Study tests benefits of karate for teens with disabilities

Barefoot students in white uniforms snapped to attention with a shout from their instructor. The class moved into stretching and doing warmups on the red and blue mats. A mirror to one side allowed everyone to check their form. Then the class transitioned to the main lesson. 

On one side of the room, instructors gave individualized attention to two new students. Cole DiNardo, 17, and Anna Dearhamer, 14, were on their third or fourth karate lesson. Anna and Cole are participating in a University of Michigan study looking at the benefits of karate for adolescents with Down syndrome. 

Between the practice floor and the lobby was a viewing area with two rows of chairs and a coffee maker in the corner. Parents looked through a window cut into the wall, while students' younger siblings did homework or played on electronics.

Joyce Dearhamer and Kelly DiNardo sat together and watched their children.

Cole and Anna were in the corner with instructors Alex Weir, Taylor Weir and Jason Drinkwine. They both smile when encouraged by the instructors. 

Normally Anna would stick close by Joyce’s side, she said. Anna has difficulty communicating with others and Joyce helps her. But with karate, Anna goes off on her own and participates seemingly without worry.

“They’re doing it all by themselves,” Joyce said. “It’s something they want to do.”

Joyce is also a parent mentor for St. Clair and Lapeer counties for the Michigan Alliance for Families, a statewide group that advocates for disabled children. Her involvement in the study is as a parent, not as part of MAF. 

The study partners with Professional Karate Schools of America locations in Michigan to provide training to 30 students and monitor its effects. The researchers' hypothesis is that students with Down syndrome will see improved health outcomes compared to a control group that does not take karate training.

More:

Geri Kimbro left legacy of service, love

Robotics teams make sweet rides for kids with special needs

Bridge mural project winners named

Anna attends St. Clair Middle School. She has tried activities such as horseback riding and dance lessons, but none of it took. Joyce hopes Anna can find something she can stick with, and maybe that could be karate.

Cole goes to Woodland Development Center and is active in the school’s Special Olympics, but doesn’t do a whole lot of extracurricular activities, his mother, Kelly, said. Cole is mostly nonverbal, mainly answering “yes” or “no” questions. But Kelly can sense his excitement about karate.

“The first time Cole made a karate sound in the car, it scared me,” Kelly said with a smile. “It’s just nice to see him go out and boost his confidence.”

While it is too early to gauge the effects of the study, Cole seemed to be enjoying himself. 

"It's fun and exciting," he wrote using his iPad. 

One-on-one attention

Taylor Weir, 24, has been doing martial arts for about 12 years and is a certified instructor in Tang Soo Do. She has experience teaching karate students with special needs, but had never had a student with Down syndrome.

“When we first heard about it, I was a little apprehensive,” she said. “But the moment I met the two of them they were both so energetic and had such a great spark that I’ve mostly been having fun.”

While she was herself climbing up through the ranks, she worked with a boy who had autism and ADHD. She trained with him until he got his black belt. He recently got his second-degree black belt without her instruction and started teaching others.

"I got to stand by him, watch him, teach him some of the motions, but now I'm getting sent videos from his mom of him on the floor teaching those same motions," Taylor Weir said. 

Patience is key for working with students with special needs, but the benefits of karate are pretty universal, she said. Self-defense and physical fitness aren’t the only reasons for learning martial arts, she said. 

“You also learn discipline and respect,” Taylor Weir said. “I think it’s just a confidence builder, period.”  

Her brother Alex, 21, has also been doing martial arts for about 12 years and is the head instructor at the St. Clair PKSA location. He'd never taught a student with Down syndrome before but said he was impressed by how quickly Cole and Anna caught on. 

"It's been awesome to see their excitement and their progress as they've been here," he said. "Because they’ve only been here a few times but they’ve shown really, really good progress.”

Inclusion of anyone willing to learn is an important part of the school's outlook, Alex Weir said. Although every student may not advance the same, they can all better themselves through training.

“Anyone who wants to learn: You’re never too old, you’re never too young, you’re never too out of shape, you’re never too in shape, you’re never too advanced, you’re never too slow,” he said. “Anyone who walks through the door, we can train.”

For Anna, working with the Weirs has become an important part of enjoying karate.

“I feel good when I do karate and what I like about karate is the kicking and punching and Taylor and Alex,” Anna said in a written statement through Joyce.

Jason Drinkwine also works with Anna and Cole. He said Cole starts practices somewhat quiet but gradually gets more into it.

“I see a spark in his eye, that’s for sure,” Drinkwine said. “It makes a shy person not so shy anymore. Those who were just quiet aren’t so quiet anymore.”

