In the last article of this series I talked about how games are an excellent way to keep kids attention while still providing them with useful skills. This trend of not being able to pay attention is something that you will encounter over and over when trying to teach children. In this final article of the series, I would like to highlight a basic strategy I use to effectively teach karate to children.

Focusing on Concepts Instead of Techniques

If you have ever tried teaching a child the intricate details of punching someone, you know there is only so much that they can soak up. When teaching an adult, I might emphasize a straight wrist, a twisting motion, hikite, targets on an opponent, different types of punches for various situations, and how to make a stronger punch. With children – they will be overwhelmed quickly, so I need to emphasize the important parts rather than the intricate details.

Below are some various examples of how to keep classes broad, simple, and children friendly.

Technical vs Strategy

Avoid trying to teach children specific grappling techniques and rather have them practice very basic strategies of grappling like controlling an opponent, building a good base to keep from getting flipped over, and most important to their safety, that there is no punching when grappling. It is quick to see the difference. Give kids a good base knowledge of the strategy and then, later, when they have that in their minds, work on giving them specific techniques to apply.

Complicated vs Simple

Pressure points are a great way to frustrate children as they have trouble memorizing a big list of locations on the body. Supposing they do figure it out, it is much harder to actually find these pressure points on another person. Instead why not give them a much simpler concept like raising your guard as you approach an opponent. When you are close it is harder to kick and more beneficial to block your face. This is easy to understand and even easier for them to practice and learn. Keep it simple and they will learn more.

Long vs Short

The history of Karate is a great topic. The problem is that it takes a long time to explain and talk about. If you are talking more than 5-6 minutes, kids are normally completely distracted by the time you finish. Why not give them a very short story with an important takeaway. You can teach a ton of philosophy, morals, and strategy in short stories, but have the added benefit of the higher level of focus from the children when telling a short story compared to a long one.

Specific Scenarios vs General Concept

When teaching children things like blocking, it is better to have them focus on broad ideas like blocking their face, rather than giving them specific scenarios like “when someone throws a hook punch at your face, it is more effective to block with an outside block than a high block.” This goes along with the first points, but it is more effective to get them into the habit of “high punches vs low punches” rather than trying to identify the punch and then use the “best” block. This is going to get them overwhelmed and ineffective. Later when they are good at the general idea of blocking, then move them into specific techniques.

Conclusion

They are kids. Using the KISS method is going to be the best way to do anything with them. Keep It Simple Stupid! There are some who will be able to learn faster – great – move them on, but start slow and build them up rather than trying to teach them like a normal adult class. Do you have any tips on how to teach kids?

In my article for the Anti-Bullying Carnival I mentioned that teaching kids involves stories, games, and concepts over techniques. This article will hopefully be a good list of games that are more oriented to a group of kids. The school I used to teach at had a Saturday morning kid’s class and most of these were played there.

Dodge Ball

One of my favorites is dodge ball. We have about 20 nerf balls (softball sized) that we distribute to the adults. The kids line up on the opposite wall and are given these two rules:

1. Block the balls with a good karate block.
2. If you can’t block the ball, dodge it.

The adults have some fun lobbing the balls at the kids until there is only one left. The last kid one remaining gets to throw the balls the next round with the adults.

Safety: Make sure the balls are soft enough. Tennis balls and real softballs would not be appropriate.

Crane/Horse Game

This is a balance game. Students pose like the Karate kid in  a crane stance, putting all their weight on one leg. They are only allowed to move their eyes. If they move anything else or fall down then they are out. Last one standing wins.

Another adaptation to this game is to perform a horse stance instead. This will build leg muscle rather than balance.

Bandanna Grab

We have a handful of spare bandannas we use for this game. Any type of cloth will work. You loosely attach them to the back of every student’s belt. The object of the game is to remove the other students bandannas without losing yours. It teaches situational awareness among other things. Emphasize that there is no touching of anyone other than their bandannas. The last two in win (it is chaotic when there is a one on one situation).

Sumo

One of my favorite past times at my home dojo is our “Sumo Wrestling Competitions”. This is an excellent event for kids and adults alike. It requires minimal equipment:

• Headgear
• Kicking Pads
• Mats
• Few Judges / People to Catch

Each match consists of two karateka holding a kicking pad (the larger ones) against their stomachs and then rushing to knock the other competitor out of the ring. If you get pushed out or fall down, you lose. It looks similar to a traditional Japanese Sumo Competition, but far less skill (and weight) is required.

