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