Changing their minds

 

Local martial arts teacher launches international program

 

By Anne Heitjan

C & G Staff Writer

     What do you think? Not about the headline, but what do you think about throughout your day, right now?

     Knowing what’s happening in your own head — focusing and disciplining your mind — are aspects of Lessons in Mindfulness, a program created by School of Chinese Martial Arts Sifu (teacher) Robert Brown, whose school at 12 Mile and Woodward has the largest adult population in the country.

     The program was distributed to about 2,000 schools in the United States, Canada, Australia, the UK and Puerto Rico Aug. 4 and is being promoted by industry-leading Educational Funding Company, which supports martial arts schools in all aspects of development.

     If you thought martial arts was just for kids or just for self-defense, Lessons in Mindfulness would change your mind.

     “It’s a program that helps people understand that martial arts is more than exercise and getting in shape and self-defense,” said Sifu Brown, who has practiced for 31 years and taught kung-fu and tai-chi for 15 years. “It’s a course that teaches the deeper aspects, the spiritual and philosophical aspects of martial arts. It can be a supplement to any style of physical practice, it doesn’t matter.”

     The program consists of workbooks for students that include topics to help bring practice into their everyday lives, recommended reading, techniques designed to help people discipline their minds, and activities that promote introspection. It defines mindfulness as being in the moment: “You are doing what you are doing when you are doing it.”

     Mindfulness and meditation are neglected aspects of martial arts that adults would want if they only knew about it, Sifu Brown said.

     “They think, because of (the industry), that it’s just exercise, self-defense and fighting. If they really understood it was about being happier and mindful, many more would practice. We’re trying to help people understand martial arts is a path to personal growth and help them lead happier, better lives.”

     It is a perspective that’s worked for his school; of 468 students, 90 percent are adults between 25 and 55, with the average student somewhere between 30 and 40 years old, numbers almost unheard of in an industry where the average age is 7- to 8-years-old.

     Sensei Joe Hurtsellers, director of Toledo’s  Academy of Karate by Hurtsellers, “Building Better Lives Through The Martial Arts,” is using Lessons in Mindfulness and said he hadn’t believed the adult market really could be that big when he met Sifu Brown.

     “We had even eaten together at a large banquet the EFC was hosting,” he said, and admitted he was skeptical. “Nobody has 450 active adults. I didn’t really pay much attention.”

     Sensei Hurtsellers opened his school in 1989 and teaches shuri-ryu, a form of karate. He said Lessons in Mindfulness is working well at his school.

     “Students have something they can work on at home. I think it’s having a profound influence. The power of Lessons in Mindfulness is that it’s a tool that enables a school director to change the culture of a school to present martial arts in a true and authentic, character-building fashion.”

     The idea that martial arts may offer something many adults might want is a well-kept secret, according to Jeri Donahue from the School of Chinese Martial Arts.

     “I didn’t want to hit anybody and I didn’t want to get hit, so why would I practice martial arts?” she said, referring to the perception that it’s about violence. “I think people have been deprived of it.”

     The view of martial arts as an effort toward personal growth is gaining momentum in the industry — especially with renewed interest in meditation outside the industry — but it’s not new, Sifu Brown said, citing the arts’ ancient origins.

     “Not only is this something that’s coming up, this is something that always was,” he said. “I want to change the popular perception of martial arts so people really understand. I’m OK if you don’t want it, but at least know what you’re saying no to.”

     For more information on Lessons in Mindfulness, visit www.zenmartialarts.com

     You can reach Anne Heitjan at aheitjan@candgnews.com