Instructing Children in the Martial Arts – Part VIII

One of the first things that generally alerts me to a possible sexual abuser is a lot of touching. This is also one of the behaviors identified by the Boy Scouts of America in their youth protection program.

Several years ago, I observed an instructor who focused a lot of extra attention on the adult women in his classes. He never, to my knowledge, turned his attention onto anyone underage. But his approach, in my estimation, was very similar to that used by those who groom children, so it can perhaps serve as a model of the kinds of things they might do.

He always began with a lot of touching. He would start by stroking or touching women’s arms in ways he never touched any of the men. He would rotate their hips for them with his hands, supposedly to show them proper mechanics. He would re-tie their belts. He would straighten their gis – pull the tops down, etc. If that didn’t raise any red flags, he would almost lovingly smooth the wrinkles out of their gis with his hand, massage their necks and backs, and so on.

In correcting students on the dojo floor, I think instructors should avoid touching anyone, but especially underage students, on any inappropriate body area or in an inappropriate manner, regardless of the gender of either party. Inappropriate body areas might include those on, near, or around the hips, buttocks, genitals, lower stomach, and upper half of the thigh for males and these same areas plus the front and side chest and upper stomach areas for females.

As mentioned earlier, how an instructor touches his students can also be inappropriate, even if away from the areas noted above. Students should never be touched in a sexually suggestive manner on any part of their anatomies.

It’s important we all bear in mind that the behaviors we’re discussing are not just for our use in identifying potential abusers so we can better protect our students. Many people are aware of these behaviors and will also use them to determine if we are abusers. So we all need to be constantly on-guard against performing any of the behaviors we will discuss ourselves or risk making people suspicious of us.

I’ll soon get into other behaviors in coming posts. Thanks again for reading. And please feel free to share any of my posts with others. The more people who join us here, the more input we can generate and the greater the educational value we'll all receive. So please spread the word!