Safety: Our school requires all kids to wear headgear, on the off chance they should fall hard and smack their heads. The mats on the floorare equally helpful. In our case, they are just simple puzzle mats that many schools have in place 24/7. The final and most important safety element is two to four corner “judges” whose primary duty is to catch competitors who are going to fall outside of the ring or into a wall.

Play

It can’t be emphasized enough – play! Encourage the kids to use their energy in a constructive manner and to benefit from the games. They all have specific skills you are trying to foster in the children and these games tend to go a lot further than kata. Do you have any special games you play at your dojo?

This post is part of a collaboration with Colin Lee at Joong Do Kwan and handful of other bloggers taking part in a blog carnival to help do our part in preventing bullying. This is an important topic to many of us and we all have our own angle to offer on the subject. Take a few minutes and check out some of the other posts. If you want to help us in this effort, do your part and share it around Facebook, Twitter, and Google+. Together we can make a dent in bullying, especially within the martial arts community.

Teaching Kids

To preface my section on philosophy, I want to talk about teaching kids in general. This is something I have always dreaded doing. It has also been a point of great humor in my old dojo. My instructor would routinely pick out the smallest, cutest, five year old girl from the group and send her to me for one on one instruction. Why? Because I told him I don’t like teaching kids and he knows I can’t send her away. It is very different than teaching adults. Their attention span is significantly shorter, they attention to detail is almost non-existent, and their feelings are hurt very easily. For someone like me who tends to be a bit blunt when teaching Karate, this is a nightmare.

This however has been an area of great personal development in my learning experience. What I have found that works great is: Stories, Games, and Focusing on Concepts Instead of Techniques. Below I will explain the stories aspect of this.

Telling Stories

I have always enjoyed incorporating stories into my Karate classes. There are so many great ones to explain things like awareness (zanshin), dedication, and morality. For kids, these tend to hit the mark, especially if they are short and involve animals, magic, or samurai. In keeping with the anti-bullying theme, I am going to highlight two short stories to teach kids the importance of not getting into the wrong crowd and about not being a bully. I am not a children’s author and the best stories come from the heart, so always feel free to deviate when telling the stories.

The Crane and His Flock

Once upon a time, there was a plain white crane who was in search of a flock. This white crane had always had trouble finding other cranes to be around because he did not fit in being a plain white crane, but he was determined to find himself a flock to eat and fly with.

One day he came upon a very popular group of red headed cranes who were catching fish in the river. He landed next to some of them and asked them if he could be part of their flock. The leader of the flock agreed to let him join despite being a plain crane, but only if he would go take some of the fish the black necked flock of cranes had caught down river.

At first the white crane refused. He said he would not steal fish. The red necked cranes said he could not be part of the flock unless he did. Every crane had to steal fish before he was accepted into the flock. The white crane worried this would be his only chance to be part of a flock, so he finally said he would go steal the fish.

He flew down the river to where the black necked flock was. He soon spotted the fish they had caught and he moved closer to take some. The black necked cranes were talking and did not seem to notice him, so he grabbed some of the fish in his beak and began to fly away when suddenly one of the black necked cranes caught him.

“Why are you taking our fish?” the crane asked. The white crane told him he did not want to, but it was his only way to be part of a flock. “That is not true. There is no reason to steal fish. If you would have asked, we would have let you be part of our flock.” Realizing how wrong he had been, the white crane put the fish down and apologized for stealing. The black necked cranes forgave him and let him be part of their flock from then on. They accepted him for who he was, a plain white crane, not because he could steal fish for them.

After you tell the story, you ask the children what the moral is. If they are having trouble putting it into words, you explain that your friends should like you for who you are, not because of what you can give them. Anyone telling you to do things like stealing to be part of the group is not really a friend and should be avoided.

The Crane and the Tiger

In a distant land there once was a plain white crane. Every day this crane would fly down to the river and make a game of snatching the fish. The fish would regularly complain and tell the crane that it was not fair to pick on them just because they were smaller. The crane would always reply with, “I am bigger, this is just how life is.”

One day while having his fun with the fish, the crane felt a tug on his feathers and was suddenly upside down looking down at the river. He looked up to see a big tiger holding onto his feet. He shouted up to the tiger, “Let me go!” To this the tiger replied, “I am bigger, this is just how life is.” The tiger tormented the crane for the rest of the day before finally letting him go. The crane never picked on the fish again.

Once finished, it is again good to explain it to the kids. A simple story about not bullying other people around and how there is always someone who is bigger, so it is important for the bigger kids to make sure other people aren’t getting picked on too. (Probably smart to emphasize that hitting isn’t the answer).

Other Stories

You can find many other stories for kids by searching Aesop’s Fables on Google. Adapt them and make them your own, it comes across as more genuine.

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