Dyslexia

    I had been reluctant to write this article, but upon consideration I feel that if it can benefit anyone, then it is worthwhile. For a number of years, I have been negligent in dealing with, and understanding a common ailment that exist within a lot of young Karateka, dyslexia. Most people are unaware of it's existence, or refuse to acknowledge it, or get personally upset when it is brought up about their child. However, this does not alleviate the problem, nor does it help the athlete who is trying to learn karate, or any other sport. I would like to make it quite clear that I am not an expert in this field, but I have done some personal research into the problems that I have found, and how I approach them. If the knowledge that I write can open your eyes to this problem to help you better deal with this, then I have done my job.

   To many people dyslexia is merely construed as a reading or learning disorder which affects the brains ability to distinguish between left and right, or in a simpler context everything appears in a mirror form that the individual is unable to distinguish. There are various degrees of dyslexia, which can affect an athletes learning ability within Karate. What I would like to make instructors aware of, is some of the symptoms and cures that I have researched through training and development that may be of use to you as an instructor in helping these athletes.

   We perceive everything as left & right, and assume that all our students see things the same way. Unfortunately this is not the case. A proven fact of Martial Arts teaching is that visualization or demonstration of a kata, or sequence of moves, is the most common method of teaching. But to a dyslexic person, everything you do is like looking into a mirror and seeing it backward. In most cases they cannot distinguish what is left & what is right. A similar comparison is a color blind individual that cannot distinguish between green or blue, and so on. When I am teaching a class, if I know that a person has a degree of dyslexia, or I perceive that they may have this problem, I have learned that I must teach them a bit different in order for them to grasp what skills or katas that I am teaching. This involves turning myself around to be on the left side, or the right side of the individual and finding which side they can understand from. In other words it is too difficult for them to grasp when I am facing them, and must go beside or in front of them in order for them to learn. Another symptom is that I have found that when teaching katas over & over, or a combination sequence of movements, some people are restricted to how many times in a row that they can do it. Many times I have had a student do a kata 3 times in a row correctly, and then it appears that they just lose it, which is associated with the processing problems that dyslexic people have to deal with. Similarly, when teaching students and a long pause takes place between the next action, you find that a student cannot seem to get restarted. This too is associated with this ailment. When teaching sparring drills, I have learned that some dyslexic people have a problem with depth perception. They may be fine for their foot techniques, and not for their hands, or vice-versa. This has taught me to teach these individuals more distance training, before timing training. When doing any spinning technique, or something as simple as a turning back kick, the dyslexic athlete cannot grasp which way to turn to do the kick properly. You have to find a word association that they can relate to such as short turn or long turn, and not use turn to the left or right.

   When you start to realize how dyslexia works, or you can associate specific problems that your athlete may be showing, consider changing your teaching patterns to help them to learn better without frustrating them. For too many years, I have seen many instructors think that their student was slow, or stupid, which is completely the wrong attitude, when in fact they have a minor learning disorder that can be overcome very easily if it is identified and then taught with the right approach. Awareness of this can be our biggest asset.

   As stated in my opening paragraphs, I am not, and do not purport to be an expert in this, but I have through understanding , patience, and trial & error with teaching methods learned to be of a significant help with those people who have this problem. If you will take this letter into consideration, and compare some of the symptom problems that I have encountered, it may help you to understand and teach all your students with the same care and consideration.

Sincerely,
Paul Oliver

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