For those that don’t know, I’m conducting research into how effective martial arts is for treating mental/psychological disorders.
This article shows how a woman in the Chicago Area is using martial arts as a method of behavioral modification. More contemporary research questions the validity of this approach, but many of the classical studies affirm such methods as helping with aggression, just as this woman claims.
From the Chicago Tribune:
Dominic Parrilli drew hoots of approval and raucous applause from his classmates when he summoned the concentration and proper technique to break a brick paver block with the palm of his hand during martial arts therapy class at his Oak Forest school.
Parrilli, a 15-year-old from Palos Hills who acknowledges he struggles with controlling his anger, said a greater feat is learning to use the power of concentration to manage his behavior in other settings.
“When I got mad, I used to feel like, OK, you’re dead. I’d just want to hurt you,” Parrilli said. “Now when I get into a verbal fight, I focus on resolving it instead of letting it go further.”
Parrilli credits his improved ability to manage his anger to martial arts therapy. He was one of about two dozen students in 2nd grade through high school who took part this semester in the therapy program at Southwest Cook County Co-Op, a school for children with emotional, developmental and behavioral problems.
The program appears to be unique in the state, officials say. They, along with teacher Sue McAley, a martial arts instructor and licensed counselor from Lemont, would like to see it launched in other alternative schools.
“With this population, it’s hard to get them invested in anything. But they really look forward to this. When it’s early in the morning and they’re talking about [going to martial arts therapy], that’s huge,” said Allison Bean, a social worker at the school.
The class was divided into separate sessions for the older and younger children.
As counter-intuitive as it may seem, McAley said the kicks, stances, punches and grappling of martial arts are a good way for children with behavioral problems to channel their aggression, control their impulses, learn to focus and act more appropriately inside the classroom and out.
“That’s the whole martial arts paradox. It’s not so much fun to hit someone when they can hit you back,” McAley said.
For younger kids who have a hard time concentrating, McAley challenged them to do exercises, such as holding a particular stance to help develop concentration and be grounded in their bodies rather than distracted by their environment.
In the older class, some participants towered over McAley and easily outweighed her. Nonetheless, she did not hesitate to don boxing gloves to spar with them or to wrestle.
“I’m 5 foot 2; I took a couple of them down,” she said. “They realized that a small person with focus can overcome a larger force.”
McAley’s class was a fusion of various martial arts including karate, boxing and tae kwon do. Unlike standard martial arts training, she said therapy puts a greater emphasis on behavior modification.
Throughout a recent class, for instance, she constantly reminded students of the power of their words and of how negative input can affect the outcome of a task.
McAley urged them to support a boy taking numerous tries at breaking the brick.
“If he walks away thinking he can’t do this, then what else in life will he walk away from, thinking he can’t do it?” she asked.
Bean said she has noticed kids monitoring their own behavior and that of others.
“It’s surprising to see the older kids remind each other when they’re using too much force or getting too aggressive,” she said. “They keep each other in check.”
Compared to their behavior in initial classes, McAley said her pupils have improved greatly. “As opposed to flying into chairs and slamming down gloves, I’ve actually seen them smile [when they spar] and one guy will say to the other, ‘Good point,’” she said.
Although McAley wants them to internalize the lessons in self- control, she warns them not to use their roundhouse kicks or jabs outside the classroom.
At the final session of the school year, the students were challenged to break a paver block and a piece of wood, and even to lay on a bed of nails. The classroom grew silent as McAley dropped a green apple on the nails to show students they were real.
Parrilli laid on the bed of nails and said he was able to maintain concentration and felt no pain while doing it.
After class, with a Band-Aid wrapped around his little finger, Nelson Polk, 17, of Country Club Hills, said he also felt no pain when he broke the paver block in two pieces.
“Five minutes later, I was like, ‘Oh. I hurt my finger,’” he said. “I cut my finger, but it was all worth it.”
