Written evidence submitted by Choi Kwang Do, (CKD) Ashington
1) Choi Kwang Do is a martial art that is suitable for people of all ages and capabilities. It has been shown to promote better health and well-being, better balance and co-ordination, better self-discipline and improvements in cognitive development in all participants. CKD is a non-contact, non-competitive form of martial art that uses aerobic and anaerobic exercises as part of the training that we do. It has incremental stages of development, signified by the coloured belts that we wear with our uniforms. It is all inclusive with no bias on any basis. All are welcome, especially families; we actively encourage participation by parents and children together. The progress from one belt level to another is purely on the basis of the students’ ability to perform the patterns, speed drills as well as the hand and leg techniques. We practice self-defence drills and use air shields for aerobic demonstrations of the students’ abilities in their use of hand and leg techniques.
2) In my school of CKD there are students of all ages and both genders. We train together, with children and adults in some of the classes, and just adults in others. Several of the students are over 50years of age and will testify to the improvement in their health, well-being, flexibility, co-ordination, balance and self-confidence as a result of studying CKD. I am 64 years old and have been studying CKD since I was 57 years old and have progressed to 2nd Dan level in that time. In other schools around the country there are many students in their 70s and 80s who are progressing at their own speed and who have found it to be beneficial to their health and well-being in so many ways.
3) Several of the younger, school aged, children have shown remarkable improvement in their self-confidence and cognitive abilities. The parents and teachers of a secondary school aged student have commented on how much his demeanour has changed for the better and how his school work has improved. All of the young students have made improvements in their cognitive abilities that are more than would be expected from the maturation process. Several have gained in self-confidence to an extent that their parents had hoped for but had not initially expected.
4) There are not many different ethnic groups in this area but there have been several students from non-white, British backgrounds who have studied in my school and have gone on to study in other schools when their families moved to other areas. One of the major goals of CKD, as set out by Grand Master Kwang Jo Choi, is to promote friendly relationships among all people and everyone in the CKD community is friendly and helpful to others.
5) The benefits to studying this martial art go beyond the health and well-being as well as the self-confidence that the students develop. There is a strong social element to the schools with regular meeting of instructors and students outside of the training area an all school owners actively encourage social events and will often organise these, themselves. In Ashington we have two regular events; the first is the Christmas meal; and the second is the open day during the school Summer holidays, in the Centre where we train. In the latter we have fun games and activities that children and their parents as well as young adults can participate in aw well as classes in the basics of self-defence using CKD techniques. These are well supported by the students and their families and often lead to new people trying the martial art for themselves. Apart from these we occasionally have social events in the houses of students or their families and we celebrate the birthdays of the students at the end of the class nearest in date to their actual birthday.
6) All CKD students are supportive of the others in the school. Where I have had the opportunity to train in other schools in the country, I have found the same to apply there. There is an ethos of friendly helpfulness that allows each of us to progress at our own speed. There is strong evidence of true humility among all who study this martial art that I have not witnessed in other martial arts that I have tried in the past. Each school will welcome students from other parts of the UK as well as from other countries in the world. We recently enjoyed the company of a student from New Zealand and found the experience very informative. It was very interesting to see a slightly different approach to the training and progression but good to see that the same principles and ethos applies there as it does in the UK.
7) There is a study being done into whether the study of CKD helps to improve the cognitive abilities of its students. This being done by one of the other school owners with input from other schools as well as the assistance of academics from London University. It will be interesting to see if this study confirms what we have observed in the school’s students. It will be interesting to see if the study of CKD helps with slowing the ageing process. From observing my students it would seem that it does. There have been some studies that show that exercise generally improves the quality of life as we get older but it would be interesting to see whether CKD students age better than those who take other forms of exercise.
8) In conclusion:
a) The study of CKD is inclusive and welcomes people of all ages and genders;
b) The study of CKD has social benefits as well as health benefits;
c) The study of CKD seems to improve the cognitive development in children;
d) The study of CKD improves the well-being and self-confidence at all ages;
e) The study of CKD seems to help with ageing well;
f) The study of CKD is suitable for all, regardless of age or abilities; and
g) The study of CKD improves the mental well-being of all its sudents.
February 2018