Tuesday, 20 April 2010
Wednesday, 14 April 2010
FIGHTING CHANCE
How Thai Boxing and Street jitsu has helped to improve the lives of
Individuals and communities in the West Midlands
___________________________________________________________________________
Who are we talking about?
• Mick Jones – Club head of StreetJitsu Association Master level instructor and assessor for the S.D.F. also West Midlands rep and 4th Dan Street Jitsu combat Jitsu and assistant Muay Thai instructor, passionate about improving the welfare of people in his community and like Richard spreading the name of Street Jitsu Association in and around the West Midlands..
• Richard Jaques – a serving police sergeant with west midlands police, and assistant instructor in Streetjitsu, Master class level assessor with the S.D.F. and joint rep for the West Midlands , Muay Thai instructor for over twenty five years and working with young offenders in Walsall, Wolverhampton ,Stafford and now Swindon.
What have they done?
• ‘Fighting Chance’ – a community programme aimed at bringing together groups of local youths from different ethnic and social backgrounds and giving them something positive into which to channel their energies.
Where?
• Various venues in Walsall , Stafford and our new Black Country Fight School Swindon
Key audience
• Groups of youths in deprived urban areas across the Midlands from all ethnic and social backgrounds we welcome everybody to join our fighting chance association.
Our Aim
• To break down cultural barriers between these groups and encourage racial harmony
• To give a sense of purpose to their lives and improve self-esteem
• To give them something to be proud about and make them feel optimistic about their future
• To improve health and fitness
• Encourage good ‘citizenship’, positive member of local community
• Make them feel part of the community
Backgrounds
• Richard is a serving police officer in Walsall
• Every day he encounters the menace of anti-social behaviour and crime committed by disaffected youths in urban districts
• Michael is a self-employed H.G.V. driver who has seen the decline in resent years of his area, Wolverhampton and more local Bilston’s gun and knife crime set out with Richard to do some thing good for the area for the people and the community in general to promote Muay Thai and to see Fighting chance and Streetjitsu grow.
• This has become a way of life for these kids who can’t see a way out of the downward spiral
• It’s also become a breeding ground for racial cultural tension and
• Higher than national average rates of obesity, heart disease, strokes and cancer due to poor diet and lack of physical exercise
Impact
• While it is only a significant minority of young people in the area who are involved in antisocial behaviour and criminal activity, the assumption of the silent majority is that they all hang around on street corners and they’re all “up to no good”
• This leads to increase in the fear of crime and reduction in inclusiveness of young people
• And so the youth become disaffected with, and feels threatened by, the local community
• This in turn means they are more likely to hang around in gangs and engage in anti-social behaviour and criminal activity
• Self-fulfilling!
So why ‘Fighting Chance’?
• Michael and Richard are from diverse backgrounds but share a passion for the teaching of martial arts streetjitsu
• It enabled them to use their passion and expertise to reach out and engage with local young people
• Thai boxing works so well because?
• Mixed with ju-jitsu
o It’s an enjoyable way for young people to get fit
o It’s an outlet for their aggression
o It empowers them and teaches them respect for themselves and others
o They learn to respect those teaching them and for authority figures in general
o Compared with other martial arts, while it demands commitment, time, effort and energy, it doesn’t require too much physical skill to do it well enough to enjoy it
How it works
• The programme lasts for four weeks
• It is split into three parts:
o Part one
Young people are signposted to the project by Police Officers, community / youth groups and other agencies who come into contact with young people in a street setting
They are invited to a designated venue at a future date where the course content will be fully explained to them and all the necessary medical and consent forms can be completed if they are interested in taking part
o Part two
At the sessions that follow, they are introduced to the dramatic sport of Thai Boxing where the techniques and fundamentals of this art and StreetJitsu combine
They take part in non-contact sessions using large leather pads known as ‘Thai pads’
Despite this, they are physically demanding sessions with each student being given their own targets according to their individual fitness levels to ‘maximise pain and gain’!
o Part three
Follows the physical training
Each week, there is a group discussion with invited guests from organisations such as the Police, Health Service, youth service, community groups and places of worship
Invited guests are encouraged to engage with the young people in a style that encourages a mutual information exchange and allows for a deeper understanding of the views of all present
• On completion of the programme students are awarded a certificate of achievement and will be signposted and encouraged to attend other sessions and activities that are available in the Borough
What has it achieved?
