MARTIAL GAMES

SPECIAL ISSUE
“A No Holds Barred Dose of Plain Speak Advice, New Martial Games
and Marketing Insights for Martial Art Instructors in Every Issue”

Editor/Publisher: Aaron Perry

What’s Inside This Month... What Would I know!?!

Editorial: Students for Life Dear Friend,

Martial Games: My name is Aaron Perry and I am the creator

of Martial Games.
The Circle of Doom
and That doesn’t mean I am the first in the world
Horse and Snake Relay to make kids practice their Martial Art Train-
ing through the use of games, but I am the
Guy that has made it a recognized way to ac-
Develop Explosive Power celerate learning.

in Your Kids I don’t pretend to be an expert, or to have all

the answers but I hope I can help you create
Strength Game: dedicated students that train hard and to de-
The Side Hopper Test sign your business to be more profitable, en-
joyable and rewarding.
Duck & Slide Relay
Take advantage of what I share with you in
this Newsletter. If you like what I say, then
Reward Cards tell me, if you disagree then tell me that too.
mg4knewsletter@martialgames4kids.com
For
Train Hard, Live Well.
MARTIAL GAMES
Regards,
Aaron Perry

www.martialgames4kids.com
 It amazes me how many people I meet People stop training in martial arts for many
out at parties that start talking about their reasons but the main ones are; being bored or
accomplishments in martial arts when they thinking they have finished. Don’t let your stu-
hear that I am still training. dents ever quit for either of these reasons.

When I ask what they are doing they say… If you teach from young kids to adult classes,
“nothing now, I did it years ago and I got my then separate them into different groups; 5-12 year
black belt”. I have to ask if they still practice or olds, 13-18 year olds, 18 years and older. Explain
anything and get the same dumb answer “No, I got that the colored belts for each group have different
my black belt and I finished!”, WHAT THE ??? meanings, the blue belt an 8yo wears does not
means the same as a blue belt on an adult or a teen.
Learning a Martial Art shouldn’t be seen as a
short course you learn and then forget. Getting a It is an excellent way to split your classes into
Black Belt is not the end of the road. In many mar- more similar body sizes and it saves you from the
tial Arts this is where the student knows enough of hassle of trying to teach kids and adults at the same
the arts principles to really start learning how to time.
apply them properly.
It also makes it clear that when the kids gradu-
It’s easy for me to consider the person stupid ate into the next class that they are starting again
for thinking that they have completed their master- from white belt because they don’t know every-
ing of the martial arts but that means I’m placing thing yet. They may know all the kids stuff but
the responsibility on the student. It is obvious that now they begin learning the teen version of your
these people think they have finished because their system. If you want you can add colored tips to
instructor led them to believe it. their new belts to indicate that they have come
from the previous group.
It is the instructors responsibility to teach their
students the mental and spiritual understanding just There are two obvious benefits for structuring
as much as it is about teaching them the physical your school in this way. For your students, they
movements of a martial art. Don’t let your stu- will continue to train and learn and improve and
dents see the effort of turning up to train as a choir become great at what they do. For you as their in-
to be done to obtain a black belt. Belts are just an structor it means you can truly be responsible for
indication of what a student should know so far. guiding them in life as they grow up, to see how
No matter what level of belt a person wears they they become adults.
can and should always improve.
And for those of you who want a more material
My point is this. Make it obvious to your advantage, you will have a great student for
current students that you have an infinite many years, not just a short visit. So many busi-
amount knowledge to pass on to them, you are nesses today spend all of their time and money try-
ahead of them and you are still learning. ing to find new customers. Be smart and learn how
to satisfy the students you already have so they stay
Design your classes to cater for long term stu- with you. It’s a lot less work and a lot more re-
dents. A martial art school should not be run like a warding seeing long term students progress over
factory where you teach them for 3+ years and then time.
throw them out telling them that they are a finished - Aaron Perry
product.

www.martialgames4kids.com
 CIRCLE OF DOOM

# of Players: 6 or more
Skills: Contact training
Equipment: None

Instructions:
Get all kids into a circle with everyone spread out with both arms stretched
out between them, far enough apart to not touch the kid next to them.
Everybody settles into a horse stance with hands at hips, fists closed.

The instructor stands in the centre of the circle and slowly turns looking at
each kid as you face them. When you are ready perform an attack against
one of the kids so that they can do the block or counter that you have been
teaching them.

As soon as their technique is finished move towards another kid on the out-
side circle and throw the same or a different attack for them to practice
against. Don’t choose your victims in any order, just turn randomly and
pick one out to approach.

When first teaching this, start your attacks slowly and tell them at the start
of the game which attacks you will throw. Start with only 2-3 different at-
tacks, as the kids become more comfortable with this game you can in-
crease the number of attacks, the speed and the intensity of the contact
you give and receive.

Modifications:
If you have more advanced students then let them take turns in the centre
of the circle acting as the attacker. Be sure to supervise and maintain con-
trol of the speed and intensity.

