Archive for the 'karate exercises' Category

Up, Up and away?

Published on February 1, 2012 in karate drills and karate exercises. 3 Comments Tags: , , , .

Here’s a super challenging up/down burpee-type martial arts fitness drill that will test even your fittest, strongest students.

Start by having your class jog in place, and then on each of your commands below students must complete each associated action, in this order…

  1. “Knees Up!”

    Students must jog in place but knees must rise to hip height with each step. Have them do this for about 5 seconds before calling…

  2. “Jump Up!”

    Students must jump as high as they can stretching their body and reaching towards the ceiling, and as they land call…

  3. “Push-Up!”

    Students now drop to a squat position, hands in front of their feet, jump their legs back to the push-up position and complete a full push-up, at which time you shout…

  4. “Sit-Up!”

    Students must now transfer weight onto their hands, extend their arms straight as they tuck up their legs returning to the squat position. From here the lay down with knees bent and complete a full sit-up, and hear your final command…

  5. “Stand-Up!”

    Students immediately spring back to their feet and resume jogging.

Do 5-10 sets at the beginning of class as a warm-up depending on the fitness level of your group, or 10-20 sets at the end of class as an endurance test.

Is it a burpee?

Is it an up/down?

No it’s… (I need a name for this drill – post your suggestions!)

How to disguise repetitions

Published on December 6, 2011 in 125 Dynamite Drills, karate drills and exercises, karate exercises, teaching karate, teaching karate to kids and visual learners. 0 Comments

So yesterday I got a phone call from Patty who was interested in my 125 Dynamite Drills, but was a little hesitant.

Patty just bought one of my competitor’s products and told me it really didn’t have a lot of stuff she hadn’t seen before and that she was really looking for something new and innovative.

Patty went on to explain that she needed ideas to help disguise reps, so her students wouldn’t become bored. I asked her more about what she teaches, how her classes are structured, etc, to get a good idea if my product would be suitable for her.

To paraphrase one of her questions, she asked:

“How can I disguise reps so my students don’t get bored. Do you have anything in your products that will help them learn a striking combination like punch, up, hook? You see I’ve got a lot of beginners who aren’t ready for sparring or forms yet, so I’m really looking for ideas to help the beginner.”

So I started thinking what I might have to help. I immediately opened up my own copy of 125 Dynamite Drills and browsed through to find something in there that might help her.

Hmmm…

There are over 200 drills in the ebook when you include the variations, so it took me about 30 seconds to find some good drills and give her some ideas.

Without going into detail of all the drills in the guide, here are some ideas for you too, just in case you (like Patty) have a similar question. Let’s consider Patty’s combination for this example below.

Combination : Punch, Uppercut, Hook

Here are some ways to practice this using simple basic repetitions.

From a stationary position:

  • Basic reps to the count.
Everyone knows this, and this is where the boredom sets in, no wonder students quit! Let’s add some flavor…
  • Use the “Plus One” method (great for teaching new combos or for beginners)

Teach the combo one technique at a time, 10 reps, then add the second technique, 10 more reps, then add the 3rd technique, practice 10 more reps. Switch sides of the body, repeat.

This is a little more tasty, but let’s make it a little more appealing…

(A fun challenge is to allow each student to choose the next technique and the whole class must repeat the entire combo 5 times. Then the NEXT student adds ANOTHER technique and the whole class must repeat 5 times… and so on. See how many continuous techniques your students can remember!)

  • Practice with variations

Which hand does the first punch? Front or rear? Change up the combo to use both sides of the body.

  • Practice as a group in a circle to the count.Everyone faces inwards so they are opposite someone else. Tell the group they must be faster than the person across from them. Watch how much faster they perform their technique!Now try everyone facing outwards. Now there is no copying, and no distraction for visual learners. See how the performance changes for different students.Now have everyone face the same direction in their circle and do more reps.

 

Small adjustments like these make simple combinations more fun and relieves the monotony.

