I absolutely and vehemonently reject the prospect of teching TSD or any other hard hitting MA to anyone currently incarcerated for any reason. If you are going to do something like that...why don't you just give them gunpowder and matches.

There are very few arts I would recommend for such an enviroment. Health based practice Tai Chi, Qi Gong, or the like...but no Karate, no Tang Soo Do, no Wing Chun, no Wu Shu or any thing like them.

I know what you are thinking. TSD will give them discipline and make them see themselves as part of a group. This is based on what you see in current classes. But the reason this phenomena happens is because TSD and most other arts use a military teaching design. If you taught straight military Drill and Ceremony...you'd see the same effect....without the danger of them using it to hurt someone. This has already been proven by Prison Boot Camp programs. Kentucky has run these for some time now...and they have an 80% success rate in that only 20% of its graduates have shown to be recidivist upon release. That is an astounding number when you consider that of others incarcerated...85% return to prison...usually within 1.5 years of being released.

JH

JH

JH

If i remember right, Master Hancock is/was a policeman...its definitely good to take his views into consideration. i can see the the facts of what he is talking about. taichi, and chigong would be a good idea...but not taichi applications then.
interesting thought. -J

it is a touchy area. the martial arts have been proven to have positive effects on "at-risk" youth, helping in a variety of areas. we are all familiar with this. master hancock brings up a valid point, however. at a certain point, people move from being "at-risk" to actually moving over the line, legally and morally speaking. the question, mr. cooper, i think, is do these "young offenders" still have the chance of being pulled back from the brink by your training (and the closer to it they are, the harder it will be), or will this be, as master hancock points out, akin to putting a loaded weapon in their hands?

that being said, i have also heard stories from a number of people with criminal histories finding a new life with their training in martial arts. those folks may be rare, though... i imagine that in a case like that, the person must be actively seeking a way out... but there is no hard and fast answer. each situation, and indeed, each student is different.

finally, you may want to check out master art pryor's "sidekick foundation" at

www.sidekickfoundation.org

if you decide to proceed in this endeavor, he may be able to offer some assistance.

yours,
pj steyer

Thank you all for your replies.
Idealistically the idea of teaching these young people appealed. Thoughts of instilling discipline, self control, some positive focus in their lives etc etc.
Master Hancock raised a valid point and I think in reality Tai Chi etc could be the way to go but this will probaly not appeal to these guys.
So maybe I might be better to offer classes to the staff at the young offenders unit.