 The topic of bullying has been a forefront discussion point in recent times. Sentiment around the concept of dealing with bullies differs greatly from person to person. Some people think it's just a matter of manning up and facing a challenge. Others believe that it's a problem that's growing in severity. Now, methods of dealing with bullies is exceptionally relevant in the context of the martial arts. In many cases, it's the very reason that people join a school in the first place. Today, we're going to talk with one organization that uses karate and the martial arts to help give kids the tools to combat bullying and stand proudly on their own. Bullying is nothing new. I mean, the concept of the strong praying on the weak has been around as long as man has. But what makes it such a problem in our modern society? Are more kids becoming bullies? Or is it just that since we live in the connected society with social media, that it's harder to escape from? In any case, it's still a real problem as thousands of children commit suicide every year with several others resorting to acts of violence themselves. Now, when it comes to the martial arts, many people believe that all you have to do is learn to fight and punch them back harder. And does that really stop the bullying? Or does that just cause them to go pick a different target? We recently attended the Zenith Kempo, a three-day Kempo seminar held here in South Florida by Master Sean Kelly. Now, Mr. Kelly is a well-respected Kempo instructor. He has been heavily involved with the Guardian Angels and he also leads the fight against bullies with his program, Stop the Bullying. Now, we got a chance to talk to him and others in the program about their mission to help give kids a fighting chance. Stop the Bullying started off as more of a personal situation with an elderly woman who came into my school when I had it still open. And what happened is she was robbed from being next door. There was a Dairy Queen store and she actually went in there to get ice cream and somebody came in just at random and they pulled off her purse and took it. And she sat in my school and I thought it was her grandmother looking to pick up one of her children. And as that class led out, I didn't have any kids left and I walked up to her and said, you know, can I help you with something? She was shaking, being nervous. And she says, no, I was just robbed. I said, excuse me? I was just robbed. I was next door. Now, mind you, at that time where I had the school, there was like eight, if not nine, different stores. And I asked her, she was okay. She told me she was fine. I called the police and obviously because of the situation, gave her some water. And I said, you know, and as we're waiting, I asked her what possessed her to come into my place, all places. She said, well, I felt safe. I said, yes, ma'am, I'll watch over you. And she said, no, you don't understand. She says, I came here specifically because of what just happened once. She said, but, you know, I had a grandson that used to come to the karate school here and he did very well with it. And Mr. Kelly, the owner, I know, was also with the organization called the Guardian Angels and they protect people. So I felt safe by coming in here. I said, well, ma'am, I said, I'm Sean Kelly. Forgive me if I don't remember you personally. And I said, there's always guardian angels around. But when she said safe place and she chose my place to go to, even though anywhere else she could have gone for whatever it's worth, that triggered something. And I'm like, you know something? When I was a kid, I remember my parents saying if you ever found yourself in trouble, you know, go to your nearby fire department, police department. But now on these days, it's hard to find them. They usually sit back behind a building and they don't stand out like they used to. But there's a martial arts school on every street. Bullying, you know, happens more with just kids. It happens throughout life at times. Myself, I was bullied when I can remember being a kid. But it didn't dawn on me until later talking to people about certain things and remembering what that felt like. And the idea of a child going through that, it's just kind of frightening to think that the kid's all alone and he's feeling those feelings. We're trying to do something different. We're trying to create much more awareness that exists. You think about bullying as one of those actions that as time goes on and in the era that we're on, we're supposed to have grown better, to understand more, to be more aware of what's going on, yet we still deal with the same issues as 50 years ago. So why is that? Why hasn't our society really changed and what is lacking? I was on the first round of certification and I'm out in the community doing this today. We're actually going to certify one of my other instructors for our first safe place here in Palm Beach County. So I'm glad that I'm able to take the stomp the bullying out into the communities and then out into different arts outside of Kenpo. So I'm introducing it into my other style, which is jujitsu. So it's great for the kids. I have my own story of being bullied and I was able to circumna through my martial arts and be able to share that back with the kids. So it's a very strong movement that I'm happy to be proud of. Lack of confidence is a major reason that a child could become the target of bullying. Now this plays a significant factor in facing this challenge. Learning to physically defend yourself is definitely important but with today's society and many no-tolerance rules even the kids who are justified in defending themselves still receive suspensions and severe punishments. But the point of the martial arts is to become a better version of yourself and that often means learning the value of self-worth and helping kids develop a sense of motivation. So stomp the bullying has created these safe places that allow us to bring a victim and help them learn through a specific curriculum ways in which they can stand up for themselves. They can find their inner voice. They can find their inner strength and understand how they can then work to better themselves in those moments. We're looking to really empower people in different ways and help kids and teenagers and even younger adults and into adulthood to become better, to not only stop the action but also teach those who are around them to get rid of the action altogether. So that's our hope. We have people that can talk to them people that can grab martial arts schools or they can go into and basically teach the kids some small bit of self-defense but teaching them more confidence within themselves. Anybody who knows