Cherry writes: “I am looking around for martial arts teachers [with] experience or expertise in working with people with trauma. I read your articles and advice on this, but I am nervous (scared) about cold-calling/meeting coaches or going to trial classes as I am still susceptible to trusting the wrong people and triggered by violence/anger . . .”
Here are some ideas borrowed from organisational risk management – see if they can apply to your own martial arts journey . . .
Emma (a Karate beginner) has written in response to the article: Ten ways martial arts training can help survivors of abuse:
“I found this a very insightful article which reflects my own experience – thank you for writing it. I wanted to ask you what you think the benefits of sharing a personal history with my sensei might be. I don’t want to burden them with unnecessary information, and am also quite private, but if there is anything that might be of use, I might want to tell them . . . “
Some people come to martial arts training hoping to heal and move on from their experience of physical and/or sexual abuse.
This doesn’t always work out, as the experience can be overwhelming or triggering, or unsuitable in other ways for some individuals. However, if all goes well, here are ten wonderful benefits that training can bring for such students . . .