Training drills: Set 3

Bodyguard

During sparring when the students are fully padded I put two Wave Masters together to simulate a door at one end of the room and have one student stand by them (he/she is the fan). I then have two other students at the other end of the room, one standing in front of the other. The one in front is the bodyguard and the one behind is the celebrity (name one to make the game more fun). The bodyguard has to escort the celebrity to the waiting limo without the fan touching him/her with feet or hands. All sparring rules still apply. Good exercise for footwork and learning how to move your opponent without grabbing.

Reaction drill

Have students pair off. One student holds a target paddle in either left or right hand. The other will hit the target. Target holder will try to move the target pull it away before the other can make contact with it. The student holding the target may tell the attacker how he or she sees him/her telegraphing the punch and give pointers. Student holding the target must stay within range to make contact.

Grip the pennies

Each student is given 8 pennies and is instructed to lay 4 of the across the palm of his/her hand, close the hand into a fist so that each of the four fingers rest on a penny, thus holding it in place. Once everyone has the pennies in place, perform basic closed hand techniques. Perform 10 pushups for every penny you drop. Teaches students to keep a tight fist.

Faint and react

Have two students stand in an open stance (both facing the same direction), one with their lead hand with a target and the other getting ready to kick. The objective of the kicker is to use fakes or faints to get a natural reaction (flinch) out of the partner. When the desired reaction occurs, the kicker tries to kick the partner’s target. The partner tries to hit his or her own target before the kicker does. If the target holder prematurely reacts by slapping, the target before the other student kicks, they must switch roles, and, if the kicker is beaten by the partner, they switch. Note: the target holder must start with the other arm behind the back.

Balance

Have students stand with their feet together and palms together in front of the chin. Have them raise their heels and close their eyes. If you are feeling especially cruel, you can ask them to lift one leg up and put it behind the supporting leg. This will teach them to have good balance without having to use their arms.

Bridge tag

For this drill, use a 3-foot pool noodle. Keep number of student to less than 15 so they do not bang heads when crawling under "bridges.” Have children line up and have them pick a number from 1-50, whoever picks the number closest to your chosen number gets the pool noodle. On command, they run in all directions with the child holding the noodle in two hands chasing after them. If a child is struck with the noodle (no face contact), he or she drops into a bridge position (a real high pushup position). When one of the other students crawls underneath a student "bridge," the student that was the bridge may get up. After 30 seconds to 60 seconds, stop them and count the bridges. The student with the most bridges is the winner!