I believe in Scouting and all it stands for and teaches. I was a Scout and Scout Master…..Scouting is a good and positive thing BUT…
It’s hard to imagine an organization that is supposed to promote mind, body and moral development leaving out a life style/skill that does all of that and more.
Recently, the mother of one of my students asked if I knew why the cub scouts didn’t have a badge for martial arts. I was surprised to learn this and said I’d look into it.
The next day I called the Narraganset Council of Boy Scouts (Rhode Island) and got an even bigger surprise. I was told that the boy scouts didn’t have a martial arts merit badge because martial arts teaches fighting and violence. I was floored. I knew the answer to the next question I asked because I had been a scout master in the Narragansett Council. “Do the boy scouts have a merit badge for riflrey, shotgun and archery,” I asked. “Yes,” the individual answered. “Do you know how many people are killed every year with firearms?” I continued. “No,” he answered. “Thousands,” I said and asked, “Do you know how many people are killed each year by martial artists?” “I don’t know,” he said. “Neither do I,” I said, "but if there is a statistic for that, it must be miniscule.”
I asked to speak to the council’s chief scouter and was told he was out. I then asked for the phone number of the headquarters of the boy scouts of America and was told that he didn’t have it. I thanked him for his help and went online to search for boy scouts head quarters.
I called Scout HQ in Texas and spoke with two very nice men, both men listened respectfully to my concern that the BSA is missing a very important and positive merit badge, a badge that actually lived up to the scout philosophy of moral, mental and physical development. They said I spoke passionately of the value and tradition of the martial arts and they saw the positiveness of it…but… I asked “Why no martial arts merit badge?” Initially, they camouflaged the real reason for no badge by saying they were concerned about the cost of the uniform and lessons for the individual scout to earn the badge. I said I have several martial artists/scouts in my school so for them to earn a badge would not be an additional expense. I told them that most martial arts instructors would welcome a chance to help with the merit badge and to show the positive essence of true martial arts.
I continued to press the issue by reciting the Boy Scout oath and explaining how the teaching of martial arts brings the oath’s promises to new and more meaningful heights.
I finally told them of the conversation with the scout representative in RI and asked if there was any truth in what I was told. “Welllllll…... One of the men said, we are worried about policing it.” “Policing, policing what?" I asked. “You know policing the use of martial arts for violence, on the street or in the schools,” one of them said. My dander was now up as I fought to remain respectful and calm. I reminded them that the scouts teach riflery, shotgun shooting and archery and that each year we read about the number of scouts killed or injured in non violent scouting activities and that you almost never read of a martial artist being severely injured or killed in our ‘violent’ training. I also asked, very respectfully, how successful they were in ‘policing’ the moral characters of their scout leaders. Had they ever read of a martial arts instructor being accused of crimes against children? The BSA certainly has had a few incidents in this arena. I assured them that I wasn’t trying to throw dirt on the scouting community, I was just trying to make them see that they deal with potentially more dangerous and violent situations than the martial arts community does.
Martial artists are taught respect, dignity, honesty, courage and community service. They are taught, through the strong and positive role modeling of their instructors, to lead a caring, positive and productive life...
I have to give the two professional scouters credit, they didn’t blow me off, they listened. They said they had recently turned down a request for a martial arts badge but hadn’t heard as powerful an argument for it as I had just made. They suggested that I submit a new proposal to be presented before their advancement and safety boards for reconsideration. Both men were very positive in their comments about the merits of martial arts but were constrained by the concerns of the BSA.
I’d like to send the BSA a very strong message about the need for and appropriateness of a martial arts merit badge. I also want them to know that we, as instructors and school owners, are very willing and eager to help establish the requirements for and the completion certification of those requirements. This would be like a flight instructor, or church official certifying that the scout has satisfied requirements for specialized badges.
I have offered to go (at my own expense) to Scout headquarters and sit with the committee/s to work out a Martial Arts merit badge program. I ask school owners/instructors who are interested in seeing a martial arts merit badge on the sashes of their martial artist/scouts to email me with their approval and suggestions for badge requirements. I will take those emails and create a report from the martial arts community and present it to the BSA.
If anyone is interested in creating a martial arts merit badge committee (3-5 members) please let me know…it’s time that the martial arts are recognized by all scouting organizations (Boy, Cub and Girl Scouts) as a wholesome and character building, lifelong journey.