Karate; where neurodiversity is a SUPERPOWER!
This has been a topic that has been poking at my curiosity for a while now. Is there a deeper connection between karate and students who are neurodiverse? If so, why?
In an era where people are being diagnosed more readily with ADHD, autism, dyslexia, and other neurodiverse conditions, than ever before, it paves the way for us, as karate coaches, to better understand the workings of such a mind.
If you are someone who has struggled with having ADHD, or are a parent of a child with autism, you will know first-hand that traditional education and the goals set for students in school are often not in line with how a neurodiverse child learns, or what they are TRULY capable of achieving. Often, it’s a one-size-fits-all learning approach, and if you don’t fit into that, then tough!
This often leaves the child feeling frustrated, under-achieving and, then, have poor self esteem as a result.
Even removing the child from the main classroom to have “special learning” opens up issues for the child on a social level - they are seen as different. Not like the other children; the “A-typical children”.
No matter how schools and learning establishments approach this, and try their best to support children who have additional support needs, they just don’t fully hit the target.
It’s not my intention here to find fault in the formal education system, but as more and more parents contact us regarding karate classes for their child with autism or ADHD, it makes me wonder - what does karate provide to a neurodiverse child that school or other activities can’t?
To answer this, I firstly looked at the students within our Academy who we know to have been diagnosed with one of the main neurodiverse conditions, and how they perform in karate in comparison to an A-typical student.
Case Study - Sam
Take Sam*, for example. Sam joined us around a year ago as a 7 year old boy who had been diagnosed with a list of conditions as long as my arm. When his mum contacted us, she advised that Sam had to attend an ASN school, struggled socially and likely wouldn’t be capable of joining our mainstream classes.
What transpired was incredible! Although Sam initially didn’t like the noise of a busy kids’ karate class, he quickly showed a connection to the order, structure and precision required in karate. Watching him absorb the teaching information, it was clear that his little brain worked effortlessly to organise and make the information make sense to him. Sam now shines against the rest of his classmates, learns at a super rate and performs his karate with a precision and understanding much more advanced than what we’d expect of a child his age.
Sam definitely out-performed the labels attached to him and showed that, with the right environment, can enjoy the same class as A-typical children.
Case Study - Lucy
Lucy* is a little girl who joined us as a Cub. From the word “go”, we recognised the challenges Lucy faced in her day-to-day life. She presented as being highly ADHD, and admittedly, it was often a huge struggle to teach Lucy and have her integrate with the class.
Back then, we didn’t have a great deal of experience working with children like Lucy, especially at her young age. However, we were determined to keep trying. We found tactics and tricks to keep her engaged throughout the 45 minute class, and started working to her strengths.
Eventually, we saw good progress, and we got to know her lovely character. It was around that time her mum told us that she had received her diagnosis and it came back that Lucy’s ADHD was “off the scale”. This obviously wasn’t surprising to us, or mum.
What was surprising though, was some feedback her mum gave us about the improvements they were seeing in Lucy’s home life. She was becoming calmer, able to exercise some control and discipline, and was able to handle busy and noisy environments so much better; something that was a massive challenge to her before karate.
The biggest achievement for Lucy yet was, firstly, graduating to the hour-long Kids class; something we genuinely thought might never happen. But she took it in her stride.
And THEN she made our jaws drop by sitting her first grading exam. We honestly didn’t know how this would go. During exam days, there is alot of waiting about, having to sit quietly whilst other sit their exams and then, of course, doing the exam itself.
Lucy knocked it out the park. She strutted in with such determination, the focus on her face was clear… and then she nailed it. She performed better than a lot of her A-typical peers.
Now, Lucy is our go-to student for when we need a welcoming and helpful buddy for new students in her class. Her outgoing nature means she make friends with every new student. We ask her to help with demonstrating because she loves the challenge and it plays to her desires for attention, so she relishes in showing everyone how well she can do things. And boy, does she do karate well!
Case Study -
The last student I want to highlight is our own child. To those who only see him on the competition mat, you’ll think he is a focused, high achiever and got to be where he is because he has two karate parents who are invested in his development. The latter certainly has helped.