But why karate?

Young people with Down syndrome are prone to a number of health problems, including disturbed sleep, obesity, poor balance and heart disease. Dr. Cory Wernimont and Christie McKinney are primary researchers on the project. Joseph Hornyak is a clinical mentor and a lead investigator, and Dale Ulrich is the principal investigator. 

"We believe that participating in a karate program will provide physiological benefits and it is an activity they can maintain around the year," said Wernimont of the University of Michigan. 

Unlike competitive team sports such as football or soccer, karate is a bit more individualized. Karate students do train in groups and may compete against each other, but much of the sport is competing against oneself, Wernimont said. 

Before starting the training, study participants are tested for physical health in areas such as strength, body mass index, agility and balance. The parents are also given forms to fill out evaluating how often their children experienced emotions such as joy, calmness, peacefulness and feeling refreshed. Participants in the experimental group will receive three months of weekly karate lessons. After the initial evaluation, the participants will be evaluated at the three-month mark and the six-month mark.

All participants are between the ages of 12 and 18 years old. The researchers are paying for the classes for the participants. Participants who are part of the control group will have the choice to receive lessons after the study has concluded or to receive proportionate compensation, Wernimont said. 

The researchers chose to partner with PKSA because the organization has a consistent training curriculum across all its locations. This helps the study be more scientific as all the subjects are learning the same things. 

PKSA also had some experience training students with disabilities, said Michael Weir, owner of PKSA locations in Port Huron and St. Clair.

The PKSA school in Brighton had a long-term student who had Down syndrome, Michael Weir said. 

"She started out the same, just one-on-one training," he said. 

She went on to achieve the rank of second-degree black belt, an accomplishment that takes students a minimum of six years, he said. Black belt candidates must pass the school's certification test, which requires 10 hours in one day. 

"She's really good," Michael Weir said. 

The style taught by the school is the Korean martial art Tang Soo Do. Michael Weir said the lessons have a heavy emphasis on discipline and respect for parents, peers and instructors. Everyone must call everyone else "sir" or "ma'am." The education goes beyond punching and kicking, he said. 

"It's about the heart and about the person you want to be," Michael Weir said. 

Many students walk through the door with their limitations on their mind, he said. Part of their work as instructors is to help students to forget about those limitations, he said. 

"Our goal is to say we understand that, but we're not going to accept that," Michael Weir said. "Nothing can stop them. They can do this, they can do anything." 

More to learn

Anna and Cole are still at the beginning of both the University of Michigan study and their journey into martial arts. What benefits they’ll receive remain to be seen, as does whether they will keep up with karate after the study.

Participants in the study began at different times, so some participants have already completed their participation in the study. 

Clare Brick's son, Casey Brick, 12, has finished his three months of training. Clare Brick said her son was always a pretty physically active kid, but that his discipline has improved. When he misbehaves, Brick asks him what his karate instructor at the Dearborn PKSA, Reginald Jennings, would think of his behavior. 

"It's still a work in progress, but now we have some tools," she said. 

The school has been very accepting and respectful of Casey, Clare Brick said. 

"It's been more than I could have hoped for," she said. "I can't say enough good things about PKSA in Dearborn." 

The rest of the parents in the study will have to wait and see how the training affects their children. 

“I hope Anna does show some physical improvements and then it would be good to have a new activity to do,” Joyce Dearhamer said.

Kelly DiNardo said she appreciates how the school has accepted and treated Cole.

“The fact that how welcoming they were, how much attention they’re giving our kids,” she said.

The research team is conducting the study and awaiting its results. In the future, Wernimont said he’d be interested to learn how children with Down syndrome younger than 12 years old respond to karate and how they keep with it.

The team is still looking for participants for the current study, and anyone interested can contact them at umdskarate@gmail.com.

Working with Anna and Cole helps teach instructors how to train future students who have disabilities. In Tang Soo Do, the black belts aren't actually black, but midnight blue. This signifies that training and learning continue long after someone earns their black belt. 

“Cole has helped me, and Anna has too, on learning to be patient and making sure I’m explaining myself as clearly as possible,” Taylor Weir said. “Because if a student isn’t getting it, it’s not necessarily because they’re not understanding, it’s because I’m not demonstrating it the correct way.”

Michael Weir said he’d like to see how kids like Anna and Cole might benefit over the longer term.

"I'm hoping that this isn't just three months,” he said.

Contact Jeremy Ervin at (810) 989-6276 or jervin@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @ErvinJeremy.