By Michèle De Meglio
A local karate school is helping physically and developmentally disabled Brooklynites achieve their dreams. At Gene Dunn’s Shotokan Karate Dojo, children and adults with special needs are gaining self-defense skills – and self-esteem – in classes geared to meet their unique needs. Sensei Gene Dunn, who calls his students “stars in their own right,” has been leading the classes for nearly two years at the dojo, located at 172 Avenue U. The school holds two Friday night workshops for people with special needs – a class for children 12 years of age and under at 6 p.m. and a class for adults at 7 p.m. Through a partnership with HeartShare Human Services of New York, a not-for-profit human services agency, the dojo also hosts a monthly clinic, meeting on Wednesday nights, for children and adults who participate in the organization’s recreational program. Mitch Goldstein, field supervisor at HeartShare, initiated the relationship with the dojo. “It kind of just unfolded naturally,” Dunn said. “[Goldstein] suggested that we look at his HeartShare group. We thought it would be a great way to help other people.” Although the participants in these special karate classes have unique needs, Dunn makes sure the workshops are comparable to traditional martial arts clinics. At the 45-minute to one-hour classes, activities include “self-defense, fitness, coordination drills,” Dunn said. “There’s really a heavy emphasis on coordination, confidence, a lot of different things.” “They’re doing pretty much the same thing across the board. We have high expectations,” he said. However, Dunn and his instructors – he tries to have one sensei for each student – make adjustments to accommodate their special needs students. Dunn “will bring it down to our level,” Goldstein said. “When you break the board, he will pick the piece of wood that everybody can break.” When students accomplish such a task, they can’t contain their excitement. “When they’re working with doing flips and takedowns, they feel like the strongest person in the world,” Goldstein said. “You can just tell from the smile on their face that this is something that they have never done before. They never thought they could accomplish it.” The classes also give students a chance to make new friends. “They don’t travel independently so for most of them, this is their social time,” he said. “They need a place to go to meet one another otherwise it doesn’t happen.” “There’s a social dynamic that’s really quite neat. They’re interacting in a group together, which, from what I understand, is very rare. There aren’t a lot of things where both parents and children with special needs can interact socially in a positive environment,” Dunn said. Parents will do anything to make sure these interactions continue. “The parents are really pushing. They don’t miss [a class]. They alter their plans and do a lot of different things because they see it’s a value for the kids,” Dunn said. With so many Brooklynites with special needs growing from their participation in the dojo’s classes, Goldstein hopes to help make the classes available to additional children and adults. “I have a waitlist of a couple of hundred people who would benefit from something like this,” he said. Dunn and his team of instructors have also benefited from the classes. “It gives everybody a deep sense of perspective on their lives,” he said. For more information about enrolling in the Friday night classes for children and adults with special needs, contact the dojo at 718-946-9072. To view a full listing of classes offered by the dojo, log onto www.dunnsdojo.com. To learn more about HeartShare Human Services, visit www.heartshare.org or contact 718-422-4200.
