Care home residents learn how to become lean, mean, fighting machines

Residents at a care home in Derbyshire took part in an armchair karate session led by world champions Oliver Bonnington and Rees Beardshaw, helping them to keep mentally alert and regain their strength and movement.

The martial arts instructors got residents at Langdale Lodge Care Home punching and kicking with 93-year-old Ella Gregory saying: “I didn’t think I had that much strength. I really liked having a go at karate.”

Doing armchair karate really benefited the residents, boosting their mental and physical skills and getting them laughing and animated.

Instructor Oliver Bonnington who runs Area51 Martial Arts and Tricking Academy in Chesterfield said: “Some of the residents have dementia, some have had strokes. Alan was one person in particular, who I believed to have had a stroke recently and has struggles using his right side of his body.

"I worked with him for just 10 minutes and I got him using both right arm and right leg with an amazing smile on his face and a huge positive attitude to getting himself moving!"

Alan Bateman, aged 80, revealed that when he was asked if he want to take part in the marital arts session, his immediate response was 'what a ridiculous idea. I am in a wheelchair'.

'It felt so good'

He soon realised how wrong he was and said: "Oliver produced a pair of gloves and instructed me to hit them ,left, right and an uppercut. It felt so good.

"I quickly realised this was indeed a very useful and beneficial exercise, especially for me having had a stroke and losing the use of my arm.

"So if you get the chance to have a go at wheelchair karate, shock them and shout 'Yes'."

Mr Bonnington called resident Ella Gregory, the “life and soul of the time I was there and I believe she has kept going on about ‘I was doing boxing the other day with a lovely young man’”.

“This means so much as what I am doing is making the elderly happy and also for Ella as she has dementia, so it is good she remembered the boxing for several days after, as she must have enjoyed it.”

You can watch 93-year-old Ella practising her punching and kicking with instructor Oliver Bonnginton

The care home was filled with excitement and laughter during the martial arts session, according to Lara Beardshaw, activities and well-being manager at Langdale Lodge Care Home in Chesterfield.

She found the instructors really got to know the residents and worked purely to their abilities. “We were truly in awe of our residents' enthusiasm and sometimes strength as they punched, chopped and kicked their way through their first class. We chose martial arts over other forms of armchair exercise, to introduce something different. There was so much fun and laughter during these classes and at the same time residents were getting fit.

“This has to be the single best armchair exercise we have hosted.”

The session even triggered memories for some residents, with 80-year-old Peter Taylor, saying: “My dad was a champion boxer in Romford and I had forgotten until now.”

Mr Bonnington said: "This in my eyes is a huge step within dementia, and also in Peter’s life. It enabled him to remember his past life, bringing him huge joy, and also my life as just so little time spent with the residents has such a big impact on them."

Langdale Care Homes Group is now planning to roll out the armchair karate sessions across its other homes.

Residents had 'enormous grins on their faces'

The karate helped the residents to build up their strength and movement and also exercised their mental faculties by getting them to remember different combinations of punches and kicks, according to the instructor who found at the end of the session, residents looked “so happy and fresh with enormous grins on the faces. One resident even took the pads from me and put them on and started with commands for me to punch, which was brilliant”.

click here for more details or to contact Langdale Lodge Care Home