CURRICULUM
CURRICULUM STRUCTURES Youth Martial Arts can be organized into two structures. The first structure is allinclusive. This means that we incorporate the striking arts, grappling arts, and sticks, all into one program. When utilizing the all-inclusive structure, we separate the program into a Fundamental Youth Martial Arts Class, and an Intermediate/Advanced Youth Martial Arts Class. Every child starts in the Fundamental Class, where the focus is on the Striking Arts, Mat Movements & Merit Badges. As they begin to get a good handle on the striking arts, as well as demonstrate the ability be disciplined and be in control of their bodies and actions, they are invited to start to transition into the Intermediate/Advanced Class. Initially, we like to see the student remain in a Fundamentals class once a week, and then transition the second weekly class to the Intermediate/Advanced Program. The Intermediate/Advanced Class is where we start to incorporate grappling and sticks. This class has a schedule that rotates monthly. One month we focus on Striking, the next month we focus on Grappling, and the third month we focus on Sticks. The second organizational structure of Youth Martial Arts is to have 3 separate classes. One Youth Striking Class, one Youth Grappling Class, and one Youth Sticks Class. The curriculum is the same for both structures.
CURRICULUM STRUCTURES All Inclusive - Fundamentals = Basic Striking, Mat Movements Intermediate/Advanced = Int/Adv Striking, Grappling/Jiu-Jitsu & Sticks Separate Programs - Youth Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Youth Striking (Boxing/Muay Thai), Youth Sticks Benefits of All Inclusive: One uniform for everything. This helps because the instructors, if not certified can all wear gray belts. If you do not have a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt teaching you can still hand out rank through the Youth Martial Arts Association in Youth Martial Arts which includes Striking, Grappling & Sticks. Benefits of Separate Programs: This is great if you want to implement Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu as a separate program from the beginning and have a Black Belt instructor at the school that will hand out BJJ rank to the children. Same thing goes for Youth Muay Thai where they can earn Arm Bands and Puppy Rank for Sticks.
STRIKING The mission of Youth Martial Arts is to help improve how you teach, not necessarily what you teach. We are here to teach you strategies and techniques that will better control children, increase student retention, and ultimately grow your youth program. In the following pages you will see the Youth Martial Arts curriculum. Use it how you see fit. Absorb what is useful, reject what is useless, and add what is specifically your own. ~Bruce Lee Stance Ready Stance Feet shoulder width apart, knees bent, right (left) foot forward, rear heel up, elbows in, rear hand on the head, lead hand up high, chin down, eyes forward, and smiling. Footwork Step and Slide The step and slide is used to move in equal increments. It is executed by moving first the nearest foot to the chosen direction, and then sliding the farthest foot to return to a proper stance. It is usually executed in half step increments. The step and slide can be used to move forwards and backwards and from left to right. Shuffle Step Circle The shuffle step is used to move forwards and backwards with speed. It is executed by moving first the foot furthest away from the chosen direction and then replacing the closest foot with it. The closest foot then moves back to a ready stance position. Circling is used to move to the outside or the inside of your partner in order to get out of range. It is executed by moving first the rear foot a quarter circle behind the body and then turning on the ball of the lead foot. Circling can only be used to move to the left and right.
STRIKING CURRICULUM Punches Jab Cross Hooks The jab is a punch with the lead hand in either the right lead stance or the left lead stance. The jab can only be executed off the lead side. The cross is off the rear hand in either the right lead stance or the left lead stance. The cross can be thrown to target any level, but is usually thrown at either head or chest level. The cross can only be executed off the rear side. The hook can be thrown off either the lead or the rear side. It is executed by forming a 90 degree an gle with the arm and targeted to head or body level. These punches are usually referred to as high or l ow hooks. Uppercuts The upper cut can be thrown either off the lead or the rear hand. It is executed by forming a 45 de gree angle in the arm and driving straight up. The punch is driven with the knees dipping down and then driving up. Straight Punch The straight punch is performed the same as the jab, but the palm is facing inward towards the body. Blocks Pac Sao The Pac Sao is used to block high jabs, and crosses. As the punch comes in, the partner pats it out of its original direction and off to the side. The Pac Sao does not go any farther than it has to, so it can return into a neutral ready position. Tan Sao The Tan Sao is used to block high jabs and crosses. Move your open hand to the opposite side of your face. Reposition your palm so that it is facing you. In it s new position pass the hand back to its origi nating side, deflecting the incoming punch. Elbow Deflections The elbow deflection is used to block against punches or kicks to the mid-section. It is executed by pushing the punch out of the way with the elbow or redirecting the kick past the side of the body.
