Throughout the recorded history of the civilized world there has been a deep sense of sympathy for those individuals who possess disabilities.

Whether these disabilities are blindness, deafness, autism, paralysis, limb ampu-tations or neurological disorders, most people look at them and desire to lend a helping hand. Many times the disabled individual is guided across a busy inter-section, a door may be opened for them or a smile comes from a caring face. Though these small gestures may help to make a particular moment of a disabled person more livable, these minute actions don’t lead to an overall sense of well being and life accomplishment.

Enter Master Anthony C. Marquez and his extraordinary School of Hope Martial Arts in Glendora, California. For more than a decade, he’s been at the forefront of refining the science of teaching the martial arts to the disabled.

Teach the Martial Arts to the Disabled! Are You Kidding?

For decades, many instructors of the martial arts have had disabled students come to their dojos seeking instruction. These prospective students are drawn to self-defense lessons for all of the same reasons as a student possessing no dis-ability. Yet, they do come possessing an entirely new set of circumstances that an instructor must take into consideration before he/she accepts them as students.

Many instructors are initially reluctant to take on a disabled student because they are afraid of a potential for lawsuits if the disabled student is hurt during their class. Though this is an understandable con-cern, more important is the question, “Is the instructor actually able to teach prop-erly a student with a specific disability?”

For example, if a person in a wheelchair inquires about studying tradi-tional taekwondo, then the conscientious instructor must be willing to do one of

two things. First, guide the individual to a different school that would be more suited to his or her needs, rather than a system that’s primarily focused on kicking and sparring. Or second, alter his/her pro-gram and do whatever it takes to provide the student with an environment where he/she is truly able to learn a useable form of the martial arts.

Though these are just two examples of what an instructor must ponder before tak-ing on disabled students, there are many more concerns. During the years, Marquez has addressed all of these issues and has designed an exacting program not only to serve the needs of the disabled student, but also to train instructors in the proper way to teach students with disabilities.

“Our teaching philosophy is simple and extremely successful,” Marquez explains. “Our instructors strive to create an ongo-ing atmosphere conducive to excellence, which promotes an inspirational, motiva-tional and challenging environment.”

Many school owners question why they should teach the martial arts to the disabled at all. Some believe that it’s just too much trouble. Marquez questions this attitude.

“From a moral and holistic point of view, who are you serving when you only teach the people, like yourself, who are obsessive about the martial arts? And, that is not many. When you open your martial arts school doors, you should say, ‘I accept all segments of my society—without any reservations or conditions. I am here to serve the needs of my students. If I have to adapt my art and myself as a

teacher, then so be it—because that con-tributes to the greater good.

“That kind of approach gives you lon-gevity. That provides you with a heritage of people saying, ‘This is the teacher of all people.’

“Some of our students have develop-mental or emotional challenges, which manifest themselves in attention deficits, difficulty with impulse control or anger management, slower rates of informa-tional processing, limited language skills, difficulty with self-expression and dimin-ished self-esteem. Others are faced with physical challenges and use devices such as wheelchairs, crutches or braces.

“Our program offers its participants insight and guidance in dealing with fun-damental challenges of daily living and establishing meaningful and successful interaction with others. Our students’ progress is systematically established, monitored and measured. Promotion in rank requires more than technical achieve-ment; it calls for meeting the profoundness of behavioral changes that improve the quality of life for our students.”

With heavy doses of the martial arts’ mental and spiritual elements, Marquez’ programs challenge the disabled to become more than they think they’re capable of becoming. “The correct per-formance of martial arts techniques requires concentration and memorization and sharpens the ability to process and integrate information,” Marquez says. “It calls upon students to respond appropri-ately to instruction. It requires students to respect themselves and to cooperate with

50 Martial Arts Professional May 2005 www.napma.com

“Under his dedicated leadership, Marquez has been able to give rise to

a national grassroots movement to facilitate the teaching of the martial

arts to those with special needs.”

Previous Page: Anthony Marquez with Jaycee Hancock.Below: Master Marquez with John Lung, a student with Down Syndrome.

others. It offers tangible rewards for the experience of setting and achieving per-sonal goals. It challenges students to lead by setting a personal example.

“Our programs are designed to fos-ter positive behavior; to build and strengthen character; to enhance aca-demic performance; to create healthy and supportive relationships with caring adults devoted to youth and adults; to teach constructive conflict resolution; to develop leadership skills; and to offer leadership opportunities.”

Wow, that’s no small task. And perhaps Master Marquez is far more suited to

these tasks than the conventional martial arts instructor. But, just how do martial arts instructors accomplish this? How do they integrate the training of the dis-abled into their overall program? The key word, according to Marquez, is adapta-tion. “The instructors need to adapt their training method to serve the needs of the student,” says Marquez.

Learning to AdaptMarquez is no stranger to adaptation.

He first entered the martial arts as a young G.I. stationed in Japan. There, he began his training in the very stringent

style of shotokan karate under a strict Japanese instructor. He earned his black belt and began teaching the art. After approximately four years of intense train-ing in Japan, he was then stationed in Okinawa. Marquez had long read about the masters of the martial arts that lived on that island. He was so in love with the mythology that he could not wait for the move. Once there, he began training in goju-ryu karate. Not only were the tech-niques vastly different from his beloved shotokan, but the teaching method and lifestyle of his instructor was also much less severe.

Possibilities Unlimited International (PUI) is a non-profit organization, which offers a wide range of services that include, “Adapted” After-School Martial Arts Programs, Leadership and Character Development Programs, and Adapted Martial Arts Instructional Training and Certification.

