Taekwon-Do and Dyspraxia
Thesis for Dan VIII
Neil David Franks, Ireland
Using Taekwondo as a tool to help special needs students
with emphasis on Dyspraxia
Using Taekwondo as a tool to help special needs students
with emphasis on Dyspraxia
This resource comprise a thesis required for promotion to 4th Dan. The instructions for writing an essay or thesis for black belt promotion include that the writing should be of some use and interest to other Taekwon-Do practioners. Korean terminology is therefore the focus of this thesis. It is an area that needs strengthening in our Taeskwon-Do community.
The idea of this work is to reflect and be able to think about certain individual and group psychic processes that occur during the transmission of our art. We will not only look at it from the point of view of transmitting our martial art based on its principles and philosophy, from the appropriate teaching methodology, but also from the effects that the practice of Taekwon-Do produces in terms of boosting self-esteem and the relationship this has with the management and control of aggressiveness.
Through this study of the Yin & Yang principles it had stirred my curiosity into the why and how we can use these principles for our own inner spiritual, mental and physical development, not only for use in the Martial Arts but for all of what life and nature can throw at us. We as humans need to ‘Adapt’.
The focus of this text is on the multiple technique combinations included in Taekwon-Do patterns, from a practical and scientific perspective.
Why do some organisations grow and others decline? Why do some sports thrive while others remain marginalized? How do we ensure Taekwon-Do thrives in the modern world?
“What is Taekwon-Do, fundamentally? What is its nature and substance, its
reason for being?” Marcus Aurelius, the great Roman philosopher and emperor, might ask such a question of General Choi Hong Hi, founder of Taekwon-Do, in the hereafter.