Judo for the Disabled Instructor Certifications and Experience among Forum Members

I am interested in hearing who among the readers here holds a special instructor or coaching certification for judo for disabled people. I am talking about any type of disability. I am trying to get a better idea about the international situation. I believer that until some years ago there used to exist a special certification for blind judo athletes in the US. Didn't Judosensei take that one ? If you do hold such certification, would you mind please elaborating on its duration, kind of courses and modules, and whether there was a formal assessment ?

Separate from that I am also inviting people who have extensive experience teaching judo to physically or mentally disabled peopled or those coaching disabled people. I am mostly interested in hearing how you arrived at doing what you are doing ? Did you just experiment and saw as things went along, or where did you get the applied knowledge, or do you simply think it is a wrong attitude to believe that you're approach to judo for disabled should be different.

My overall motive for asking this question is the general absence of such specific courses in most countries or federations. There are a couple of federations dedicated to judo for disabled people, but most of these federations or the responsible government department do not have such courses. These questions have been in my mind ever since I was once asked to referee judo in disabled judoka and refused because I did not have any special training or certification in this area. When I raised that to the officials much to my surprise they responded: "Oh none of us have any training or certifications in that area". Turned out most of them did not have any instructor training or certifications whatsoever. No doubt that a piece of paper does not make you an expert in teaching or coaching or refereeing judo in disabled, but it would attest that certain minimal training has been done and competency has been shown (if the certifications require prior assessments and mandatory internships). That is not to say that I am questioning that there might not be people who perhaps have decades of experience doing this and are very competent in it. It is precisely this kind of information that I hope to find out from the responses you provide here.

One of the caveats I'd throw in is that for the vast majority of the disabled, they would have to self disclose for their disability to be known. Chances are, most of us have taught more than a few disabled without even knowing it. I do know I had one young lad with whom I worked/taught for years before he disclosed his condition, which involved both intestinal problems as well as growth related problems.

There are times when I won't take a student - active epilepsy without a doctor's note comes to mind, a kid with a stent in his stomach. I don't have the experience or medical knowledge to deal with such people in a way that I know won't cause them problems.

Mostly, though, I try to keep it at the "no big thing" level. If there's a doctor's clearance and the person wants to learn judo, then I teach as much judo as I can, with the caveat that I usually don't know much about the disability/medical condition, and need the judoka to educate me as to how to help him/her learn. So, when a student is profoundly deaf, having a method of communication other than me yelling is necessary for learning. Allowing other students to sit out when they need to, using some students as uke to demo techniques so that they can "feel" techniques, not using others for whom modulating touch is important, etc. Those with limb problems require me to either show up early or stay late with another instructor so we can work on stuff together. So, when I had a young fellow who had lost a foot and most of the second in a tractor accident, we really had to work and reach out to other communities (we chewed the ear off an Iowa wrestler with significant experience with this type of disability).

I don't know it all. I know a bit about judo and enjoy teaching what I know to those who want to learn it. I most certainly don't know what it's like to have specific problems, but the student with those problems has a wealth of information to teach me. Generally, together, we can teach each other.

I'm not aware of a specific certification process. I do worry about liability. But, mostly, I don't worry about stuff. Like I said, most disabilities are "hidden" and I'm unaware of them without some sort of self disclosure, especially when it comes to mental disabilities, learning disabilities, etc.

How do you deal with new students? Sometimes it's obvious there's a disability, but do you know how many of your other students have disabilities?

I can't say for sure, but I do know that the (govt) Department of Sport and Recreation is closely allied with the Disability Services Dept here. The former does offer accreditation and coaching for 'combat sports' (IIRC, it's a 200hr course; I'm too lazy to look it up right now).

There may be some provision and directives for recreational activities for disabled persons buried deep in the archives of government folios.

I'm aware of specific, government initiatives for the provision of services and equipment to disabled athletes (grants of upto $10,000 per person)...and logically, one would think that would extend to coaching for disabled athletes, but....logic and government don't always ride on the same pony.

Cichorei Kano wrote:I am interested in hearing who among the readers here holds a special instructor or coaching certification for judo for disabled people. I am talking about any type of disability. I am trying to get a better idea about the international situation. I believer that until some years ago there used to exist a special certification for blind judo athletes in the US. Didn't Judosensei take that one ? If you do hold such certification, would you mind please elaborating on its duration, kind of courses and modules, and whether there was a formal assessment ?