Benefits:
This game is designed to introduce kids to receiving strikes and practicing
their techniques in a controlled environment. It also teaches them to stay
focused on the attacker as they never know when it will be their turn to de-
fend themselves. If you notice one of them looking around, not paying at-
tention, then target them next, they will soon learn to stay focused.

www.martialgames4kids.com
 HORSE AND SNAKE RELAY

# of Students: 6 or more
Skills: Stance practice, teamwork, agility
Equipment: Marked start and finish line

Instructions:
Students form two equal teams of three or more. Start and finish lines are
marked 30-60 feet (9-18 meters) apart.
The teams line up one behind the other spaced a couple of feet apart stand-
ing in a deep horse stance. The student at the end of the line yells
“Snake”, drops to the floor and crawls like a snake through the others legs
until they are at the front of the line, they stand up in a deep horse stance
and yell “Horse” which signals the student at the end of the line to do the
same.
Students continue crawling up the line until the whole team has passed the
finish line.
The first team over wins.

Modifications:
This relay can also be done with every second student kneeling in a tight
ball. The students now have to drop and crawl under one student, then get
up and jump over the next, then drop again. This is best with larger groups

Benefits:
This game is great for building leg strength and balance in young students.
It also gets students used to dropping and moving on the ground.

www.martialgames4kids.com
 Building Strength in Kids is These Strength Games include a mixture of
fast dynamic movements, slow held positions,
easy but it has to be done the pulling, pushing, twisting and turning that will
right way. improve not only the strength of your kids, but
also their balance, muscle control and give
them explosive power.
As kids grow their bodies are changing rap-
idly with growing bones and stretching ten-
The other advantage of bodyweight exer-
dons, muscles and ligaments. It is dangerous
cises is that they can be done everyday.
to promote weight training for young kids.
Unlike the split system weight training used
The stress of resistance weights can damage
for body building. These Games can be used
joints and bones at a young age.
everyday to build functional strength and en-
durance.
Although kids should refrain from pumping
iron, we don’t want to wrap them in cotton
Again the kids will think they are simply
wool and stop them from getting stronger.
having fun and playing games (which they
Kids simply need to train with a weight that is
are), but they are also building a solid base and
suited to them personally.
strengthening their bodies to be better martial
artists.
The best weight for a kid is
Their Own Bodyweight! If you have any questions or feedback, or
would like to share some games that you have
It doesn’t matter if a kids is tall, short, fat or been using, please send me a message via
thin. Their own bodyweight is the weight that questions@martialgames4kids.com
their body is used to carrying around.
- Aaron Perry
The key to bodyweight training is to make
their muscles move them in different ways.
Most kids walk, run and occasionally crawl so Strength Training for Adults
their muscles are used to these exercises. To
create more resistance in movements we have I have recently started a new website for
to make them perform new exercises. Adult Martial Artists.

I am currently putting together my new se-
ries of games designed to build functional core
strength in young kids. I am going to include a
Strength Game in every issue of this Newslet-
ter for you to use with your own class.
For some FREE Articles on Essential Core
Strength Training go to :
www.rainingbombs.com/core.html
(Online Equipment Store Coming Soon)
 THE SIDE HOPPER TEST
# of Students: 2 or more
Skills: Core strength, explosive power and agility
Equipment: Marked start and finish line

Instructions:
Start and finish lines are marked 30-60 feet (9-18 meters) apart.
The kids line up one behind the other spaced a couple of feet apart standing
in a deep horse stance.
The first kid lays down flat in a push up position with feet spread. Their
head and feet should be behind the start line so they are side-on to the di-
rection they need to travel.
They need to push with their feet and hands from the lowered pushup posi-
tion to spring them selves into the air and land in the same position further
down the track. They have to continue this motion until they hop over the
finish line.
As they are doing this keep a count of how many hops it takes them to
reach the finish. The kid with the least number of hops is the winner, but
make sure they are doing the correct motion.

Modifications:
If you want to make this harder for the kids or adults, make marks on the
floor that they must clear on each hop. Now the number of hops to finish
will be the same for everyone so you can time them to see who finishes
quickest.

Benefits:
This game is great for building leg, arm and core strength. Because it is a
bodyweight exercise it is safe for most kids growing bodies. I do not advise
any weight training for growing kids but body weight exercises like this,
pushups, situps, chinups, squats are excellent ways to build functional
strength.

www.martialgames4kids.com
 DUCK AND SLIDE RELAY

# of Players: 6 or more
Strengths: Hand Grip Strength, Arms, Delts, Pecs, Lats and General
Lower Body from the duck walking
Equipment: 40ft of Rope (x2), thick rope

Instructions:
Students form two teams of three or more. Mark two lines 30 feet (10 me-
ters) apart. The first students of each team must Duck Walk to the other
line while holding the end of the rope. Then they must lay down on their
back and hold on tight to the end of the rope. All the members of their
must work together to pull them back over the first line. They then hand
the end of the rope to the next member and move to the back of the line to
help their team pull the next person back. The first team to have all mem-
bers finish is the winner

Modifications:
Try to match up the teams evenly for this event.

You can make it harder by making the distance between lines longer or get-
ting them to cycle thru the team 2 or 3 times before they are finished.

When the kids are stronger, you can get their team to simply hold the rope
tight and the kid has to pull themselves back to the team. It is best to tie
knots in the rope spaced about a foot (30cm) apart.

Benefits:
The Duck walk is a great exercise to strengthen legs and improve posture
for shooting in on a takedown.
The Pulling action strengthens the upper body and the Gripping Power
which is essential for controlling opponents when you get in close with spar-
ring or ground fighting.

www.martialgames4kids.com