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:)
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.
Yep, the "Thai Clinch" is a dangerous tactic and exciting to watch. It often breaks the opponent's nose or knocks them out when landed cleanly. Here's a former world champ practicing the Thai Clinch mixed into a session: www.youtube.com/watch.
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.
The most common problem is that the issuance of a black belt is completely arbitrary from school to school and style to style. Unless you know the origin and style of the black belt, it's anyone's guess as to how skilled the person truly is. And if the kid is 14 years old and a black belt...I hate to break it to the kid, but it's not legitimate in terms of fighting ability. These types of establishments that hand out belt after belt after just a few years of training are referred to as McDojos (in reference to McDonalds).
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.
Yep, the "Thai Clinch" is a dangerous tactic and exciting to watch. It often breaks the opponent's nose or knocks them out when landed cleanly. Here's a former world champ practicing the Thai Clinch mixed into a session: www.youtube.com/watch.
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.
The most common problem is that the issuance of a black belt is completely arbitrary from school to school and style to style. Unless you know the origin and style of the black belt, it's anyone's guess as to how skilled the person truly is. And if the kid is 14 years old and a black belt...I hate to break it to the kid, but it's not legitimate in terms of fighting ability. These types of establishments that hand out belt after belt after just a few years of training are referred to as McDojos (in reference to McDonalds).
