Some interactive drills

Here are a few of our interactive drills that I mentioned earlier. The abbreviations are all for various self-defense techniques that the participants know. DS is a defense against a right grab or punch, SoD against a left, ID and DH both against a front kick. The 4 of them work together to defend in each of the 4 quadrants, the 4 corners of the space between the defender and the bad guy, if the bad guy is standing in front of the defender. Star Block Set is a quick set where we go through 5 blocks in a specific order.

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Line Drill – attacker throws left or right, defend with DS or SoD

Line Drill – attacker throws left, right, or thrusting front kick, defend with DS, SoD, ID or DH, teacher plays “wild card”, attacking with unexpected attacks so that students had to bring in idea of spontaneous response

Balance Drill (1 on 1) – 3 or 4 variations, all variations of what we used to call "Indian wrestling" when I was a kid. Lay a belt on the ground. Start with both feet on a belt, both participants touching hand and foot (like sticky-hand/sticky-foot wrestling), with the goal of pushing either foot off. Lots of variations. Ends with front foot on belt, no touch requirement, pushing the front foot off.

Wrestling (1 on 1) – a sort of light wrestling, the idea being to get the opponent to put one knee or more to the ground, playful and non-competitive (as much as such things can be).

Semi-circle drill – An environmental awareness exercise, where one person is in the middle, and others are spread around them in set positions, and the person behind them picks who attacks when, with limited options for attack. Lots of variations.

Sticky hands -- a bit hard to describe, you have to do it to understand it.

Star Block Drill – progression, many variations. Start with 1 person does "Star Block Set" in horse stance while other sends out strikes to block. Progress through lots of variations. End with both people in stance and moving and switching which stance is forward while firing attacks that work with Star Block Set and defending with front hand.