Lewis – Accuracy

I tried to take the same concept from the noon class today (accuracy) and transfer it over to the kids at Lewis Elementary.

We started with working basic techniques – back fist & front snap kick. Then I had them stand in front of each other in cycles. After throwing some regular closed hand back fists, they moved to open hand strikes. Then from there, instead of going one inch away from a target, they touched each other lightly on the shoulder with the tip of a finger.

Stealing a page from my own book, they then lined up across from one another and threw a ball back and forth. If they caught the ball, they took a step back. If they dropped it, they came back to the start and did 3 high five burpees. It’s the same game I made the adults play and the kids gave it their all. After a couple minutes they moved to throwing with the off hand and doing reverse burpees if they dropped the ball.

All the students have been out for a week for spring break, so I had them run through Sui-Wan for a couple of minutes on their own to see who remembered what.

For foot accuracy, we did front snap kicks in cycles. One student would throw three kicks while the other offered a palm out hand at knee level. The goal was to barely touch your partner’s hand with the ball of your foot. Control was awesome. It’s amazing how quality control becomes when students know they have to make contact.

The foot accuracy game was the same as the game I played with the adults. Instead of focus pads, we used bean bags. It was tough. Most of the students over shot the first sling kick every time. A few groups managed to get more than 10 feet away from one another.

Finally, for conditioning, the students paired up and each pair got a tennis ball. One partner would do 10 burpees as quick as they could as the other threw the ball at a 3 foot wide column as many times as they could. When the first student was done with the burpees, the partners would switch roles. Once both students were done, they sat down facing one another in seza. When everyone was done, we switched to throwing with the off hand and doing reverse burpees.

During closing, I asked the students what the connection was between the games and the martial techniques. Two of them said “control”. Control = Accuracy? I think so.