STRIKING CURRICULUM Blocks High Shield The high shield is used to block against high hooks. As the punch comes in, the partner raises his or her elbow and touches the back of the neck with his or her fist. This allows the punch to make con tact with the partners arm first, because it is between the punch and the partners head. Body Shield The body shield is used to block against low hooks. As the punch comes in, the partner touches his or her chin with his of her fist and lowers his or her arm in order to touch the hip with the t ip of the el bow. This allows the punch to make contact with the partners arm first because it is between the punch and the partners mid section. Rear Hand Catch The catch is used to block against high straight punches. As the punch comes in, the partner holds out his or her palm and stops the punch from coming any closer. Goang Sao Open your fist and reposition your hand so your palm is facing you. Keeping your elbow stationary, cut downward with the blade of your forearm to deflect the incoming foot jab or low punch. Shin-up Block The Shin-up Block creates a wall to block against round kicks and switch kicks. The knee is raised to meet the elbow after the fist touches the chin, fully covering anywhere the kick could contact. Bil Sao The Bil Sao can be done with the lead or rear hand. It is executed by forming a ninety degree angle with your arm, with your hand at head height, but six inches away from the head, and the elbow at shoulder height. It should almost look like you are saluting. Boang Sao The Boang Sao is similar to the Bil Sao but the elbow is raised to the same level as the hand and the wrist is bent. The Fingers face away from the face.
STRIKING CURRICULUM Blocks (Continued) Duck While in a good ready stance, put both hands on the head and bend the knees. Bob and Weave Start off with the Duck and then make a small half circle with the head and body until your body is upright again. Slip In a good ready stance, the hands stay more or less in the same place and your head goes to the outside of the hand. For the rear side slip, the head goes to the outside of the rear hand. For the lead side slip, the head goes on the outside of the lead hand. When executing the lead slip, the lead and rear hands switch which is in front and which is in back. Kicks Round Kick The round kick is done with the rear leg. The kick utilizes anywhere from the upper part of the shin to the top of the foot to kick and is targeted to anywhere from the lower level to the head level of the body. Switch Kick The switch kick is done with the lead leg. It is very similar to the round kick except for a small switch of the feet before the kick is executed. Foot Jab The foot jab can be thrown with either the lead or the rear leg. It is executed using a pushing thrusting motion and can target anywhere from the lower level to the head level of the body. Snap Kick The snap kick can be thrown with either the lead or the rear leg. It is executed using a snapping mo tion.