Separate from that I am also inviting people who have extensive experience teaching judo to physically or mentally disabled peopled or those coaching disabled people. I am mostly interested in hearing how you arrived at doing what you are doing ? Did you just experiment and saw as things went along, or where did you get the applied knowledge, or do you simply think it is a wrong attitude to believe that you're approach to judo for disabled should be different.

My overall motive for asking this question is the general absence of such specific courses in most countries or federations. There are a couple of federations dedicated to judo for disabled people, but most of these federations or the responsible government department do not have such courses. These questions have been in my mind ever since I was once asked to referee judo in disabled judoka and refused because I did not have any special training or certification in this area. When I raised that to the officials much to my surprise they responded: "Oh none of us have any training or certifications in that area". Turned out most of them did not have any instructor training or certifications whatsoever. No doubt that a piece of paper does not make you an expert in teaching or coaching or refereeing judo in disabled, but it would attest that certain minimal training has been done and competency has been shown (if the certifications require prior assessments and mandatory internships). That is not to say that I am questioning that there might not be people who perhaps have decades of experience doing this and are very competent in it. It is precisely this kind of information that I hope to find out from the responses you provide here.

Yes, I have a certificate in coaching judo for blind athletes presented by the US Association of Blind Athletes (USABA). It was presented to me by the creator of the USABA coaching program, Walter Dean, who has been conducting certification clinics for some time. I think it was valid for 3 years and has now expired. You can see it at http://encinojudo.com/images/usabacoach.jpg. I did not complete the certification program but was grandfathered in since I had many years coaching visually impaired (VI) athletes, both locally and internationally. I had also conducted clinics for coaches and VI athletes, including one done with Mr. Dean long before he created the program when I was still the national coordinator and coach for USABA.

FWIW, I believe Sweden has a "teaching jûdô to people with disabilities" module in their coach program.
Their official web site states that there will be a new coaching program unveiled some time in Q1 of 2013, so I can't give any details, but I remember that the previous system was built on 3 "levels", with 3 or 4 obligatory modules that you had to pass before being able to progress to the next level.

One module is/was usually conducted over 2 weekend seminars.


Here in Norway, there are 4 clubs who offers specialized classes for disabled people (primarily mental disabilities), but the numbers of active athletes are quite low (as in lower than 30)...

I agree with Stacey's post on this.

I have several kids in class that have varying levels of mental and/or learning disabilities. Others have some pretty significant emotional issues. I don't have any specialized training in coaching/teaching them at all. I haven't even heard of any such program outside of the VI/Blind judo offerings. If someone on here actually has some resources that could be accessed, please share.

As far as our club goes, I just try and teach them the best that I can. There is no separate class or anything like that. They are part of the club and are expected to do everything that the other kids do. This includes behaving themselves appropriately in class. Outside of the occasional breakdown or tantrums of "the I can'ts", these kids do just as well as the others. The main thing I have found is that you may have to spend a little more time helping them understand something or keeping them focused/on task. Patience, staying positive, and help from fellow club members go a long way there!

Stacey wrote:One of the caveats I'd throw in is that for the vast majority of the disabled, they would have to self disclose for their disability to be known. Chances are, most of us have taught more than a few disabled without even knowing it. I do know I had one young lad with whom I worked/taught for years before he disclosed his condition, which involved both intestinal problems as well as growth related problems.

There are times when I won't take a student - active epilepsy without a doctor's note comes to mind, a kid with a stent in his stomach. I don't have the experience or medical knowledge to deal with such people in a way that I know won't cause them problems.

Mostly, though, I try to keep it at the "no big thing" level. If there's a doctor's clearance and the person wants to learn judo, then I teach as much judo as I can, with the caveat that I usually don't know much about the disability/medical condition, and need the judoka to educate me as to how to help him/her learn. So, when a student is profoundly deaf, having a method of communication other than me yelling is necessary for learning. Allowing other students to sit out when they need to, using some students as uke to demo techniques so that they can "feel" techniques, not using others for whom modulating touch is important, etc. Those with limb problems require me to either show up early or stay late with another instructor so we can work on stuff together. So, when I had a young fellow who had lost a foot and most of the second in a tractor accident, we really had to work and reach out to other communities (we chewed the ear off an Iowa wrestler with significant experience with this type of disability).

I don't know it all. I know a bit about judo and enjoy teaching what I know to those who want to learn it. I most certainly don't know what it's like to have specific problems, but the student with those problems has a wealth of information to teach me. Generally, together, we can teach each other.

I'm not aware of a specific certification process. I do worry about liability. But, mostly, I don't worry about stuff. Like I said, most disabilities are "hidden" and I'm unaware of them without some sort of self disclosure, especially when it comes to mental disabilities, learning disabilities, etc.