• Fantastic turnout – up to 30 young people in the hall at any one time
• Kids travelling to Walsall from as far as Wolverhampton, Birmingham, West Bromwich – this is a big deal because many fear going to ‘someone else’s turf’
• As young as 13, as old as 24. Majority who attend are in 17-21 age brackets.
• The physical conditioning of the course means students increase their strength, flexibility, stamina and all-round fitness while on the programme
• Thai Boxers are known to be some of the most ferocious ring fighters on this earth, but the inner peace gained through the art and by embedding respect, understanding and responsibility in the students has encouraging many to turn their back on unnecessary real life violent confrontation
• These sessions have enabled organisations to pass positive information onto students and inform them of dangers and consequences of things that they may come into contact with such as drugs, knives, etc.
• The sessions have helped to build trust and confidence, not only between the students and these organisations, but also between the individual students who may hold different views and a different set of cultural values and beliefs
• It’s taught them to respect police officers and see them as human beings and a positive part of their community too, not just ‘the law’
• Made young people proud that they live in Walsall and Wolverhampton and,are proud of their area!
• Dramatic reduction in anti-social behaviour and crime figures from participants – they recognise there is more to life than breaking the law
• It’s become a success story in the local community – people are talking about it and people want to get involved with a success story gathering momentum!
o Local councillors want to be seen to be close to it, so have donated the hall hire for free
o Staffs police have developed and paid for promotional material
o Shops are happy to put up the posters – some have even developed their own!
Anecdotes
• Before the course started, a quarter of the students couldn't’t identify a male role model in their lives; no-one to look up to
• Now they will often say to Richard “I never respected a copper in my life, but I respect you. I’m going to have more respect for coppers from now on.”
• Wai = the bow in Thai boxing – a mark of respect
• One local tough guy said to Richard and Mick “you’re the first person I’ve ever bowed to” !
You can do this too,! Let StreetJitsu lead the Way Forward
• Richard and Mick believes ‘Fighting Chance’ will work anywhere in the country; people contact us all the time from other areas and ask us how they can bring ‘Fighting Chance’ to their area too
• You just need to adapt your objectives to the needs of your local community and target the necessary people in your area
• Step one – get a venue
o Who to approach
Local police officers
Community support groups
Youth groups
Schools
Housing tenancy groups
o How
Use phone and physical meetings to approach these people rather than email – they need to see you’re passionate about what you’re doing
o What to say
Here’s my experience
We’ll give you our time for free
Here’s the benefit to you and the benefit to your local community
All you need to do is give us a venue and help us promote it
Explain how it can help them and the local community
If I can do all this for you for free, how can you help me?
• Step 2 – get equipment
o All you need is Thai pads, gloves and good music
o How do you get hold of them? Donations and sponsorship
o Potential donors and sponsors
Police
Community projects and support groups
Youth groups
Housing tenancy groups
Central government funded projects
Local gyms
Local sports equipment providers
o Use this case study to demonstrate benefits to the organisation and encourage them that they want to be involved in something like this
• Step 3 – approach the kids
o They’re easy to find
o Kids love the idea that they can get good enough to defend themselves pretty well within three months
o It’s something to do
o You only need a few to get it going. Word of mouth will do the rest with more and more turning up each week.
Street Jitsu Association says,
“Once it starts to become a positive story in the local community, people will want to jump on the bandwagon, help and get involved just like they did for us. So put the work in at the beginning to get it going and you’ll be rewarded later on. It starts to gather momentum and just gets easier. Just get a few kids in to start with and it’ll snowball from there as word of mouth spreads.
If you want fame and fortune and you want to be on the front cover of celebrity magazines – don’t bother! But if you want real respect in the community where you live and work, this is definitely the way to get it. It’s changed the way they look at us, and my fellow officers. They now see us as human beings and a positive part of their lives not just and authority figure to kick out at.”
If you’re wondering whether to do something like this or not; wondering whether it’s worth the effort – I’d say to you that the pride and satisfaction you get from watching the effect this has on the lives of disaffected young kids, their families and other people working in those communities, as well as the opportunity to promote StreetJitsu, is all the reason you need. It’s definitely the most worthwhile and rewarding thing I’ve ever done.”
