As an industry, martial arts have held to narrow of a definition of what constitutes self-defense. In the traditional sense, self-defense has been looked at to mean the ability to protect one's self in a physical altercation. The concept of self-defense needs to be expanded to include concepts such as one's mental and physical health, critical thinking, social media, environment, and relationships.
While teaching students how to protect themselves physically is very important, it is not something most martial arts students will face on a regular basis. What challenges students repeatedly face on a regular basis are their own emotions, social media, the food they eat, their physical environment, and relationships with others.
We need to help our students be able to identify and understand their feelings and how to properly deal with them. We also need to teach our students that their feelings are ok, and more importantly, to talk about those feelings to mom, dad, spouse, teacher, or trusted adult. Children need our help in how to identifying and properly deal with potential online predators, and or cyberbullies. Our students need to know the importance of healthy eating, staying hydrated, and what that looks like. When I talk of one's physical environment I am not simply talking about where you physically live. Included within that is helping our students become aware of the fact that we are the stewards of this planet and what we can do to protect it. Students need to understand "getting" along with others isn't simply a matter of being polite. They also need to understand the concept of setting boundaries, as well as helping them identify what constitutes an emotionally healthy relationship.
It's time we as an industry widen our concept of self-defense and adopt a teaching curriculum that is more inclusive, and better serves our student's everyday realities and challenges.
Prof Lucarelli
No comments:
Post a Comment