I'm wondering if I can get some advice from some of you familiar with youth swim teams and how they deal with disciplinary issues. As a backdrop, some of you may remember my previous description of my son as having Asperger's syndrome. He is 11 years old and, as you might imagine, a target of bullying and harassment in school. One of the offenders is a boy on his swim team who is 12 and much more physically mature. In school he has been cursing at my son, falsely telling one of the teachers that my son is "talking" and getting him in trouble (occurring on almost a daily basis, I have filed a complaint against the teacher), degrading him, etc. Most of this is primarily a school issue, but there was one event that I think relates to swimming and the team coaches should know about. One day, one of the trio of bullies went up to my son and asked him if he was any good. My son answered "yes" ( in reality he is OK, 35 sec 50 yard free). The kid called out to the swimmer I mentioned and said "hey, ....says he is good.". The swimmer responded "well, I got a 26 f...r, top that. You suck.". They essentially lured him into a trap, and he is innocent/socially awkward enough to fall into it.
My opinion of young swimmers in general has been very favorable. Most of them are extremely sweet and good kids, so I was very surprised to hear about this one. I am wondering if this type of behavior, particularly degrading fellow swimmers, is one that I should bring up to the head coach. While it did not occur during practice or a meet, I do believe it is relevant to the type of swimmer and person they expect on the team. I do not think any action would be taken at this point, but at the very least the coach could talk to him or even keep a mental record should it continue.
Any thoughts? I really feel that it might have more of an impact than anything the school could say or do.
Icidentally, this swimmer's best time ws 28.5, 55th out of 63 for the 11-12 year-olds at JO. I looked it up:)
I would advise against this approach. Karate is an often misunderstood form of martial arts and it has proven to be one of the least practical fighting forms in real world application. Anyone who has followed mixed martial arts and watched or competed in sanctioned fighting for more than a few years will attest to this fact. If you want your child to be good at fighting, enroll him in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Muay Thai, or wrestling. Most schoolyard fighting involves kids tackling each other, rolling around, and punching...not standing and allowing point style fighting common in TKD and Karate. This goes for adults in self defense courses too. In most cases, when presented with some type of random attacker on the streets, your best bet is to run.
Karate can be useful for meditation, exercise, communication skills, discipline, and other skills. But fighting is another matter entirely.
Interesting take, and I agree to a point. I did karate for a couple years in college. In my late 20's I took an interest in kick/Thai boxing and found it to be a completely different level of nastiness. While there is a lot of overlap in terms of the kicking, Thai boxing added some elements that were much more practical in a true fight. I'll give you an example. One of my favorite moves (which I never performed to completion while sparring for obvious reasons) was getting inside on my opponent, swiftly grabbing the back of the head and pulling it into my rapidly rising thigh. I Thai boxed for a few years, and some of the moves I would never dare use unless my life was in danger. One of two things would happen; A. I seriously injure or kill the person and my life as a husband and father is over. or B. I encounter someone better than me who ups the ante and kills me, lol. If I were to teach my son one move in a school fight it would be a swift kick to the back of the thigh or knee. No serious harm done, game over.
That said, I think a high level black belt could do some serious damage in a fight. No only that, but as mentioned the confidence not to fight can be gained.
I would advise against this approach. Karate is an often misunderstood form of martial arts and it has proven to be one of the least practical fighting forms in real world application. Anyone who has followed mixed martial arts and watched or competed in sanctioned fighting for more than a few years will attest to this fact. If you want your child to be good at fighting, enroll him in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Muay Thai, or wrestling. Most schoolyard fighting involves kids tackling each other, rolling around, and punching...not standing and allowing point style fighting common in TKD and Karate. This goes for adults in self defense courses too. In most cases, when presented with some type of random attacker on the streets, your best bet is to run.
Karate can be useful for meditation, exercise, communication skills, discipline, and other skills. But fighting is another matter entirely.
Interesting take, and I agree to a point. I did karate for a couple years in college. In my late 20's I took an interest in kick/Thai boxing and found it to be a completely different level of nastiness. While there is a lot of overlap in terms of the kicking, Thai boxing added some elements that were much more practical in a true fight. I'll give you an example. One of my favorite moves (which I never performed to completion while sparring for obvious reasons) was getting inside on my opponent, swiftly grabbing the back of the head and pulling it into my rapidly rising thigh. I Thai boxed for a few years, and some of the moves I would never dare use unless my life was in danger. One of two things would happen; A. I seriously injure or kill the person and my life as a husband and father is over. or B. I encounter someone better than me who ups the ante and kills me, lol. If I were to teach my son one move in a school fight it would be a swift kick to the back of the thigh or knee. No serious harm done, game over.
That said, I think a high level black belt could do some serious damage in a fight. No only that, but as mentioned the confidence not to fight can be gained.
