TKD Inner City Program Outline

Moral Culture Developement

I propose to begin this project in 2009. The target group will be disadvantaged youth ages six to sixteen years of age. Inner city youth of single parents that are at risk for dropping out of school and struggling with academics will be targeted, though all children of this age group will be allowed to attend.

An intake process will be used to determine a baseline of wellness of the students and measure any progress as a result of the training. The intake procedure will include the following;

·         Enneagram Personality test

·         A wellness evaluation

·         Heart agreement to participate to the best of their ability.

·         Liability waivers as willing participants in an athletic activity.

·         School  Academic grades

·         Teacher assessments on behavior will be part of each file.

Progress reports will be updated quarterly at the time of scheduled belt ranks grading. These progress reports will include the TKD exam results, school report cards, an updated wellness evaluation, and behavior report, notes from interviews with parents, student, teachers and TKD Instructors. The pilot project will test and train one hundred students. Each with three hours of TKD training per week. The classes will be split in age groups six to nine years old in one group and ten to sixteen years old in another group.  The curriculum for the training will require the students to learn basic fundamental movements (stances, blocks, hand positions, foot positions), a Pattern of moves memorized for each rank, choreographed step sparring, self defense, counting to ten in Korean, the tenets of TKD listed below, and the student oath. They will also be taught a basic understanding of the Enneagram

Wellness for youth

To describe wellness for youth we must include how the child fits into the social structure of the society in which he or she lives. By fitting-in a child should feel that they have equal opportunity to be educated, feel that they have an equal opportunity to earn a living out of finishing their education, feel that they are safe and free to move about the streets of the city with out being harmed or judged. A level of physical health comparable to their peers.

The Wheel of wellness aspects for youth.

Spirituality will be addressed to the extent of encouraging the students to explore their own beliefs, interject them into their daily practice, and speak about them in a safe setting as to how they relate to Courtesy, Integrity, Perseverance, Self Control, and Indomitable Spirit.

Self-Direction is a well defined asset derived from martial arts training. Building self confidence self esteem and a sense of control.

Work and Leisure, provided the classes are fun and entertaining, a well rounded class always ends with something enjoyable.

Friendship Camaraderie is built on group participation and self improvement. Over coming fear of another opens children to good friendships.

Love shows up when trust and faith in the student instructor relationship builds. I have thirty years of evidence in my experience. With parents, teachers counselors and instructors all paying close attention, who couldn’t feel loved?

Objective

            The outcome I would expect is to prove that the TKD martial arts instruction model can make a difference in the health and wellness of not just the students that are training but also the health and wellness of the community, and the health and wellness of society. First by creating awareness of the personality as a separate self, to be observed and controlled by the self. A baseline of behavior laid out and dictated to follow through the tenets of TKD. A regularly scheduled practice including movement, relationship, discipline, discussion, and lecture. A written curriculum for home study. Regular quarterly testing and tracking of behaviors, skills and knowledge. A reward system of belt ranking for successful completion of grades. 

A frequent objection to teaching martial arts to troubled youth is that some teachers think that “teaching kids to fight is the last thing we need to do”. The ignorance of the person stating this objection is best overcome by taking a few classes themselves. Martial arts is what I like to call “the great equalizer”. Bullies bully because of low self esteem, and victims are victimized because they also feel small and look like easy targets. The bullies that come to my class gain self esteem after being humbled and taught that being kind wins them friendship with the instructor. The victims that come to class often come to learn some technique so that they can on day get even. Before that day comes they will realize they have gained some confidence and are no longer being picked on. The Ennegram type will help the student gain some insight into what motivates their behavior. For the gut types it is autonomy, self protection. For the heart types it is image or how they think they are perceived. And for the head types it is fear, fear of not knowing, fear of no support, or fear of what may come. So the lesson for each is; there is nothing to defend for the gut types, nothing to promote for the heart types, and nothing to fear for the head types. There are more specific motivations for the individual types and each student will know them as they go through the training.

The plan will be for an initial duration of three years. This will leave a core group of an estimated twenty five Black Belts. This core group produced out of the program will be trained to carry the program forward and to grow it by three fold. As these new second generation classes grow exponentially by a factor of three the result will be very transformative for the society as a whole.

Logistical Concerns

Personnel – I will attempt to recruit four volunteer Assistant Instructors to help with the TKD training. Two from the current Eckerd Martial Arts Club and two others from the target community.  Statistical classes at Eckerd will be recruited to help with compiling these statistics. Human development students will be recruited to implement the Wellness and Enneagram tests.

Budget – This program will be largely Voluntary. Working with church groups and seeking some corporate contributions.

Venue – The target community will be screened for readily available venues such as church halls and school gymnasiums. 

Record keeping – statistical record keeping could be imperative for the validity of this model for the future use of similar programs.

Reporting – Writing reports of the ongoing statistics, growing health and wellness of the students, neighborhood and community as a whole will be delivered on a regular basis to the local news publications

Advertising – local print, radio and television PSA time and space will be used to the full extent.

Corporate Sponsorship – Most any major employer within the target area I would expect to be willing to back this program.

Expectation – Money, people, space, and time are abundant for this program.

References

Riso and Hudson, (1996) Personality Types Using the Enneagram for Self-Discovery

Boston New York: Houghton Mifflin Company

http://eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED375347&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED375347  Link to ’94 paper about martial Arts instruction for at risk youth.