The older I get, the more I realize that I’m never too old to learn a new skill.

And I’m sure that this will only be proven more true with age.

For one lucky group of seniors living at Friendship Village nursing home in Dayton, Ohio, karate is the new skill that they get to learn.

And it’s all thanks to one 15-year-old kid.

Jeffrey Wall began his martial arts career at a young age.

He started throwing punches and kicks at age 6 and by age 10 he was inducted into the USA Martial Arts Hall of Fame according to Good News Network.

But Wall wanted to do more with his karate skills than just practice in the gym.

So he decided to start teaching it.

The idea came to him one day when he realized that his grandma was sitting around the house most of the day without doing much exercising.

Wall thought it would be a good idea to get her active by teaching her some of his karate skills.

And from there, Golden Age Karate was born.

This is Wall’s organization which is aimed at getting seniors active by practicing karate.

He teaches in-person at the nursing home and his students love him.

But unfortunately from them, Wall was forced to discontinue his karate classes during the Covid-19 quarantine.

“I knew that they would be super disappointed,” Wall told GNN when asked about how the quarantine would affect his students.

But he was determined to keep the class going somehow.

So he decided that he might as well start a YouTube channel that his students can follow along with from the nursing home.

And so far it has been a huge success.

Because not only have his students from the nursing home been keeping up with his virtual classes, but people of all ages are starting to watch his videos.

With this new-found attention around his online karate classes, Wall has been gaining popularity outside of Dayton.

He has been requested by other nursing homes in the area to come and give classes for them.

They have been watching his online classes and can’t help but want the live, action-packed version as well.

Wall said that he was open to the idea of giving classes at other nursing homes as well but says that he’ll have to wait until the stay-at-home order is lifted.

Wall is a great example of how we can take something that we are passionate about and use it make a positive impact in the community.

Exercise and movement for the elderly are vitally important to their overall health.

It can improve mental health, cognition function, and even prevent disease.

According to The Green Fields, Studies have shown that maintaining regular physical activity can help prevent many common diseases, such as heart disease and diabetes.

And the benefits don’t stop there.

According to Help Guide, People who exercise tend to have improved immune and digestive functioning, better blood pressure and bone density, and a lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease, obesity, osteoporosis, and certain cancers.

So if you or anyone you know needs an excuse to get exercising, try checking out one of Wall’s videos on Youtube and make sure to watch the video below.

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Article Sources:

Golden Age Karate

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By B.T. Swezey

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B.T. Swezey is a contributor at SBLY Media.