General Information 2

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COACHING SPECIAL NEEDS STUDENTS

To coach or officiate students involved in this project, does not mean you need to have special certificates/qualifications,but you do need to have an awareness of the disabilities, due to the low education standards of the majority of students and the affection they show towards you. It is very important that the discipline of the sport is introduced with competitive reminders.

Students participating in the project cover a wide range of disabilities, which requires the coach to adapt to some techniques due to the disability.

For example players with a physical disability who do not have use of their legs, will need to be coached in newaza.THESE PLAYERS YOU WILL FIND HAVE VERY STRONG UPPER BODY STRENGTH.

Players with 1 or more limbs inoperable, will need coaching in Tachiwaza techniques,(ashi-waza mainly)due to their control and balance.

You will find the majority of students with a learning or mental disability capable of performing most judo techniques, but it will be competetive demonstations and practice over a longer period than able bodied students, before the technique can be perfected and memorised.

Sacrifice throws are not permitted in this project along with armlocks and strangles, due to the disability of most students and for their own safety which could be further damaged.

At competitions you will also see items of safety clothing on some students i.e. skullcaps for those with head injuries, the wearing of special gloves,socks,headgearfor those students allergic to rubber solutions,mats etc.All these items are non mettalic or soft material.Again also for the safety of the player and opponent.

People with special needs are not different,but we have come a long waybover the years in accepting them into our activities and way of life and not only providing a sporting activity.

We, in the judo world are providing a service,activity and enjoyment to all in our local communities, which can only enhance the stature of our governing bodies of judo throughout the UK.

JUDO FOR ALL, male /female/young/old/able bodied/disabled we cater for you all.

Opportunities are also available for people with disabilities to become table officials or referees etc, if they wished to participate in the programme without actually doing judo.

LOOK BEFORE YOU LEAP.Sports and people with Downs Syndrome.

A SMALL PROPOTION OF PEOPLE WITH DOWNS SYNDROME HAVE A WEAKNESS IN THE NECK(Atlanto-axial Instability),WHICH COULD PUT THEM AT RISK OF SERIOUS INJURY IF THEY PARTICIPATE IN CERTAIN SPORTS.

HOW ARE PEOPLE SCREENED.
By an x/ray examination of the neck,the presence of atlanto-axial instability can be seen and people who may be at risk can be identified.This screening is an entirely safe procedure.

WHO SHOULD BE SCREENED.
All athletes with Downs Syndrome who wish to take part in active sports, now or in the foreseeable future, should have the x/ray done before starting the sporting activity.

People with a visual impairment have had opportunities to participate in judo for many years.The Parapalegic Olympic Games participation have been the students main goal.

We have students in this project also with a visual impairment and some have multiple disabilities.

The only change we have in our rules, is at the start of a contest in visually impaired competitions the athletes take a grip at the start and then "release"

In our competitions they remain in the grip.

WHY-NOT-YOU

1.Are you a coach involved in disability judo?

2.Are you a disabled person practicing judo?

3.Are you a referee/ official with an interest in disability judo?

I WOULD LIKE TO HEAR FROM YOU.


General Information

What has judo to offer the athlete with a mental handicap?

Of course it is difficult to say in general that judo improves the well being of an athlete with a mental handicap, as well being is the result of a range of factors.  Still there are several aspects in the sport that contribute to an improved well being.

 

Improvement in cognitive behaviour

Intelligence is defined as the whole of the activity through which the individual requires, digests and processes knowledge.  Though often said, sport does not improve intelligence itself, but it improves the structure of intelligence.  Through sport the athlete will increase his/her self-confidence and become more active.  This will result in an improved coping by the athlete within the environment.  Therefore the athlete will develop a more connected structure of insights that we call intelligence.  Furthermore, judo has the effect that in general the period of concentration (focusing) increases, as in the methods of training the level of concentration increases.  It’s for that reason, that judo quite often is placed within a school curriculum for people with a mental handicap.

Improvement of personal awareness

Judo makes sure the athlete is very active with his/her personal body.  This creates a situation in which the personal awareness increases.  Quite often people with a mental handicap do not have a very positive image of their own personal body.  This is the result of bad experiences and personal failures.  This will influence the self-confidence of the athlete and therefore the athlete will become less active, which creates more fear for failure and so on.

Important for the athlete is the feeling of success.  Through small steps from easy to more difficult, the athlete will grow and therefore the self-confidence will increase, and the fear of failure will decrease.  Since judo is very much about working together and helping each other, the rate of success will increase.  This success will lead to better participation in the sport, which will lead to more motor and sensorial experiences.  These experiences will benefit the personal awareness of the athlete.  Furthermore, the athlete will learn their personal strengths and more importantly, how to control them.  This will result in the athlete being more capable of establishing new contacts within their surroundings.

Improvement of personal identity

Through judo, the athlete learns certain values, such as, you will not hurt somebody; in case it hurts you tag out and let go of the opponent.  Through these values primarily used in the gym, the athlete is bound to integrate them into personal everyday life outside the gym.  Furthermore, the athlete will develop a more assertive spirit in the sense they can better cope with the things happening in the environment.  It also seems that through judo, the athlete gains more grip on their personal emotions, which reduces the chances of aggressive or violent behaviour.

Improvement of social development

People with a mental handicap quite often have problems with contacts in general and

touching in particular.  Judo is a sport that is built on the concept of contact with others and touching.  The training builds from exercises with little contact to more complex exercises with more contact.  Along this route, athletes will more and more often change partners.  Different people will react differently and therefore the athlete will learn to adapt to different approaches. 

Because of this method of changing   and touching, it is known that the fear for  touching decreases.