Local mixed martial arts fighting sensation Josh Quayhagen may have made a name for himself by fighting others. But his message to his students and the youths he speaks to in local schools is simple: It’s not cool to bully others.
Through his Peaceful Warriors program for school-age children, Quayhagen seeks to tell children that “it’s not cool to make fun of others. It is cool to stand up for yourself and for others.”
But Quayhagen is quick to point out his program doesn’t focus on physical solutions to being bullied. “We teach kids to be bold and strong in dealing with bullying,” he says. “Not strong physically, but strong in will.”
Quayhagen says his passion for helping kids deal with being bullied and avoid being a bully started at an early age. “First, I have little brothers and sisters. I come from a large family, and I’ve seen them be bullied,” he says.
At age 16, already heavily into martial arts, Quayhagen started teaching martial arts classes. And his students, he says, often came to his classes to learn martial arts in order to deal with a bully. “It broke my heart,” he says.
Students came in, says Quayhagen, expecting to “learn to beat someone up. But as they learned, and grew, they developed confidence. They’d walk around holding their heads a little bit higher. And the bullying disappeared. (The students) began to see that there was a way around the bullying problem without resorting to violence.”
Quayhagen brings his Peaceful Warrior message to local schools, churches and other organizations.
“We have demonstrations, do tricks, and have people who can relate to the kids talk with them. We challenge them – give them missions: maybe to help someone, to say something nice about someone, to get someone else involved in anti-bullying. We teach them that one person can spread love.”
The people involved in the program, says Quayhagen, aren’t all that much older than the students. “They’re people the students can relate to,” he says. “We have a football player, a pro wrestler. We make (the students) laugh, we relate to them.”
So far, says Quayhagen, the group has made presentations to “every junior high school in (Calcasieu) parish” — schools as far away as Anacoco and Bayou Chicot, local private schools; even a local grief counseling program for children who’ve lost family members.
“We go wherever we’re invited,” he says.
The Peaceful Warrior program is also offered regularly at Performance Evolution, Quayhagen’s gym, throughout the summer. “We offered it three times per week last summer,” he says, “in two four-week sessions. And we plan to offer it on almost the same schedule next year.”
The goal of the program is simple, says Quayhagen. “We’re trying to change the mindset that’s involved in bullying,” he says. “Kids think it’s cool to tease other kids. That’s just how you fit in. It’s what you do.
“We’re trying to change that mindset, to change that norm. We try to tell kids that it’s not cool to make fun of others. We tell them a superhero doesn’t bully others.
“We tell them that real superheroes are strong-willed, stand up for others, and help others. We try to teach kids to be real superheroes.”
For more information on the program, or to schedule a visit from the group, call Performance Evolution at 304-8227.
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