If someone asks where you see yourself in your twilight years, most of us won’t say we see ourselves uplifting senior citizens. However, 18-year-old karateka Jeffrey Walls from the U.S. and 21-year-old Bailey-Greetham Clark from the UK are lighting up senior homes in their respective countries with lessons in karate and boxing.
In a TED Talk video posted on YouTube in February 2023, Jeffrey Wall discussed his mission of fighting senioritis. He defined senioritis as “a disease of loneliness in aging.” “I’m 17, so I don’t have the cure for senioritis, but I may have just found a treatment… I turn seniors in nursing homes nationwide into ninjas,” he added.
A teenager’s fitness crusade uplifts senior citizens
Jeffrey Wall is a young man with big achievements and even bigger dreams. He joined the dojo at six years old, studying the Korean martial art Tang Soo Do, and was inducted into the U.S. Martial Arts Wall of Fame at just ten years old. He earned his black belt at 13, and since then, he set out to transfer this unwavering commitment and passion to a community he believes needs it the most — senior citizens across nursing homes in his hometown, Dayton, Ohio. He was inspired to do this when he began teaching karate to his grandma, who also lives alone.
He has been giving back to the community for five years and started doing it as a teenager. At only 14 years old, he founded Golden Age Karate in late 2019, an outreach program to teach martial arts and engage with senior citizens at the Friendship Village nursing home in Dayton. Sadly, months later, the pandemic shutdown stopped his in-person fitness lessons. But not even COVID-19 could slow him down. He started a YouTube Channel to continue his fitness crusade online.
He told Points of Light that his students (usually 70 to 100 plus years old) are initially generally nervous about combat sports. But once they let out their first yell, they become confident, throwing punches and kicks with a smile. He now calls them “super grandpas” and “super nanas,” after the pandemic, he began visiting other senior homes in Daytona to teach them basic martial arts skills.
While doing all this, Wall was a high school student with excellent grades, a star football player, and a track athlete. In a 2020 interview with Points of Light, one of his students, 70-year-old Sandy Campbell, said: “I have a hard time calling him a boy even though he’s at such a young age because, to me, he has achieved a mark in manhood that a lot of grown men will never achieve. I’ve never known such a selfless, caring young man.”
Overcoming senioritis one punch at a time
Four thousand two hundred miles away, in the UK, another young man is on a similar mission to help senior citizens stay fit and inject fun into their daily activities. Bailey-Greetham Clark started engaging with the elderly at 17.
His journey began when he was asked to speak at a day center for senior citizens with special needs. It dawned on him that this group wasn’t as involved in sports and fitness as others, and he founded a welfare organization called Be Great Fitness. He began offering one-hour fitness classes in senior care homes around Lincolnshire, England.
With time, other Grimsby youths have joined him, and he’s been able to offer fitness classes to more than 20 different care homes in his hometown. Besides nursing homes, Clark is also on a mission to make fitness and sports accessible to schools, community centers, and hospitals.
“Sport and exercise cheer people up, we make jokes and laugh with everyone, and we make their day better,” he told Good News Network.
Clark and his team start by teaching seniors basic boxing skills, such as hand-eye coordination, before moving on to other drills. Plus, there’s a bonus: Everyone gets to wear neon, yellow, or green gloves!
His dedication to helping senior citizens comes from his grandparents stepping in to raise him during a difficult patch in his teenage years. Things changed for this overweight kid when he started boxing to stay fit, and he has never looked back.
He hopes to inspire more people to join his cause and roll out his fitness sessions all over England. “Seeing firsthand the genuine impact we make is insane. We can go into homes and show our ability to raise the spirits of residents and the staff, too.”
A call to make a difference
These two young men have found a unique way to uplift senior citizens and help them combat loneliness. They give this community more than just fitness activity; they offer them strength, confidence, and a boost in their coordination. Their presence brings energy, motivation, and a sense of purpose that resonates deeply with their elderly students.
As Jeffrey Wall puts it in his Ted Talk: “Our seniors aren’t finished… If you teach them something new, they’re just getting started. So don’t forget about them.”
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