How do you deal with new students? Sometimes it's obvious there's a disability, but do you know how many of your other students have disabilities?

Stacey,

Thanks, good point. However, I should have clarified that I was not talking about people with "technical disabilities" in the sense that some technical assessment may show that they score less than the average. Instead I was talking about people with disabilities to the extent that it is so significant that they cannot simply function without extra attention and help. I am thus also not referring one individual integrated in a group of non-disabled judoka, but about an entire group or class of disabled people, or tournaments for disabled people. The only case where I had an individual disabled judoka had in mind was an athlete who excels so much that he might participate in the Paralympics or a similar major tournament as such likely would require dedicated supervision and coaching.

JudoSensei wrote:

Cichorei Kano wrote:I am interested in hearing who among the readers here holds a special instructor or coaching certification for judo for disabled people. I am talking about any type of disability. I am trying to get a better idea about the international situation. I believer that until some years ago there used to exist a special certification for blind judo athletes in the US. Didn't Judosensei take that one ? If you do hold such certification, would you mind please elaborating on its duration, kind of courses and modules, and whether there was a formal assessment ?

Separate from that I am also inviting people who have extensive experience teaching judo to physically or mentally disabled peopled or those coaching disabled people. I am mostly interested in hearing how you arrived at doing what you are doing ? Did you just experiment and saw as things went along, or where did you get the applied knowledge, or do you simply think it is a wrong attitude to believe that you're approach to judo for disabled should be different.

My overall motive for asking this question is the general absence of such specific courses in most countries or federations. There are a couple of federations dedicated to judo for disabled people, but most of these federations or the responsible government department do not have such courses. These questions have been in my mind ever since I was once asked to referee judo in disabled judoka and refused because I did not have any special training or certification in this area. When I raised that to the officials much to my surprise they responded: "Oh none of us have any training or certifications in that area". Turned out most of them did not have any instructor training or certifications whatsoever. No doubt that a piece of paper does not make you an expert in teaching or coaching or refereeing judo in disabled, but it would attest that certain minimal training has been done and competency has been shown (if the certifications require prior assessments and mandatory internships). That is not to say that I am questioning that there might not be people who perhaps have decades of experience doing this and are very competent in it. It is precisely this kind of information that I hope to find out from the responses you provide here.

Yes, I have a certificate in coaching judo for blind athletes presented by the US Association of Blind Athletes (USABA). It was presented to me by the creator of the USABA coaching program, Walter Dean, who has been conducting certification clinics for some time. I think it was valid for 3 years and has now expired. You can see it at http://encinojudo.com/images/usabacoach.jpg. I did not complete the certification program but was grandfathered in since I had many years coaching visually impaired (VI) athletes, both locally and internationally. I had also conducted clinics for coaches and VI athletes, including one done with Mr. Dean long before he created the program when I was still the national coordinator and coach for USABA.

Thanks for the explanation, Judosensei.

I remember these certification clinics since at the time I thought of doing one myself as it was about the only judo instructor/coach certification which I did not hold, but I was too busy with other things. I still have all the documentation and programs on my computer, and they seem to date from 2006. However, do these still exist and are these still awarded ? I have not heard or read anything about these anymore since years now.

I was somewhat surprised though they had as many as 6 different levels, which according to my documentation were:

Assistant Judo Trainer, Judo Trainer, Assistant Coach, Coach, Senior Coach, Coach Trainer, Master Coach

Finnsh Judo association is partnering on organizing sports to disabled persons
http://www.pajulahtigames.fi/
At the same time Finnish Judo association is organizing coaching for instructors for disabled at level 2. The cost is 180 € and includes meals, stay for two nights at Pajulahti Sports Center, book and DVD. The schedule includes 18 h of lectures and practical stuff. Head lecturer Marita Kokonen has participated in Judo education for disabled about 20 years. The course has been running at about same time. There has also been EJU summer courses at Malta couple times that one could have attended. There is about dozed clubs that offer dedicated practice to disabled people. Finnish Judo Associaton provided sports for the disabled lomg before it became recommended.
AFAIK the only course offered to deal with the blind is a short referee course. There are thogh seberal good blind Judoka in Finland.

finarashi wrote:Finnsh Judo association is partnering on organizing sports to disabled persons
http://www.pajulahtigames.fi/
At the same time Finnish Judo association is organizing coaching for instructors for disabled at level 2. The cost is 180 € and includes meals, stay for two nights at Pajulahti Sports Center, book and DVD. The schedule includes 18 h of lectures and practical stuff. Head lecturer Marita Kokonen has participated in Judo education for disabled about 20 years. The course has been running at about same time. There has also been EJU summer courses at Malta couple times that one could have attended. There is about dozed clubs that offer dedicated practice to disabled people. Finnish Judo Associaton provided sports for the disabled lomg before it became recommended.
AFAIK the only course offered to deal with the blind is a short referee course. There are thogh seberal good blind Judoka in Finland.

