A Journey With Cerebral Palsy

It can be fun to run into people unexpectedly. This time, it was a previous trainer. One I had worked with a few years prior. He does training work out of the gym I attend. The unique quality of our friendship has to be his son. His son has cerebral palsy, which has been known to lead us into some interesting conversations, at least from my perspective. Every time I run into him, I’m always wondering how his son might be doing. Curiosity comes over me about the activities he might be getting into. As a young person with cerebral palsy and a trainer for a father, I remain curious about their ideas. I’m always wondering about gaining some kind of knowledge, I might be able to pass along. As I have gotten used to sticking with my routine. Mostly because the things I do have been working well. However, for someone starting out along the journey of having cerebral palsy, they might want to explore more options. When I ran into him at the gym, our conversation went quickly to CP improvement. I had known before our time working together ended that his son was starting karate. At the time, it sounded like an interesting option for a young person with the disability. Though, I don’t know the first thing about learning the skill of karate. 

My trainer was telling me about the exciting progression of his son. How he was enjoying the karate experience. It made sense to me, as my calculations told me that his son had been doing for a few years. The conversation progressed to discussing someone else inside the karate program. An individual who also had the disability I share with his son. This person who came up in our conversation was the principle of a local school. He was described as being challenged by cerebral palsy on one side of his body. The principal had been engaged with working on karate for some time. I’m guessing he found karate useful tool for taking on his challenges with the disability. My past trainer was describing how much the karate seemed to diminish the cerebral palsy impact. Telling me it was difficult to even recognize the impact of the disability. The principal had obviously created a successful life for himself. Most likely in part because of the concepts he had chosen to help with his cerebral palsy challenges. The conversation got me thinking about an entire range of concepts. Wondering about how impactful karate might be for the challenges of the disability. One thing seemed for certain, as part of our short conversation. The karate program seemed to be giving his son more than just the fundamentals of karate. The principal might have become a real-life example of finding success with the disability. 

Finding different ways of helping the challenges of cerebral palsy can be ongoing. I know for me; I have spent a lot of time thinking about the topic. Wanting to pass information on to whoever might be looking. If you spend time reading my blog you would know I use activities like playing golf, snow skiing, and working with a trainer. These have become activities that both interest me and help improve my cerebral palsy battle. That improvement doesn’t always show up in the improvement of physical movement. I think gaining confidence in myself also helps my CP challenges. The idea of feeling like I accomplished something that didn’t seem possible. Whether it comes from shooting a lower golf score or taking on a more difficult slope on skis. All the improvements of an activity I enjoy lead to me feeling better about myself. Those successes show my work inside the gym is coming to fruition. Improving my balance and strength, making my disabled body feel more functional. Which happened to be something my past trainer mentioned about his son, during our conversation. All the quick movements that are demanded in karate seem to be helpful with his coordination. The conversation was insightful for me, as I understand very little about karate. From what he said, the son of my prior trainer enjoys learning karate, and continues climbing in his advancement. 

As our conversation continued about his son. Thoughts began being discussed about some of the reasons his son might be enjoying karate. Why the activity might be promoting his desire to continuing working on the skill. Something coming to mind for me was an emotion that might not be spoken. One which could be buried deeply into a place, not getting much light. Learning a skill that encompasses the knowledge of self-defense would seem intriguing. Something I didn’t have as an aspect of my activities, while growing into adulthood. Feeling safe in a crowd, even as a male adult, isn’t always a given. When you have a physical disability, the questioning of being able to defend yourself inside a situation, seems naturally questioned. I know because of my personality that I would step in front of someone I cared for, if a situation ever arose. But that doesn’t mean I would physically, know the best way to handle the circumstances. This would be something I believe to be an aspect of learning karate. Knowing how to handle yourself inside of a physical altercation. Something I think would be awesome for someone with cerebral palsy to learn. Having the knowledge of knowing how to protect himself could only raise his confidence. Even if, hopefully, the skill never has to be relied upon. We also talked about gaining body awareness in space and how to use the body. 

Something I feel that I have heard about learning karate is the discipline involved. An attribute it seems nobody could get enough training around. All the variables that seemingly need to connect, feel astounding. The discipline of learning how to control body movements, feels right on target for helping cerebral palsy improvement. I remember this trainer talking to me about all the exercises we would perform. How we were working my body inside of a controlled environment. Trying to push coordination inside the gym, for coordination to be better out in the world. We used to work with many different kinds and sizes of athletic balls. Working on playing catch with them or bouncing them off the floor. The work challenged my ability to coordinate my body. The goal, to make using my body easier in the daily world. A similar concept would seem true for working karate. Keeping in mind, I understand very little about karate. It seems though, the movements of karate all involve much balance and timing. They seem to require quick movement and as my buddy was explaining, make good use of both sides of the brain. Challenging all kind of circuitry inside the brain. Karate seemed like a great thing for his son to be engaging in and a cool topic to write about. His son is also starting at a young age, which will be even more beneficial.

There will probably always be a constant search. A search for ways of making life with cerebral palsy just a little easier. I know that search has become a passion of mine, over the years. Trying to find the best tools that work for my challenges. Though, I feel like I have found good activities, exercise methods, and care. I’m always attempting to remain open for new ideas to help my challenges. Some I have considered and tried. While others might not feel like my cup of tea. However, I use this blog to pass on as many ideas as I can. Hoping to help you think of something that maybe you haven’t thought of, yet. Maybe it sparks an idea of something totally different. Anything that might help with the challenges of cerebral palsy, I’m here for. So, when I got into the conversation with my previous trainer my ears were open. Knowing he has a young son with the disability. Along with remembering all the conversations we had when working together. I was curious about the route his son was taking, these days. I found our discussion on karate to be interesting. Karate also sounded like a cool idea for helping with the challenges involved with our disability. The classes seem like an exciting challenge, full of connection with others. Like most exercise, the younger it can be started, the better. My hope is for his son to grow up with challenges that continue to decrease. I hope my sharing some of our talk a couple weeks ago helps in some fashion. Maybe sparking a thought or idea inside yourself.