Kids games for adult classes?

[J. Pickard]

I just had a really small adult class due to summer vacations so I decided to keep things a bit more light hearted and decided to do some of the "games" that we use to help kids improve with our adults. Specifically we played the game "Horse" but with kicking challenges. This isn't the first time we have done this and what I have noticed is because I phrase what we were doing as a game everyone becomes way more relaxed than usual and move smore fluidly and with less strain in their muscles. Nobody is afraid to try new things because it's "just a game", quite the opposite, the harder the challenge the better the chance of eliminating the other players. everyone is sweaty at the end and still gets a good workout but more importantly everyone kicks better by the end than at the beginning because there is no mental stress to make things "perfect".

I think the idea of turning training into a "game" is overlooked and can be very beneficial to making gains not just for kids, but for adults as well.
Thoughts on this???

 

[formernuke]

We had 5 minutes between testing and classes today.

Rules of the game. Had to have the handheld small punching pad over your head at all times. If it went below head level for any reason step to the side and 10 jumping Jack's. Try and get the others to drop or knock the pad out. Had to be held open palmed with holding straps pointed up.

Lots of fun

 

[skribs]

Martial arts are fun. I often get jealous of the kid's classes, they get to play games and we in the adults class don't.

 

[Tony Dismukes]

On game I use as a warm-up for developing confidence for taking low shots (double-legs, single legs, ankle-picks) is foot tag. The goal is to slap one of your opponent's feet with your hand without getting your own foot tagged in return.

I like it because attempting low shots in sparring can be intimidating for anyone who isn't an experienced wrestler. You have to invest some explosive energy and get a lot of things technically correct or you tend to get smashed in a demoralizing way. Foot tag feels like just a silly game and it's psychologically easier to make a lot of attempts without fearing the consequences of failure. But in the process, you're developing a lot of the habits you need to make real shots.

 

[Buka]

We had a lot of games that we'd use..whenever. The one the students seemed to enjoy the most was The Subtraction Game, which was a sparring game.

Two people face off for sparring. (Any kind of sparring, works with all of them) They fight and the winner stays up.

Next person up, the challenger, gets to do subtraction. "You can't strike with your right arm." (Or your left leg, or whatever.)
They spar and the winner still stays up at the line. If the same guy won, the next fighter gets to subtract a second limb he can't use. Like his other arm, or one of his legs.

It's a lot of fun. Only makes sense in contact fighting, though.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

I think the idea of turning training into a "game" is overlooked and can be very beneficial to making gains not just for kids, but for adults as well.
Thoughts on this???

One game that I love to play is:

- Both A and B have right legs forward.
- Both A and B drop hands next to the knees.
- A tries to use right leading hand to punch on B's left back shoulder.
- B tries to use right leading right arm to block A's right punch.
- Try 15 times and record the result.

Another game that I like to play is.

- A grabs on B's wrestling jacket (or Judo Gi).
- B tries to break A's grips.
- Try 15 times and record the result.