Martial arts training is found to have a curative effect on people with different levels of intellectual disability. Martial arts training not only strengthens their physical and mental health, but also engages them so proactively and positively as to make their parents beam with happiness and solace.
The kung fu training given to a group of differently abled adolescents under the Community Disability Management and Rehabilitation Programme (CDMRP) at Calicut University has had a visible impact on them.
Trained by C. Nidheesh, a kung fu 3-dan expert, the group displayed their physical coordination and behavioural skills before Vice Chancellor K. Mohammed Basheer on Saturday. An excited Dr. Basheer offered them all possible help for their rehabilitation. Most of them said they were keen to find a job that suits them. “The university is for you. Make use of it. Dream big, and definitely you will get it,” said the Vice Chancellor.
Mr. Nidheesh said it was the first time in the country that kung fu training was given to a group with mental disability. “And the result has been amazing. We are planning a martial arts-based curriculum to positively engage and strengthen the people with mental disability,” he said.
Accompanied by his teacher C.A. Raheem Kakkad, chief instructor of Indo Dragon Kung Fu, Mr. Nidheesh made his students display their martial arts skills in front of the Vice Chancellor.
Physiotherapy Day
The CDMRP chose Saturday for the display as it marked the World Physiotherapy Day celebrations. “Interestingly, the slogan of this year’s celebrations across the world is the ‘role of physiotherapy in mental health’. We don’t need any better example to prove it,” said CDMRP physiotherapists Denny Davis and Nissy Mariam.
The parents of the adolescents who watched their children perform said there were perceptible improvements in them after they joined the kung fu programme. “My son Nakul can now walk, run and do a lot more than he used to. So far, kung fu has been the best curative training he could be given,” said Gopi Kundanchira. Harsha’s mother said her daughter had improved her physical flexibility. “My daughter says she wants to learn kung fu for self-defence.” Asma Beevi from Kooriyad said her son Arshad and daughter Amjida were so excited about the training they underwent that they wanted it to continue for long.
Interactive skills
Most of them have acquired skills to travel alone after they joined the training. When some of them are showing keenness in swimming, all of them have improved their interactive skills with others. They have an exclusive WhatsApp group to communicate messages.
The CDMRP is a joint initiative by the State Social Justice Department and Calicut University’s Department of Psychology.
