UFC 134 in Rio de Janeiro this weekend will rightly include homage to the iconic Gracie family, creators of Brazilian jiu-jitsu nearly 100 years ago, creators of the Ultimate Fighting Championship nearly 20 years ago, creators of legendary family fighting figures and jiu-jitsu instructors that span the globe.
But the Gracies' most positive impact might be felt at a middle school in a Denver suburb where a seventh grader is unafraid of bullies for the first time since he can remember.
Martin Hendricks, 12, spent a week this summer at the Gracie Academy in Torrance, Calif., in an intensive program designed to make him "Bullyproof." He learned as many jiu-jitsu self-defense techniques as a kid can absorb in five days, he memorized a blueprint for dealing with a bully fairly and squarely, and he gained self-confidence. The first week of school he put the lessons into practice..
It's back-to-school time all over the country. For kids that get picked on, it's a return to a horror zone. Experts say that more than 150,000 children miss school every day because they are afraid of being bullied. More than half of all schoolchildren have witnessed a bullying incident and three of every four students say bullying is a problem at their school. The bulk of bullying occurs from the fourth through the eighth grades, although it can continue through high school and even in the workplace. Bullying is intimidation or domination toward someone perceived as weaker, a way to establish superiority through coercion or force. The emotional scars are often worse than the physical beatings, and victims of bullying often become depressed and do poorly in school. Bullying can even lead to suicide.
more ...http://www.thepostgame.com/features...yard-bullying-can-fight-back-help-ufc-royalty including sample video(s) by the two oldest brothers of GM Gracie
Interesting concept of getting parents to help teach their children via the videos and the two brothers are fun to watch with their very expressive hands.
I think this is a great idea. Bullying seems to be on the rise and so the need for giving a means for a child to defend themselves against violence is a big help. Yet the teachings will only go as far as the physical aspects of the bullying whereas even as a child grows confidently against their ability to defend themselves from the punches, shoves, grabs, et al of bullying, words still hurt more. As a former victim of bullying, even today if I think back hard enough I can recall the words my antagonists taunted me with. Right now they're just water on a duck's back, but I do remember the pain I was feeling on the bus-ride home from school at the end of the day. Sometimes my bullies rode on the same bus so it didn't end until I got off the bus and was safely inside my house.
Still having the confidence to be able to thwart any of the physical abuse will lead to more internal self-confidence and self-esteem, especially if the bully has been prevented from hurting their intended target. With the right teachings IMO a child can learn verbal self-defense as well as physical.
These are statistics about bullying http://www.martialartsforpeace.com/pages/bullyingstatistics.html
Thoughts, comments, ideas???