Individuals and communities in the West Midlands
___________________________________________________________________________
Who are we talking about?
• Mick Jones – Club head of StreetJitsu Association Master level instructor and assessor for the S.D.F. also West Midlands rep and 4th Dan Street Jitsu combat Jitsu and assistant Muay Thai instructor, passionate about improving the welfare of people in his community and like Richard spreading the name of Street Jitsu Association in and around the West Midlands..
• Richard Jaques – a serving police sergeant with west midlands police, and assistant instructor in Streetjitsu, Master class level assessor with the S.D.F. and joint rep for the West Midlands , Muay Thai instructor for over twenty five years and working with young offenders in Walsall, Wolverhampton ,Stafford and now Swindon.
What have they done?
• ‘Fighting Chance’ – a community programme aimed at bringing together groups of local youths from different ethnic and social backgrounds and giving them something positive into which to channel their energies.
Where?
• Various venues in Walsall , Stafford and our new Black Country Fight School Swindon
Key audience
• Groups of youths in deprived urban areas across the Midlands from all ethnic and social backgrounds we welcome everybody to join our fighting chance association.
Our Aim
• To break down cultural barriers between these groups and encourage racial harmony
• To give a sense of purpose to their lives and improve self-esteem
• To give them something to be proud about and make them feel optimistic about their future
• To improve health and fitness
• Encourage good ‘citizenship’, positive member of local community
• Make them feel part of the community
Backgrounds
• Richard is a serving police officer in Walsall
• Every day he encounters the menace of anti-social behaviour and crime committed by disaffected youths in urban districts
• Michael is a self-employed H.G.V. driver who has seen the decline in resent years of his area, Wolverhampton and more local Bilston’s gun and knife crime set out with Richard to do some thing good for the area for the people and the community in general to promote Muay Thai and to see Fighting chance and Streetjitsu grow.
• This has become a way of life for these kids who can’t see a way out of the downward spiral
• It’s also become a breeding ground for racial cultural tension and
• Higher than national average rates of obesity, heart disease, strokes and cancer due to poor diet and lack of physical exercise
Impact
• While it is only a significant minority of young people in the area who are involved in antisocial behaviour and criminal activity, the assumption of the silent majority is that they all hang around on street corners and they’re all “up to no good”
• This leads to increase in the fear of crime and reduction in inclusiveness of young people
• And so the youth become disaffected with, and feels threatened by, the local community
• This in turn means they are more likely to hang around in gangs and engage in anti-social behaviour and criminal activity
• Self-fulfilling!
So why ‘Fighting Chance’?
• Michael and Richard are from diverse backgrounds but share a passion for the teaching of martial arts streetjitsu
• It enabled them to use their passion and expertise to reach out and engage with local young people
• Thai boxing works so well because?
• Mixed with ju-jitsu
o It’s an enjoyable way for young people to get fit
o It’s an outlet for their aggression
o It empowers them and teaches them respect for themselves and others
o They learn to respect those teaching them and for authority figures in general
o Compared with other martial arts, while it demands commitment, time, effort and energy, it doesn’t require too much physical skill to do it well enough to enjoy it
How it works
• The programme lasts for four weeks
• It is split into three parts:
o Part one
Young people are signposted to the project by Police Officers, community / youth groups and other agencies who come into contact with young people in a street setting
They are invited to a designated venue at a future date where the course content will be fully explained to them and all the necessary medical and consent forms can be completed if they are interested in taking part
o Part two
At the sessions that follow, they are introduced to the dramatic sport of Thai Boxing where the techniques and fundamentals of this art and StreetJitsu combine
They take part in non-contact sessions using large leather pads known as ‘Thai pads’
Despite this, they are physically demanding sessions with each student being given their own targets according to their individual fitness levels to ‘maximise pain and gain’!
o Part three
Follows the physical training
Each week, there is a group discussion with invited guests from organisations such as the Police, Health Service, youth service, community groups and places of worship
Invited guests are encouraged to engage with the young people in a style that encourages a mutual information exchange and allows for a deeper understanding of the views of all present
• On completion of the programme students are awarded a certificate of achievement and will be signposted and encouraged to attend other sessions and activities that are available in the Borough
What has it achieved?
