"Aikido for the disabled sows the seeds of humanity"
 

Posted 2012-11-22 12:42:01 by Jun Akiyama
News URL: http://www.tuoitrenews.vn/cmlink/tuo...manity-1.92567

This article entitled "Aikido for the disabled sows the seeds of humanity" which introduces us to the Vietnamese couple Nguyen Thi Thanh Loan and Dang Van Phat who runs an association in Ho Chi Minh City that teaches aikido to disabled people.

From the article: "Loan is head of the Aikido department of the HCMC Association for Disabled Martial Arts and also the second Vietnamese woman to hold an international Shodan title. [...] Not only do the trainees struggle with physical challenges, many also suffer from intellectual disabilities including Down Syndrome."

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Re: "Aikido for the disabled sows the seeds of humanity"
 

This is a wonderful article.
But I must confess that when first scanning the tab on the article I read it as "Aikido for disabled sows".... which struck me as a hysterically funny idea.

Re: "Aikido for the disabled sows the seeds of humanity"
 

Nice contrast to the thread which must not be named.

Re: "Aikido for the disabled sows the seeds of humanity"
 

I'd be legitimately interested in how to teach aikido to the disabled. As it happens, the bus route which takes me to class, goes past a school for the blind, and has a lot of blind passengers, some of whom I chat with. I've often wondered if, one day, one of them will walk into the dojo, and take an interest in joining us......

Re: "Aikido for the disabled sows the seeds of humanity"
 

Very good article that shows that Aikido has potentially a lot to offer for everyone - we just need more open minded teachers.

Tom

Re: "Aikido for the disabled sows the seeds of humanity"
 

It would be great if you could set something like this up. I know that a few groups ( dojo or teachers working together from different dojo) in the Netherlands, in Belgium and in Germany have succesfully given classes to visually disabled.

Tom

Re: "Aikido for the disabled sows the seeds of humanity"
 

My teacher in Austin taught at the School for the Blind many years ago. It was a good experience for all involved.