Great information, Finarishi ! Thanks. To the best of my recollection, I do, however, not seem to remember any EJU "summer courses" on this topic. Do you have any specific folders or information leaflets of this saved on your computer ? It's interesting, but one downside is that EJU courses are often a pain in the butt, since usually one cannot freely register but first has to be chosen by the national European federation who is the sole authority to register. There is no uniform policy or transparency on how national federations conduct such selections, and it depends on the specific federation if politics then are involved or not; furthermore, people from other continental unions are usually not eligible.

Cichorei Kano wrote:

JudoSensei wrote:

Cichorei Kano wrote:I am interested in hearing who among the readers here holds a special instructor or coaching certification for judo for disabled people. I am talking about any type of disability. I am trying to get a better idea about the international situation. I believer that until some years ago there used to exist a special certification for blind judo athletes in the US. Didn't Judosensei take that one ? If you do hold such certification, would you mind please elaborating on its duration, kind of courses and modules, and whether there was a formal assessment ?

Separate from that I am also inviting people who have extensive experience teaching judo to physically or mentally disabled peopled or those coaching disabled people. I am mostly interested in hearing how you arrived at doing what you are doing ? Did you just experiment and saw as things went along, or where did you get the applied knowledge, or do you simply think it is a wrong attitude to believe that you're approach to judo for disabled should be different.

My overall motive for asking this question is the general absence of such specific courses in most countries or federations. There are a couple of federations dedicated to judo for disabled people, but most of these federations or the responsible government department do not have such courses. These questions have been in my mind ever since I was once asked to referee judo in disabled judoka and refused because I did not have any special training or certification in this area. When I raised that to the officials much to my surprise they responded: "Oh none of us have any training or certifications in that area". Turned out most of them did not have any instructor training or certifications whatsoever. No doubt that a piece of paper does not make you an expert in teaching or coaching or refereeing judo in disabled, but it would attest that certain minimal training has been done and competency has been shown (if the certifications require prior assessments and mandatory internships). That is not to say that I am questioning that there might not be people who perhaps have decades of experience doing this and are very competent in it. It is precisely this kind of information that I hope to find out from the responses you provide here.

Yes, I have a certificate in coaching judo for blind athletes presented by the US Association of Blind Athletes (USABA). It was presented to me by the creator of the USABA coaching program, Walter Dean, who has been conducting certification clinics for some time. I think it was valid for 3 years and has now expired. You can see it at http://encinojudo.com/images/usabacoach.jpg. I did not complete the certification program but was grandfathered in since I had many years coaching visually impaired (VI) athletes, both locally and internationally. I had also conducted clinics for coaches and VI athletes, including one done with Mr. Dean long before he created the program when I was still the national coordinator and coach for USABA.

Thanks for the explanation, Judosensei.

I remember these certification clinics since at the time I thought of doing one myself as it was about the only judo instructor/coach certification which I did not hold, but I was too busy with other things. I still have all the documentation and programs on my computer, and they seem to date from 2006. However, do these still exist and are these still awarded ? I have not heard or read anything about these anymore since years now.

I was somewhat surprised though they had as many as 6 different levels, which according to my documentation were:

Assistant Judo Trainer, Judo Trainer, Assistant Coach, Coach, Senior Coach, Coach Trainer, Master Coach

That sounds like a lot of levels. I am not that familiar with the program since I have not been very involved in USABA in the last decade. I assume it is continuing, but I'm not sure.

When I first got involved with blind students it was when my club hosted classes at the Los Angeles Braille Institute. The classes were very popular and consistently had 10 to 30 students. We taught there for many years and this is how I learned to work with the wide variety of people involved -- from the students themselves. This led to becoming the national coordinator and coach for USABA and I ran annual national tournaments for VI competitors around the country, developed coaches and referees, conducted clinics, and wrote articles.

Eventually I represented the US on the International Blind Sports Association Judo Technical Committee (led by Bruno Carmeni) where we developed the first rules for VI competition, and organized the first Paralympic Games participation which I attended as the US team coach for judo. It was a struggle to get VI competition recognized within the US but the situation has improved considerably since then.

