Are we tap dancing yet?

Today was the opening of the “Noon Workout” class at the Academy. The idea behind this class is to bring new students into the martial arts. Today there were three students, all of whom were already signed up at the Academy. So we ran through forms, ran through the agility ladder and ran some laps.

The agility ladder is a simple and fun tool. You can throw a couple of foot patterns at students and then give them a chance to make up their own patterns. It is like any good game with a simple set of rules (like scrabble or chess) that are easy to learn and allow for tons of variation within those set of rules. Given the constraints of the ladder, students are much more likely to be creative and take chances than they would be if told to simply “move” creatively.

Some easy patterns are:
1. Jog through the ladder, putting one foot in each square – alternating feet.
2. Run through the ladder, putting one foot down in a square – skipping a square and then putting the opposite foot in the next square.
3. Run through putting one foot in a square, then the other foot in the same square – pay close attention to the rhythm of your feet and you’ll be able to go faster.
4. Hop both feet into each square.

You can add twists, diagonals, backwards steps – there is no limit – only the pattern of the ladder.