PUI also provides seminars and workshops on a wide range of topics, such as Specially Challenged martial arts programs, classroom and program funding, staff training and training curriculums. PUI has also dedicated its staff and resources to implement a public-awareness campaign on the many wonderful benefits of martial arts training for the physically, mentally and emotionally challenged community.

Anthony C. Marquez’ unique blend of martial arts and motivational teaching style has also given rise to a commu-nity-based interest in his “Adapted Martial Arts Philosophy.” This is a program designed to serve the needs and train the disabled in the martial arts. With a dedicated staff of instruc-tors and administrators, Marquez transformed a recreational program into a non-profit corporation serving hundreds of children and adults in the Southern California area.

Under his dedicated leadership, Marquez has been able to give rise to a national grassroots movement to facilitate the teaching of the martial arts to those with special needs. His efforts laid the foundation for the International Specially Challenged Martial Arts Championship held in Southern California.

For more information, e-mail Master Anthony Marquez at amkyoshi@earthlink.net.

Possibilities Unlimited International Training the Disabled in the Adapted Martial Arts

Above: Anthony Marquez with Teresa Mamolejo.

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Marquez fell in love with the Okinawan systems of the martial arts—so much so that he quit teaching shotokan and simply returned to being a student. Again, his love for the martial arts caused him to engulf himself totally in these new systems of combat. After 18 months of primarily private training with his Okinawan instructor, he again emerged as an accomplished black belt and returned to teaching the martial arts—this time under the goju-ryu banner.

After more than a decade in Asia, Marquez relocated to southern California. He opened a school and taught the tra-ditional hard-knocks style of karate to a large number of students. Though he has continued to teach the martial arts to non-disabled students, his pathway to a higher good was presented to him.

Teaching the DisabledFrom his early days of teaching in Japan

and Okinawa, Marquez was always will-ing to take in disabled students and train them in the martial arts. This tradition continued at his new school.

It was a student of Marquez’ who actu-ally caused him to take the next step, however, and to truly devise a system of martial arts that served the needs of students with disabilities. This situation occurred when one of his young students, preparing his Bar Mitzvah project, asked Marquez permission to teach the martial arts at a specially challenged center in the city of Claremont, California. The pro-gram was scheduled for six weeks.

Marquez heartily encouraged his student to teach this class. When the six-week course concluded, the director of the center had witnessed a remarkable change in the participants. She asked Marquez to take responsibility to teach an ongoing class on the martial arts at the center. He took on the challenge and began to orga-nize a program that truly served the needs of disabled students.

“Marquez has designed an exacting program to not only meet the needs of the disabled student, but to train

instructors in the proper way to teach students with disabilities.”

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Above: Anthony Marquez with Gail Geyer, a brown belt closing in on her black belt.

Marquez quickly realized, however, that the way you teach a blind person is very different from the way you teach an individual who is deaf. The way you train a highly autistic person is quite different from the way you instruct a person with mild Down Syndrome. How you train a double amputee or a person in a wheelchair are completely opposite from the way you train someone with neurofibrosis. Though Marquez happily took on all students, he quickly realized that he needed to address the issue of how to work with each type of disability. Again, the key word in the develop-ment of his system is “adaptation.”

“Many traditional instructors are so locked into their traditional training program that they will not or cannot adapt to the needs of the disabled stu-dent. This is a mistake,” he says. “The instructor must be willing to adapt his program to serve all students. To adapt, you need education. What I have cre-ated is based on thirty-plus years of adaptation, recreation and changing my attitude from the old way to a new way of teaching the martial arts.”

Who Should Teach?Teaching the disabled student is a

very rewarding process. Marquez says that the proud mother of one of his autistic students came to him and said,

“My daughter tied her shoes for the first time yesterday.” Her daugh-ter was 29 years old!

Marquez realized that by teaching the martial arts to the disabled, not only do you help them to get their body in shape, but you also help them to create a mental frame-work that makes their entire life better as well. Obviously, though, teaching the martial arts to the disabled is not always easy.

“Some of the instruc-tors who go through my training program just can’t do it. Some of them are just too sympathetic. They go into a class [of disabled students] and begin to cry. This does no one any good. Some people have very good hearts—very good intentions, but they just don’t have the psycho-logical make up to take on the job.”

More than simply

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Above: Anthony Marquez with Sebastian Mancipe, a blind student.

“Some of the instructors who go through my training program just can’t do it. Some of them are just too sympathetic. They go

into a class [of disabled students] and begin to cry. This does no one any good. Some people have very good hearts—very good

intentions, but they just don’t have the psychological make up to take on the job.”

too much sympathy, Marquez realizes that, although it is a rewarding job, it’s also a very trying one. At one of his classes at the Braille Institute of Los Angeles, he explains, “I thought I was good until I started teaching a class with six blind kids in it.” Because of that experience, he cre-ated a whole new curriculum designed for the teachers of the blind.

“I don’t see this as a chore; I don’t see it as a problem: I see it as a labor of love,” Marquez says.

This is where Marquez’s years of

teaching experience come into play. At his seminars, he tells the truth. He addresses all of the questions that potential instructors have about everything from their fear of lawsuits to what it really takes to address the needs of the varying levels of disability.

Marquez is currently in the process of creating extensive manuals on how to teach each aspect of the martial arts to the disabled. He’s doing this through his non-profit organization, Possibilities Unlimited International (PUI).

In the meantime, Marquez is a man of his words. He continually receives e-mails and calls from people asking ques-tions like, “I have two kids with Down Syndrome in my class, how do I teach them?” He talks with each person, with-out charging a fee, and gives him or her all of the information he can. “This is my moral responsibility,” he says simply.◆

Scott Shaw of Palos Verdes, California is a prolific martial arts author and journalist.

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Above: Anthony Marquez with his Adapted Martial Arts class.