| Martial artists are familiar with the term drill, | | | | combination |
| meaning a skill based exercise repeated or drilled | | | | Sit ups with punches on the 'up' |
| in order for that skill to be fully absorbed or | | | | Star jumps and kicks from 'stance' |
| learned. When children are introduced to these | | | | Squat jumps followed by kicking combinations |
| drills they often get bored with the repetition. Put | | | | The trouble is that kids have a tendency to rush |
| simply, for kids, martial arts drills are dull, unless | | | | through the techniques which end up being a |
| Sensei's imagination is applied. The best Martial | | | | useless blur of nothing. A work around is to |
| Arts kids games make drills fun. | | | | discount shoddy technique repetitions or award |
| Almost any skill within a given style can be turned | | | | penalty time. It may sound complicated but it is |
| into a game, or if not strictly a game it can be | | | | workable if you have 'helpers'. |
| made more fun. One method that adds a little fun | | | | Movement skills are among those most easily |
| is to create teams and devise a race. | | | | adapted to skill based games. For example, if the |
| Fitness exercises can be embedded into a race | | | | idea is to develop dodging, timing and distancing |
| format easily, but so can kicks, punches and all | | | | skills, a class can start with British Bulldogs, dodge |
| manner of techniques. The difficult part is | | | | ball or 'stuck in the mud'. By adding your own |
| organising these races into a class format where | | | | rules or adapting existing ones you can add spice |
| everyone is involved. | | | | and fun while ensuring martial relevance. |
| One way is split the class into teams and have | | | | Stuck in the mud can be adapted so there are |
| each member run a 'leg' of the race, with a first | | | | two people 'on' so that the dodging element is |
| across the line winner. Handicapping teams with | | | | maximised. This tired old game comes alive and is |
| older or higher graded participants helps keep a | | | | an intense, exciting experience for all taking part. |
| level playing field. An example race would be to | | | | The dodging movements developed are similar to |
| run to a distant line four times and on arrival | | | | those required when moving against multiple |
| perform one of the following exercises on each | | | | opponents and so greatly help prepare children's |
| arrival | | | | movements for sparring against just one |
| Press ups | | | | opponent! |
| Sit ups | | | | By employing imagination you can devise martial |
| Star jumps | | | | arts kids games from drills, which are fun and |
| Squats jumps | | | | engaging for children. This ensures a furtive |
| To make these actions martial arts relevant it is | | | | learning environment in your kids classes, which |
| simple enough to add a relevant skill to each | | | | will keep them motivated to stick with the martial |
| exercise | | | | arts program. |
| Press ups preceded and followed by a punching | | | | |