my body including my head | | | | technique and application. The challenge here is that |
| and even how to meditate while lying on a nail bed | | | | traditional kung fu typically does not emphasize forms |
| oddly comfortable. | | | | to teach technique. |
| At 46, while I can still go toe to toe with 20 year olds | | | | Modern Wushu, by contrast, relies heavily on forms, |
| and throw a passable back handspring, I've ultimately | | | | but rarely engages in combat application. There are |
| come to realize that, beyond the physical, many of the | | | | exceptions to this, but they tend to be school-specific. |
| most valuable aspects of the martial arts are the | | | | So, with the former, the technique side of Kung Fu falls |
| lessons of social intelligence and mental discipline. That | | | | short of creating structure and consistency, and with |
| is what makes this particular activity useful for | | | | the latter the application side falls short of creating that |
| shepherding the development of skills that address the | | | | self-same structure and consistency. |
| challenges of ADD/ADHD, for both children and adults. | | | | Aikido is the perfect blend of form and function. It is a |
| All children crave structure and consistency. Adults, | | | | highly ritualized discipline and technique is applied in |
| too, thrive on ritual. The arts that contain these | | | | combat exactly as it is taught on the mat. Sword |
| elements of structure, consistency and ritual are the | | | | styles like Iai-do, Kendo and Kenjutsu also offer a strict |
| ones that would be most applicable to help bring an | | | | blend of form and function. The problem is that Aikido |
| individual challenged by ADD/ADHD to develop greater | | | | schools are few and far between, and sword schools |
| organizational and executive functioning skills. | | | | are even more scarce. |
| The variety of martial arts is tremendous, almost | | | | The Wu Dan Kung Fu disciplines of T'ai Chi Ch'uan, Ba |
| beyond comprehension. I have studied many different | | | | Qu'a Zhan and Xing-Yi also rely on a strong balance |
| arts, and hold rank in several. And, being that it is | | | | of form and application, but the slow pace and general |
| something of an obsession with me, I also possess a | | | | intensity of the styles make them rather unsuitable for |
| fairly broad -- what Grandmaster would call "armchair" | | | | kids in general. For adults, they may be more |
| -- knowledge of the various traditional, modern, esoteric | | | | applicable. |
| and commercial systems. With regard to the particular | | | | The Japanese arts, particularly the Okinawan, and to |
| application that we are discussing, some arts are quite | | | | some degree the mainland Shotokan, Seido and |
| valuable, others not so much. | | | | Oyama styles, are more balanced in terms of |
| That said I recognize that martial artists, as a rule, are | | | | technique and application. In addition, the teamwork |
| a rather territorial bunch, so I suspect this article may | | | | aspect that is found in the Japanese arts -- creating a |
| gather some rather strong reactions from practitioners, | | | | single unit of separate individuals -- is not as common in |
| should they be reading. I would ask you, the reader, to | | | | the Chinese and Korean arts. |
| bear in mind that we are talking about a very specific | | | | I have spoken here in broad terms. I have left out |
| perspective with a very specific application in mind. We | | | | many 'boutique' disciplines like Krav Maga, Capoeira |
| are not doing a critique, and neither bating, nor baiting, | | | | and Kalariyapattu, and most all of the grappling styles, |
| debate. | | | | as well as some family-specific styles, like Ling Gar. |
| In my estimation, the Okinawan traditions and mainland | | | | That is more about the availability of these arts hence, |
| Japanese styles are most beneficial for the purpose | | | | 'boutique' than the arts themselves. |
| that we are considering. Aikido is also fantastic vehicle | | | | So, if you are considering adding martial arts as a |
| for creating structure, consistency and ritual, as is | | | | support for the development of organizational and |
| Kendo, Iai-do and Kenjutsu, but instruction in these | | | | executive functioning skills, consider which art you are |
| disciplines is typically difficult to find. Let's consider | | | | undertaking and whether or not it is best suited to that |
| applicability by contrast. | | | | purpose. |
| Although Tae Kwon Do is fairly ubiquitous in every | | | | |