We could all use some karate ... and Sensei Ralph ... in our lives

Groton If current levels of discourse are used as evidence, the concepts of respect and self-control appear to be swirling the bowl. And so if the conduct of adults falls on the low side of the learning curve in such categories, what do you suppose their children are being taught? Scary. So here is a modest proposal:

Maybe we could all use some karate in our lives? Or at least our kids? There is a man among us rather versed in the subjects of respect, self-control and discipline. He teaches the children well, too, about 300 of them through the Groton Park & Recreation Department.

And it's time to get Ralph Batty – Sensei Ralph – into our schools.

Batty is among the region's preeminent karate instructors. He's been perfecting the art for the last 34 years. Teaching it for the last 23. It is so much more than guttural sounds and the occasional chop. Batty, a 1989 Fitch graduate, teaches his "cadets" all the things they'll need as baselines for success.

"The biggest thing karate taught me is respect. That's my biggest lesson in the dojo (the place of instruction) for all the students," Batty was saying recently. "It helped build my character. It's the one thing I want to pass along. I teach an authentic martial arts system. It teaches character building.

"When a student comes into the dojo, he or she learns respect, self-control, self-discipline. Integrity.

We talk about etiquette. I teach my students how to utilize those life lessons when they are in a classroom and the teacher is teaching them. When they are playing sports. When they are at home. It's all inter-related. I'm not trying to change their personalities. If you are the class clown that's who you are. But you can use these lessons to know when to tone it down and when it's OK to be your funny self. You can tie this into all aspects of their day."

Batty, who used to teach karate during the school day at Nathan Hale in New London, chuckles at the memory of walking into school occasionally and spotting his cadets running down the hall. They'd stop immediately. This is what you notice about Sensei Ralph: He commands the attention and respect of the kids immediately and faithfully.

"When you get a student into the dojo, this is something different. It isn't baseball or football. It isn't your average after-school activity where you have a coach and there is a norm," Batty said. "You walk in and you have to take your shoes off. You have to bow when you walk in the door. Here's this guy. This big bald guy. It does something to their thought process. He is wearing a black belt. They see him take someone down. They go 'ooooh.' They see themselves doing that. But they can't get to that without learning all the fundamentals: learning how to stand in line, self-control and not talk, how to be focused, follow the lesson."

Batty, while no longer at Nathan Hale because of funding, has remained in the city to instruct at the middle school. Surely, though, more schools in more towns can incorporate his teachings into the day. They are important. And the guy is really good.

"They wrote me into this year's budget at the middle school. So far, so good. There's a lot of interest. But I'd like to do it in more schools," he said. "I have 300 students through Groton Park & Rec. Some have autism, cerebral palsy. Some are in wheelchairs. It doesn't matter. Karate is progressive. Some of my best students started when they were three. Karate isn't about fighting. I teach my students to fight with their mind. You don't come to the dojo to train. You come to learn. Then you leave and practice what you've learned."

Batty has been doing that for 34 years.

"Growing up, I was not the best speaker. I could speak about anything I thought I was right about, but I had an attitude," Batty said. "I was never wrong. But get me in front of people? I just couldn't do it. I had no confidence. I started to watch Kung Fu movies and knew that's what I wanted to do. My parents drove me to East Lyme and I started with Chuck Merriman. I was 12. The first time I stepped into the dojo, Chuck said he didn't have any kids' classes, but if I could hang with the adults, I could stay. That was it. I've never stopped." This is the opinion of Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro