1: Overview
Currently inner city young men in the age group of sixteen to twenty have a number of challenges. There are issues of gangs, violence, employability, and alienation from the institutions of education. These issues are most pronounced with young men from sixteen to eighteen. While there are numerous programs for different populations, there is almost nothing for the youth in this age group who are violent.
The more traditional programs of counseling and group therapy are not particularly successful. Often, all other approaches failing, the teenage is given one of the behavior drugs. We believe that one of the problems that many programs have is the inability to engage the violence experienced and exhibited by the youth.
Often the professionals staffing these programs, while having advanced degrees with considerable experience in many areas, lack the street fighting experience that would allow them to establish effective rapport with the target population. Our staff does not have this problem. We are proposing a comprehensive drug free program of physical, emotional, spiritual and educational development for these young men.
2: Proposal
The program will enroll the participant in a three-year martial arts program with the goal of getting a Black Belt. From this position we will involve him in a program that will focus his physical energy into a structured, positive form. At the same time we will use the Zen protocols (Ego Deconstruction and Emotional Maturity) to initiate the Zen coaching component. The Zen coaching will focus on the anger management while the martial arts training will provide a group bonding experience that will replace other gang allegiance. The young man will be taught mediation and psychic self-defense in conjunction with the anger management and self-discovery.
An education component will be included concomitant with the martial arts and Zen training. School participation will be monitored however the main concern will be to create an attitude of continual learning in the participant.
At the age of 18 the young man will go through the MKP weekend (www.mkp.org). Prior to that, aspects of the MKP technology will be incorporated into the martial arts and Zen program. Examples of this are the use of ‘I’ statements, a check-in process, and accountability. The participants will be organized into groups where improvements – in their martial arts training as well as the Zen and emotional side - are discussed. Eventually the participant will attend the six-day Hollow Bones retreat (www.hollowbones.org).
Enrollment will be based on a qualifying session with our Sensei, Richard Garcia. This will involve individual martial arts training as well as a comprehensive evaluation of the young man’s appropriateness for the program. In addition, our meditation teacher, Stan Koehler will introduce the participant to the ego deconstruction exercise. This experience of the Source will inform the martial arts training as well as the emotional maturity exercises. Currently we have two students that are typical of this population, Jonathan Figueroa (Cunning Dragonfly) and Kris Acevedo (Full Metal Phoenix). Both come from families that are unable to support their training. Both young men work at the dojo to pay for their tuition. Jonathan went through the MKP weekend last October; Kris went through in May.
3: Funding
The cost of the program is $150 per month for the martial arts and $50 per month for the Zen coaching. This enrolls the participant in the Ultimate Karate Black Belt Club and covers the cost of the weekly focus groups as well as individual counseling sessions. There is also a one time cost for sparring equipment and weapons of $200. In addition there are two sets of meditation/psychic self-defense workshops that require funding at $240 per workshop. We are also seeking funding for the MKP weekend and the Hollow Bones Retreat.
Our funding model is to seek sponsorship for individual participants using the same approach that is used when sponsors support a student in a traditional education program. The sponsor will be introduced to the student and will follow his progress. Ideally the sponsor would staff the young man’s MKP weekend. As a non-profit agency, Peace on the Street provides full tax exemption for donations.
While we look for individual sponsors, we are also approaching MKP New York to act as the single point of collection of donations. Administratively this would greatly simplify the program while keeping MKP NY actively involved in the project.