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What comes to mind when one speaks of the martial arts?  Hollywood, David Caradine and Kung Fu for us older folks and Jet Li and Jackie Chan and the Matrix for the younger generation.  How about MMA?  Well, sorry to disappoint folks, but true wisdom and philosophy of the arts has nothing to do with all this fan fare.

The martial arts is both science and art.  The true student, is always a student inspite of the color of the “cloth” around his/her uniform.  The trap is that in most dojo/dojang in America, when one reaches first degree black belt, that student often thinks he/she has graduated.  No so!  One has just finished high school–now on to college.  Why do you think there are 9 grades of black belt?  One is “always” a student.

Basic to all traditional teachings in the arts for all styles and systems should be three aspects for the student to work on for personal growth.  They are the body, mind, and spirit.  In my art, Chon Sul Kwan Hapkido, known as Tactical Hapkido, our Alliance patch has symbols relating to this topic.  In training, a healthy body and rigorous training can make the difference between victim and survivor.  The U.S. Navy SEALS have a saying, “The more you sweat in training, the less you bleed in battle.”  We might not be going into battle, but a healthy body sure is a plus for a healthy mind.  That leads to the Mind.  Mental health and personal balance is sought by martial artists, yoga students, monks both East and West and many others.  It is a proven fact that martial arts help one to center and focus in difficult times as well as enjoy the “moment” when thing are going well.  The third aspect is spirit.  Sometimes as a school owner and instructor I meet resistance when a student or parent questions why we bow to the national flags, when we step on and off the mat and to eachother.  In their minds they think of religion or Buddhism.  Not so.  Spirituality in NOT religion. A spiritual person is one that respects himself, others, and creation.  Hum, St. Francis, Jesus, Buddha and Lao Tzu, just to name a few come to mind.  The Martial Arts help one to appreciate “life.”  That is the spiritual part.  It is true that Eastern monks studied martial arts to protect themselves from robbers, but today, Franciscan priest, Jesuits, Buddhist, Taoist and lay people all practice the arts for many reasons.  Some are for fitness, health, socialization, hobby and yes, a spiritual centering as well as self defense.

My first instructor, Master Yang Moon, a 7th Degree World Taekwondo Master taught us this:

Seek the perfection of character

Live the way of truth

Endeavor

Be fathful

Respect your seniors

Refrain from violent behavior

This is true philosophy of the Martial Arts.  If your instructor or school does not teach this, then you are paying way too much time and money for someone to teach you how to simply punch or roundhouse kick.  90% of what martial artists do is mental and only 10% is physical.  Even a chimp on YouTube can do a jumping spin kick.

The point is that if one is serious about traditional Martial Arts, there is more to learn than sparring.  However, if one is interested only in the sport, there is nothing wrong with that.  There is room for us all.  It comes down to “repspect.”

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. (Lao Tzu) And true martial artists are always on that journey.  Happy training!

The National Education Association reports that nearly 1/3 of all school-aged children are affected by bullying on a monthly basis—a statistic that Joe Van Deuren has committed his life to changing.

But it wasn’t until he was 40 that the Edgewater man figured out that his “life calling” was to help kids overcome bullying and to stop it in the early years of their development.

Now, as the leader of Balanced Life Skills Martial Arts in Annapolis, Van Deuren is developing a systematic and almost scientific way of combating bullying and sharing it with the community in weekly workshops.

After watching his youngest child, now 24, progress through all the levels of schooling, Van Deuren is now teaching kids how to stop bullying in classrooms and how to prevent it before it’s even a reality on the playground. In his workshop-like seminar called “Focus on Friendship, Bully Prevention Workshop,” he takes his vast experience in martial arts and applies it to instilling confidence and peace in young people.

“I started really studying martial arts in all its aspects—in the spiritual aspect too—thinking a lot deeper than just the physical stuff,” Van Deuren said. “I was bullied as a child, but I don’t know if that’s what drove me to this. When I graduated from school, had children and was in a fortunate situation, I just recognized there were issues that crosses the line whether kids were in public school or private school.”

Systematically, Van Deuren breaks down his training for kids into six tools ranging from five-step, conflict-handling processes to self-confidence boosters. He focuses on attitude, awareness and authenticity while training workshop attendants. One of the most unique things he does is work with kids as young as 4-5 years old.

“I don’t think we should be waiting until they get to middle school. By the time they’re 13, their character is solidified,” Van Deuren said. “I have kids in my school that are 4. I’m beginning to already do things with them that sets the groundwork that teachers them about friendship.”

The workshops are split up by age and gender for all children older than kindergarten, and while balancing taekwondo, he teaches them the values of communication, empathy, understanding and facing confrontational personalities.

The workshop is nice, Van Deuren said, but his vision for the county is much larger than his once-a-week classes.

“This is a life calling. I have some really big ideas of things I’m going to do in this county. I’m laying the groundwork for them now,” Van Deuren said.

The martial arts expert also said that his current season of life has allowed him to focus on the things that truly matter and not just making money with the workshops. Van Deuren said he’s able to avoid problems that he sees in other martial art studios.

“Too many martial arts schools are like McDojos—for ‘x’ number of dollars, you get a black belt,” Van Deuren said.

Moving forward, Van Deuren dreams of having peer-to-peer workshops throughout the county with high school students working with middle school students, and then see them work with younger kids.

“It’s not about posters, it’s not about programs, it’s about people,” Van Deuren said. “In any given school, the culture is driven by the principal … If bullying is a major issue to them, they will have a lot less of it. If something is more important than that, like test scores, it doesn’t happen.”

“We’re not teaching math or sciences, we’re teaching students. They’re eventually going to learn one plus one, but if they’re so scared they’re going to be bullied, they’re not going to learn a thing,” Van Deuren said.