Isaiah Jones spent a lot of time watching TV and playing video games. That was until Jones’ stepfather got him into boxing and martial arts, keeping him active and off the couch.
Thirteen-year-old Jones now spends her time practicing the kata, a series of choreographic moves required to master taekwondo.
“I learned taekwondo and within a few weeks I started improving on both,” said the Eastbrook Academy student. Jones has been doing martial arts since last year and is a low purple belt.
Jones picked up some extra moves in the last weekend of July. He attended self-defense and anti-bullying workshops as part of the 27th United School of Survival (USOS) International Training Conference at his center in Wisconsin, Milwaukee. He learned various self-defense techniques such as palm strikes, back kicks, side kicks and knee strikes.
The biggest takeaways for Jones have been conflict resolution and self-confidence.
Jones, who attends Anvil Martial Arts in Milwaukee, said, “I used to be scared that someone would mess with me, but now I’m confident that if I fought him first, I could fight back.
Often times, the Nation of Islam’s four-day martial arts conference in Chicago offered youth and adult programs on self-defense, mental health, and wellness.
The conference, held for the first time in Milwaukee, featured demonstrations of various martial arts styles including VSK jiu-jitsu, karate, taekwondo and tansudo.
Attendees learned practical life-saving techniques such as how to stop a bleeding gunshot wound, recognize the signs of a stroke, and perform CPR.
“Martial arts is one of those things that strengthens your spirit and makes you feel comfortable and confident in who you are so you don’t get caught up in peer pressure,” the trainer said.
Young people deal with many things, from cyberbullying to peer pressure. They want to fit in and sometimes act negatively. Muhammad said young people need to say “no” with authority and have the right frame of mind to support their claims.
“I wasn’t the biggest guy, but I had martial arts, so I was able to get around a lot of situations.” I had a skill set that made my words stronger to get me to work.”
Using martial arts is a last resort.
“Once they’ve exhausted all other options, we equip them with the skills they need to defend themselves,” said Muhammad of Chicago’s Lions Poe Karate and Chess Academy. .
“We’re talking to them about how much to use in certain situations,” said Abdul Aziz Muhammad, who founded the conference last month and is also a 10th-degree red belt in VSK jiu-jitsu. Since you’re standing, everything that happens doesn’t require (martial arts).Use this only if your life is in danger.”
Frederick Coleman runs Studio69, a Milwaukee-based center that teaches martial arts, boxing, and yoga.
He has practiced martial arts for 30 years and believes that martial arts combine the physical and the psychological to help young men understand the concepts of self-esteem and self-love.
Coleman teaches his students that martial arts has more to do with discipline and self-control than fighting. Coleman believes philosophy is especially important to young black men. Many of them have not been taught how to process their emotions or come from stressful home environments, he said.
“We are building self-awareness, confidence and discipline,” Coleman said. “That’s the most important thing a young black man needs right now.”
Shabber-Jones is only a white-belt novice in Coleman’s class, but he can already see the difference in himself, especially at school.
Jones, 10, said he used to be the class clown and performed at school. Taking both martial arts and another boxing his class, he says, helped him control his anger and stay away from his fights.
“I’m out of trouble and doing well,” he said.
A student at La Escuela Fratney, Jones encouraged other children to see martial arts as a way to deal with their emotions and stay safe.
“He needed guidance that I couldn’t give,” said Benedetta Wright, Jones’ grandmother. She enrolled both Shabber and his brother in martial arts classes. “He (Shavar) needed guidance and discipline that a man could give to a young man.”
She said it was great to see her grandchildren evolve into what they are now.
“It was a tremendous change,” said Wright.
La Risa Lynch is a local affairs reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Send an email to llynch@gannett.com
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