Cichorei Kano wrote:Great information, Finarishi ! Thanks. To the best of my recollection, I do, however, not seem to remember any EJU "summer courses" on this topic. Do you have any specific folders or information leaflets of this saved on your computer ? It's interesting, but one downside is that EJU courses are often a pain in the butt, since usually one cannot freely register but first has to be chosen by the national European federation who is the sole authority to register. There is no uniform policy or transparency on how national federations conduct such selections, and it depends on the specific federation if politics then are involved or not; furthermore, people from other continental unions are usually not eligible.

Can't recall the year was around 2005 and the occasion was annual summer medical and coaching seminar at Malta.

have you seen

http://www.eju.net/news/?mode=showNewsItem&id=2009

http://www.judo.dk/documents/00928.pdf

finarashi wrote:

Cichorei Kano wrote:Great information, Finarishi ! Thanks. To the best of my recollection, I do, however, not seem to remember any EJU "summer courses" on this topic. Do you have any specific folders or information leaflets of this saved on your computer ? It's interesting, but one downside is that EJU courses are often a pain in the butt, since usually one cannot freely register but first has to be chosen by the national European federation who is the sole authority to register. There is no uniform policy or transparency on how national federations conduct such selections, and it depends on the specific federation if politics then are involved or not; furthermore, people from other continental unions are usually not eligible.

Can't recall the year was around 2005 and the occasion was annual summer medical and coaching seminar at Malta.

have you seen

http://www.eju.net/news/?mode=showNewsItem&id=2009

http://www.judo.dk/documents/00928.pdf

I saw the first document and followed the reports of the seminar, which left me stunned. Similar to how the IJF works, the EJU succeeded in arriving at conclusions (I am talking about the seminar in general, not just the aspect of the disabled which you were referring to) which are totally contravened by scientific research. In fact, you can usually conclude before any IJF or EJU seminar what the outcome will be as it is always patting itself on the back, and the conclusion will always be that judo supposedly is terrific. Poor knowledge of the literature, anecdotal personal experiences, lack of controlled experiments, no critical independent peer review and no open call for presenters support their framework. But to get back to topic, the second document does not really add much to the actual questions of educational programs, but mainly highlights the existence of competitive judo events for the disabled as organized by a few selected federations.

Roy Court from Wales has been the UK pioneer in Special Needs judo. Roy has over 25 years experience coaching people with extra support needs and was one of the founder members of Special Needs Judo in Europe and has since assisted in the setting up of similar programs all over Europe, Australia, Brazil and the USA. He was also the special envoy and advisor at the Special Olympic Games in Ireland in 2003 and the Shanghai Games in 2007. His CV is here: http://www.wispjudowales.moonfruit.com/royjudo-cv/4571631199

This website is worth a look at too - WISP is the Welsh Integrated Sports Programme: http://www.wispjudowales.moonfruit.com/home/4571631196

Jonesy wrote:Roy Court from Wales has been the UK pioneer in Special Needs judo. Roy has over 25 years experience coaching people with extra support needs and was one of the founder members of Special Needs Judo in Europe and has since assisted in the setting up of similar programs all over Europe, Australia, Brazil and the USA. He was also the special envoy and advisor at the Special Olympic Games in Ireland in 2003 and the Shanghai Games in 2007. His CV is here: http://www.wispjudowales.moonfruit.com/royjudo-cv/4571631199

This website is worth a look at too - WISP is the Welsh Integrated Sports Programme: http://www.wispjudowales.moonfruit.com/home/4571631196

Thanks, Jonesy.

My apologies for reopening an old topic, but the subject is suddenly of relevance to me.

Bruno Carmeni seems to have written a book titled Judo and Blindness.
http://brunocarmenisjudoblog.com/published-books/

I can't seem to order it online. Has anyone read it (or another book) and can they vouch for its usefulness?

Thanks.

http://www.sportscoachuk.org has a list of courses that UKCC coaches need to complete for certain elements including Coaching Disabled People, Safeguarding & Protecting Children, Equity in Coaching etc etc.

The absolute minimum that a UKCC coach in the UK has to have is: Safeguarding & Protecting Children, First Aid and a Criminal Records check. These all have to be renewed every 3 years.

USA Judo does offer a VI certification that you can take. Marc Vink usually teaches it. Scott and I don't have it, however. Our feeling is that for VI players, you don't need a 5 hour course to tell you to treat them like athletes, and be more descriptive when you teach.
England has the best special needs program around (for mental disabilities).

I saw a presentation by Mark Vink at the coach's clinic. From what I saw of it it looked like an amazing program and you should be a part of it if at all possible.