anything about bullies what they do is look for weakness and they jump in on it. I don't believe that there's any child alive that cannot be helped. So this program uplifts them lets them know that they can do anything they want to do and shows to the world that every child we have walking this earth is full of greatness, period. And because of my network I felt that as a martial arts it is our responsibility to save and protect people's peace and we empower people. And that gave me the idea about certifying and creating an organization of facilitating coaches and hence stumped the bullying was let's put our foot down. Let's step up, stand up and do something outside just doing this karate people they want from the community I want them to give back to the community and be advocates because that's pretty much what I did and allowed now to be noticed that there are safe places the martial arts schools and they can empower people not only on the physical point but as a mentor and change those lives. So it's a process and so far we're gaining a lot of momentum to the point they're now wanting it in South America. I've seen some great results. I always tell people I enjoy mentoring or helping kids out when they get it when that little thing comes to them and it just sparks in their eyes and they get so excited about it. They walk taller, they speak more forward and just the confidence that comes out of them and you look at them and just know that they're going to continue to do some great things. So the whole slogan is unity to community so by uniting different members of the community for the greater good of the community we all come together to be able to help kids whether it's the bully or the one being bullied both are the same problem as one. Stop the bullying takes a multi-directional approach and it's mission to combat bullying. There's teaching children physical self-defense there's teaching them the life skills and developing the mental strength they need to become stronger. There's providing them with schools and locations that they can feel safe going to if they are in trouble and they also realize that sometimes the bully is a person who needs help too. Usually another thing we do too is workshops and lectures and we go in and we speak on the subject and what we did recently, actually I was listening to coach Jocelyn talk to some of the other people that are interested and she said I want you to remember the three what she calls the three B's she said there's the bully there's the bullied and there's the bystander but once you just sit there and they watch Educate the bully a person who's a bully is usually a person who's got a very strong personality how can we make the shift for that strong personality to do something good to really be a leader to really be a positive influence in other people's lives rather than taking that in the negative path and create a bullying situation and then definitely educate the bystander because when you're sitting around and you're taping a bullying action with your video camera you are as much an enabler as the one who's doing the action so understanding that we all have a responsibility to all these situations and how we can actually help in the situation how we can guide people and then by the right mentorship and the right conversations then we're able to change some of those outcomes and be able to maybe give some hope we can definitely give students, kids just a little bit of a trickle of a seed that can help them find their way and by default then maybe help others as well Stop the bullying offers education on bullying through seminars and workshops held at schools dojos, youth groups as well as certifying counselors who work directly with children who are the victims of severe and sometimes dangerous bullying As educated martial artists we should not only seek to better ourselves but also stand strong for those who need our help and stop the bullying is looking for more people to get involved in that fight Bringing as many schools and academies doesn't matter what the style what the system with the background is now we have this Renzo Gracie Academy which is a very world renowned name from the Gracie family and we're lucky enough to have our local school here in West Palm Beach more specifically Lake Worth allowing us to come in and they're going to be part of Stop the bullying so we're hoping that this will help bring more awareness and out into the world so more martial humans, more martial artists can help with the whole bullying problem Get it as much around the world as possible one of the people inside the organization and we're talking about getting it as far as even bringing the kids into the point to where letting them get out and recruit other kids they know that's being bullied they don't talk about we know a lot of kids in schools don't talk they don't talk much to each other especially if they're being bullied but kids know what's going on with other kids and they might not tell an adult but to have them talk to the kids and say hey this is where I'm going at hey why don't you come over here and talk to this person it could help a lot and help spread the word and get out there more on social media and just get the word out as much as possible there's a lot of ways that people can get involved you look at where you are and what you can give some people can give their time some people can be mentors some people can donate so there are different ways in which people can become involved stomp thebullying.org call Mr. Kelly or send an email out to Stomp the Bullying I think the information is on there and have someone come out to get their schools and talk to whoever needs to be talked to as far as getting something started there it would be great being able to be brave and confident and give them courage I think martial arts is the science of it is the recipe it did it to me on 57 my first encounter with Bullying was five years old I remember it like it was yesterday so like the new motto is with everything if you see something say something and that's what we're trying to do the martial arts people young are old the first thing they're going to start encountering after their 90 days or more being in any martial arts school is confidence and confidence is what oh I want to raise my hand now or I want to go tell someone and that's what we're trying to build is that confidence to speak up if you have a school and you're interested in registering as a martial arts safe place or if you're willing to hold workshops or become a certified counselor or in any way you want to help support this mission then please reach out to them now and help give kids the skills to survive this challenge