But what you don’t see out with karate is his lack of focus and inability to concentrate on any singular task, including school work. You won’t see his hyperactive over-stimulated spells, and how he constantly injures himself through his lack of safety awareness.
So, how is it that a child who struggles to focus in every other area of his life can find focus in karate? What is it about this child that makes him a born natural, super achiever, when it comes to karate?
And it dawned on us - the very traits of his neurodiversity are what makes him so incredible in karate. He has no fear, so that makes him an excellent fighter. He strives with order, procedures and detail, so he loves learning kata. He has endless energy, being in the dojo most nights fulfils his need to burn a fraction of that energy. In any other situation, these traits prove to be challenging in his life, but not in karate. In karate, they are his superpower.
So then, what is it about martial arts that kicks through the challenges associated with ADHD and autism?
Structure and procedures
Every good martial arts class will operate with traditional values, and that always means employing structure and procedures that we grow to expect in every class. Whether that’s with the bowing procedures at the start and end of the class, the way we line up in grade progression, or even the structured class content itself.
Children and adults who are neurodiverse often need clear structures and expectations in place in order to feel safe and content. Karate provides that in abundance.
Individualism, yet part of a team
If you’ve ever tried team sports for your neurodiverse child, you’ll probably agree that it isn’t a good fit. Lord knows almost every football practice resulted in frustration and meltdowns for us!
Karate, and martial arts in general, is a very individual sport. We work on our own, for the most part, and we compare ourselves only to our own selves, always striving to be better than the last version of us.
Despite this, we are part of a larger team, and the ethos within a dojo is that we unite as a team, respect and support our teammates.
Not only does this mean we avoid frustrations with each other, as can commonly be the case in a team sport, but we take responsibility for our own selves. There’s a saying in our dojo “No one can do your karate for you!”.
It’s therapeutic!
Whoever said it’s wrong to hit clearly never tried a karate class! Admittedly, we don’t allow the children to hit each other, but everyone loves when the pads come out and we get to really lay in to them.
All that pent up emotion that we’re told needs to stay bottled up, the frustrations, the stress, the confusion… it all comes out, in a safe and controlled environment. It’s therapeutic for everyone, but especially for neurodiverse students who find it difficult to regulate emotions, or who need an outlet to work through those emotions.
Ahhhhh…. the mindfulness
Karate it such a calming sport, in many ways, and it’s one of the only places that students will be completely present.
In our dojo, we start and end the class with “mokuso”. This is the Japanese practice of emptying our minds and preparing for the training, or reflecting on our training and allowing our minds to return back to our “outside minds”. It is akin to meditation, and this simple act helps those with ADHD, autism or another neurodiverse conditions to centre themselves.
Dopamine!
The impulsive behaviours of people with ADHD are thought to provide a wee dopamine kick. So, it’s quite a challenging cycle! The brain seeks dopamine, the person impulsively acts or starts an activity, the dopamine wears off because it’s no longer exciting, the brain seeks more dopamine, the person impulsively acts or starts an activity, the dopamine wears off….. and round and round it goes, creating a cycle that is never satisfying to the person with ADHD.
How exhausting?!!!
With karate, or any martial arts, the exercises, content and activities are continually changing. Every week, we work on something new, or a variation of the same technique. As the grades progress, the student is presented with EVEN MORE new techniques and activities to work on. And on, and on it goes.
A karate student never stops learning, ever. Even when they reach black belt, that is just the first stage black belt, there are even more levels to progress through until reaching the very top (which noone other than a Japanese person will ever reach!).
This continual change, growth and development consistently offers new and exciting content, delivering a constant flow of dopamine to the brain.
This is probably one of the reasons why we see such quick progression in those who are neurodiverse, because they seek that satisfaction from learning new things!
By no means are my findings a medical recommendation, nor am I suggesting karate is a “cure” for those who are neurodiverse. However, what I do firmly believe is that karate can work very well as an outlet for people with ADHD or autism, and I have witnessed the symptoms of such conditions become lessened through using karate as an aid.
I have seen people, especially children, find themselves and view their behaviours as a good, positive thing. They learn that they have something to be proud of and can be used as a tool to achieve greatness for themselves.
See you in the dojo!
Kathryn
*Names have been changed to protect the students’ identities