• Fantastic turnout – up to 30 young people in the hall at any one time
• Kids travelling to Walsall from as far as Wolverhampton, Birmingham, West Bromwich – this is a big deal because many fear going to ‘someone else’s turf’
• As young as 13, as old as 24. Majority who attend are in 17-21 age brackets.
• The physical conditioning of the course means students increase their strength, flexibility, stamina and all-round fitness while on the programme
• Thai Boxers are known to be some of the most ferocious ring fighters on this earth, but the inner peace gained through the art and by embedding respect, understanding and responsibility in the students has encouraging many to turn their back on unnecessary real life violent confrontation
• These sessions have enabled organisations to pass positive information onto students and inform them of dangers and consequences of things that they may come into contact with such as drugs, knives, etc.
• The sessions have helped to build trust and confidence, not only between the students and these organisations, but also between the individual students who may hold different views and a different set of cultural values and beliefs
• It’s taught them to respect police officers and see them as human beings and a positive part of their community too, not just ‘the law’
• Made young people proud that they live in Walsall and Wolverhampton and,are proud of their area!
• Dramatic reduction in anti-social behaviour and crime figures from participants – they recognise there is more to life than breaking the law
• It’s become a success story in the local community – people are talking about it and people want to get involved with a success story gathering momentum!
o Local councillors want to be seen to be close to it, so have donated the hall hire for free
o Staffs police have developed and paid for promotional material
o Shops are happy to put up the posters – some have even developed their own!
Anecdotes
• Before the course started, a quarter of the students couldn't’t identify a male role model in their lives; no-one to look up to
• Now they will often say to Richard “I never respected a copper in my life, but I respect you. I’m going to have more respect for coppers from now on.”
• Wai = the bow in Thai boxing – a mark of respect
• One local tough guy said to Richard and Mick “you’re the first person I’ve ever bowed to” !
You can do this too,! Let StreetJitsu lead the Way Forward
• Richard and Mick believes ‘Fighting Chance’ will work anywhere in the country; people contact us all the time from other areas and ask us how they can bring ‘Fighting Chance’ to their area too
• You just need to adapt your objectives to the needs of your local community and target the necessary people in your area
• Step one – get a venue
o Who to approach
Local police officers
Community support groups
Youth groups
Schools
Housing tenancy groups
o How
Use phone and physical meetings to approach these people rather than email – they need to see you’re passionate about what you’re doing
o What to say
Here’s my experience
We’ll give you our time for free
Here’s the benefit to you and the benefit to your local community
All you need to do is give us a venue and help us promote it
Explain how it can help them and the local community
If I can do all this for you for free, how can you help me?
• Step 2 – get equipment
o All you need is Thai pads, gloves and good music
o How do you get hold of them? Donations and sponsorship
o Potential donors and sponsors
Police
Community projects and support groups
Youth groups
Housing tenancy groups
Central government funded projects
Local gyms
Local sports equipment providers
o Use this case study to demonstrate benefits to the organisation and encourage them that they want to be involved in something like this
• Step 3 – approach the kids
o They’re easy to find
o Kids love the idea that they can get good enough to defend themselves pretty well within three months
o It’s something to do
o You only need a few to get it going. Word of mouth will do the rest with more and more turning up each week.
Street Jitsu Association says,
“Once it starts to become a positive story in the local community, people will want to jump on the bandwagon, help and get involved just like they did for us. So put the work in at the beginning to get it going and you’ll be rewarded later on. It starts to gather momentum and just gets easier. Just get a few kids in to start with and it’ll snowball from there as word of mouth spreads.
If you want fame and fortune and you want to be on the front cover of celebrity magazines – don’t bother! But if you want real respect in the community where you live and work, this is definitely the way to get it. It’s changed the way they look at us, and my fellow officers. They now see us as human beings and a positive part of their lives not just and authority figure to kick out at.”
If you’re wondering whether to do something like this or not; wondering whether it’s worth the effort – I’d say to you that the pride and satisfaction you get from watching the effect this has on the lives of disaffected young kids, their families and other people working in those communities, as well as the opportunity to promote StreetJitsu, is all the reason you need. It’s definitely the most worthwhile and rewarding thing I’ve ever done.”
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