The pensioners learning martial arts


02 January 2008 07:24

The stereotypical martial arts aficionado is a fit young man with a powerful karate chop or kung fu kick.

But, for martial arts master Kevin Garwood, his pupils tend to be pensioners. Some have had strokes and others have artificial hips or diabetes.

And instead of specialist oriental fighting sticks, staffs or nunchuks, their weapon of choice is the humble walking stick.

Kevin, from Gorleston, teaches three walking stick self-defence classes a week and hopes to start more sessions this year.

"What I am not trying to do is make grey-haired ninjas." he said, "Or have people twitching and always looking over their shoulders. What it does is give them tremendous confidence."

The idea is to transform the walking stick from a symbol of old age or disability into something which can boost people's self-confidence and empower them to stay active.

Kevin said he came across research among American prisoners, talking about how they targeted "the vacant, the bewildered, people who didn't know where they were going." So his classes focus on how people look, starting before they even leave the house. "Before you go out of the house, think about the route. Then even if you are walking slowly, if you are positive and your brain is engaged, you look less like a victim," said Kevin.

Classes begin with a warm-up, focusing on gentle movements of the hands, wrists, arms and bodies and going on to turning and twirling the stick. Pupils practise sets of movements and learn simple strangleholds, arm locks and throws, using their walking sticks.

"We don't teach lots of complicated techniques. It's basic stuff, stuff you can remember," said Kevin. Techniques as simple as focusing on a target in the mid-distance as they walk make elderly people look and feel more confident.

And there have been successes - one man was convinced he was about to be mugged as he walked to a bus in Norwich. "Some chap made a move towards him and he set himself up and the guy made a quick move off to the left muttering obscenities," he said.

And there was the elderly woman in Yarmouth this summer who fought off two boys who grabbed her arm and her handbag. "She went to the police station because she was worried about having hurt the boys," he said.

He has been teaching traditional martial arts since the 1970s and walking-stick self defence for three years - building on his skills as a ju jitzo instructor and a leader of gentle exercise classes for older people. He calls the walking stick self-defence "cane work" and said: "I have done martial arts for many years and I was looking for something that people could take anywhere.

"Now I always carry a walking stick, even though I don't need one to help me walk."

Kevin, a 58-year-old former youth justice worker, began taking judo lessons from the vicar of Martham back in the 1970s. "He was a black belt and we got a little club going," he explained. "The vicar then had to give up, because of ill health, and I took over the children's classes."

He now has black belts in judo, dai jitsu and goshin jitsu. He is also qualified to teach relaxation, yoga, wrestling and weight lifting and runs Norfolk's O Yama Ryu (Big Mountain School) which teaches traditional judo and ju jitsu-style self-defence in local towns including Yarmouth, Gorleston, Wymondham, Harleston and Ipswich. Training sessions run every weekday evening, plus weekends for around 200 youngsters, plus adults. Kevin's own four children, who are now grown up, have all been involved in the club too.

Cane work classes for walking-stick users are held at Church Lane Community Centre, Gorleston, on Tuesdays and Thursdays and Lichfield Community Centre, Southtown, on Wednesdays and Kevin hopes to expand into Norwich this year.

Ü For more information visit www.canework.co.uk or call 01493 656538.

Ü Are you one of Kevin's cane walking warriors? Contact Lucy Bolton on 01603 772429 or email lucy.bolton@archant.co.uk

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