Now let’s take a look at incorporating this combo into some simple stepping drills.

For line-work:

  • Practice stepping forward practicing the combination, being sure each time to use the other side of the body with each step.
  • Repeat again using variations as above.
  • Use the “Plus One” method as above.
Ok, cool so we’re starting to make a meal of this combination. So far we’ve got 9 new ways to practice basic reps for our “Punch, Uppercut, Hook” combination… but we’re not done yet.
Now let’s get someone else involved…

With a partner:

  • Using focus mitts
  • Use the “Plus One” method described above.

    This time do 10 reps of the basic 3 technique combo. Then change roles and add a new technique with each change. Repeat until you have a 10 technique combo! You can limit them to only choosing certain techniques.
  • Add movement – partner moves away, circles left, right or moves toward their partner to crowd their space (great for learning footwork)
  • As a speed test – how many sets can one student do within 30 seconds? Have the partner count. Change roles and repeat. Students must try to beat their first score.

 

  • Teaching method
    • Have each student take turns to explain and teach the combination back to their partner, from both stances utilizing both sides of the body.

So there you have it… a quick brain storm to give you some quick ideas.

That’s 
13 karate drills


new ways to practice the simple Punch, Uppercut, Hook combination!

And this was just for learning ONE combo for beginners. We didn’t even look at more advanced ideas for using this combo for sparring or self defense. And we didn’t look at any ideas for learning kata/forms, or endurance and warm-up…

Anyway, so in case you’re wondering Patty went on to get both my 125 Dynamite Drills and my 50 Kids Karate Games (since she teaches kids from 4 years and up). Shortly after she sent me this message:

“Thanks so much!…  I’m excited!  I have a ton of information now and plan on spending my entire lunch hour just working on this.  Thanks again for everything!”

So I’d like to thank Patty again for putting her trust in me. I’d also like to thank her for her question and sparking the idea to write this post that’s allowed me to help you with some ideas for your classes too.

Now what was with all those references to food? I must be hungry… time for breakfast.

Until next time, enjoy!

- Jason

Sparring exercise for all ages

Published on September 20, 2011 in 125 Dynamite Drills, karate drills, karate exercises, kumite, sparring and tournament. 0 Comments

So for the last couple of weeks we’ve been talking about the different types of learners and how to reach them so everyone in your class benefits…

But today I want to take a break from that stuff and share with you a quick sparring exercise that I did last night with my students.

In traditional karate kumite, the first to score earns the point, and this exercise below helps develop timing, reaction and commitment to attacking technique.

Here’s how it works:

  1. Students gear up and grab a partner for sparring.

  2. Students begin sparring with each other as per usual and both may attack, defend and do whatever they usually do when sparring.
  3. Several times during the round, your job as their instructor/coach is to shout “kiai!”, at which time students must immediately slide in and make reverse punch (gyaku zuki) regardless of what they might be doing at that time. They might be half way through an attacking combo, not doing anything, or might be defending an attack already in motion.
  4. The objective is for each student is to score the gyaku zuki before their training partner does the same.

This is a great karate drill because it forces students to modify their attacking combo; counter attack at a time they might not have been thinking about it; and if doing nothing at the time of your command it makes them change their timing and forces them to attack.

Remember in tournament point fighting, timing is critical. There might only be a split second between you hitting your opponent and your opponent hitting you, but that is the difference between scoring a point and being scored upon.

The sharpest, fastest, and competitor with the best timing earns the point. This exercise helps your students become that person. And the great thing is that you can do this exercise with students of any age, kids through adult.

Try it in class and let me know how it works for you (post your comments please).

Enjoy!

~ Jason

P.S. You know I’ve got hundreds of drills for all kinds of stuff right? From sparring to kata, self defense to fitness… it’s all in my 125 Dynamite Drills. It’ll help you freshen up your classes, sharpen up your students and give you more ideas than you can imagine. Go here to learn more…