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!

Personal trainer

Everyone finds a partner. One Partner is the "Personal Trainer" (PT), the other is the client/student. When the instructor says “Go!,” the PT has 1-2 minutes instructing his/her partner to do any activity, but they must perform it with the partner. Jumping jacks, pushups, kicks, punches, blocks, sprints, balance, stretching, etc. Instructor will call "Switch!" and partners reverse roles.

Run through the crowd

Everyone gets in a circle. Everyone faces left. Every other person turns to face the person behind. Everyone runs around the circle in the direction they are facing, weaving in and out of every person they pass.  

Train pushups

Have students lay on the floor on their stomachs in a straight line. Each person puts his/her feet across the shoulders of the person behind. Right leg on right shoulder left on left. Everybody up together. Everybody down together.

Bunny sprints

Have 3 or more students lie down on their backs with all their feet in a straight line and held about 6 inches off the floor. Person on end jumps up and bunny hops over everyone’s legs to the end of the line. Then that person lies down at the end of the line and the next person in line repeats, etc.

Put it in reverse

Either duck walk or bunny hop a specified distance, and then walk or hop backwards to the original starting position.

Run through the jungle

Everyone runs in place. Ask, "What are some animals you might see in a jungle?” If they say “tiger” then every time you say “tiger” they have to punch and kiai. Every time you say “bear,” they must do a front kick and kiai. Every time you say “monkey,” they must duck low. If you say “bus,” they must drop to the floor on their belly. They are always running in place in between.

Progressive workout

First print out several sheets of paper with techniques or exercises on them (examples: one says side kick, one says crunches, one says knuckle push-ups, etc.) Place these papers around the room in the appropriate places. Kicks may be by a heavy bag, push-ups in the middle of the room, etc. Have everyone start at a particular station and do what the sign says for a couple of minutes. Kiai and tell them to move on to the next station. Continue rotating until all the students have been to each station at least twice.

Team squats

This exercise will work with 3 or more people I will explain it by using 4 people. Four students stand so they form a square. Each student lifts his/her right leg and places the ankle on top of the left thigh of the person to their right. This will leave all standing only on their left leg and supporting their right leg on the person next to them. On instructors count, they do squats on their left leg, in unison. After a predetermined number of squats, they change legs and do the squats with the other leg.

School run

Run laps. On command “Switch,” change directions. On command “push-ups,” stop and do pushups. Then run again. On command “sit-ups,” stop and do sit-ups. Etc.

Team push-ups

This exercise will work with 3 or more people I will explain it by using 4 people. Four students lie on their stomachs so they form a square with their bodies. Then each places his/her legs on top of the back of the student that is at their feet. On the instructors count, they all do push-ups in unison

Up-downs

Jog in place for ten steps, then on command, everyone squats, immediately goes to the push-up position and does a full push-up, back to squat, stand up, and jog again.