STRIKING CURRICULUM Combinations Cross Combos Jab, Cross Cross, Lead High Hook. Cross Jab, Cross, Lead High Hook, Cross Hooks Combos Hooks 3 Lead Low Hook, Lead High Hook, Cross Hooks 4 Rear Low Hook, Rear High Hook, Lead High Hook. Cross Hooks 5 Lead Low Hook, Lead High Hook, Rear Uppercut, Lead High Hook, Cross Hooks 6 Rear Low Hook, Rear High Hook, Lead uppercut, Cross, Lead High Hook, Cross Defensive Combos Lead Pak Sao, Cross, Lead High Hook, Cross Rear Pak Sao, Lead High Hook, Cross Lead Elbow Deflection, Cross, Lead High Hook, Cross Rear Elbow Deflection, Lead High Hook, Cross Lead High Shield, Rear Uppercut, Lead High Hook, Cross Rear High Shield, Lead Uppercut, Cross, Lead High Hook, Cross Lead Body Shield, Rear Uppercut, lead High Hook, Cross Rear Body Shield, Lead Uppercut, Cross, Lead High Hook, Cross Bob and Weave, Cross, Lead High Hook, Cross Bob and Weave, Lead High Hook, Cross Bob and Weave, Cross, Lead High Hook, Cross *With Movement Bob and Weave, Lead High Hook, Cross * With Movement
PARTNER DRILLS AND ROUNDS Offense/Defense Drills Jab Cross / Pac Sao Tan Sao Low Jab Cross / Elbow Deflections High Hooks / High Shields Low Hooks / Low Shields Foot Jabs / Goang Saos Round & Switch Kick/ Shin-up Blocks 5 for 5 Punches 5 for 5 Kicks 5 for 5 Punches & Kicks Pad Rounds Punching Kicking Pad Holding Sparring (1 of Punching, 1 of Punching & Kicking ) Relay Races Punches Kicks Mat Movements
STICKS CURRICULUM Kali 1. Strikes 1-12 2. Blocks 1-12 3. Siniwali HHH 4. Siniwali HLH 5. Siniwali LLL 6. 3 Count Sombrada 7. 5 Count Sombrada Strikes 1-12
GRAPPLING CURRICULUM Sweeps Scissor Sit Up Knee Push Submissions from Guard: Arm Bar Triangle Omoplata Passes: One Knee Over One Knee Over, Other Knee Over Double Under Submissions from Mount Americana S-Mount Armbar Escapes from Mount Shrimp Bridge and Roll Double Under Escape Submissions from Side Control Americana Arm Bar Kimura Escapes from Side Control L-Guard Hip Heist Spin Out
MERIT BADGES Merit Badges allow our Youth Martial Artists to understand the life skills we all need to succeed. Whether it is to help them succeed in school, at home, on the soccer field, or in Youth Martial Arts, each skill will help build well balanced and well centered students! Giving the student an understanding of each life skill will also allow parents, teachers, and others to communicate better with our students through the ability to reference the specific topics from each badge. Each badge is discussed in class, then accompanied by a task sheet that the parent can help the child fill out and sign-off on. The task sheet requires no more than a few minutes each week to fill out. Once the task sheet is complete, the student brings it in for the award of the Merit Badge at the end of class. Each badge takes four weeks to complete, and will carry a nominal fee per badge. Academic means to Learn. In order to become smart, we must learn by listening, doing, and practicing. What are some things that we learn at home? Attitude is a way of thinking or feeling about someone or something. Smiling can be a way to help you have a good attitude. Even challenging things can be fun if you have a good attitude. What are some things that might have been a bit challenging for you, but you still kept a good attitude? Choices are the same as decisions. If you make good choices, good things can happen to you. If you make a good choice to brush your teeth every day, you will get fewer cavities. What are some other good choices that you make? Confidence means to believe in yourself. When you believe in yourself, you know that as long as you try your best, and have fun while doing it, you will eventually reach your goals! What are some things that you are confident in doing at home? Commitment means that you are dedicated to something. If you are committed to getting your black belt, you dedicate lots of time and practice to Youth Martial Arts. Eventually, you will earn your Black Belt! What are some other things you are committed to do?
MERIT BADGES To have control is to be in charge of yourself. When we are in control, we make sure we are behaving with our bodies, emotions, and actions. When are some times that it is important to be in control at school? Determination means trying to achieve a goal over and over again, even if it is difficult. If you are determined to get a good grade on your math test, you will practice doing your math problems over and over again, even if you make mistakes. What are some examples of things that we can be determined to do? Discipline means to always try your best every time you practice something. If you are disciplined in Youth Martial Arts, you always try your hardest when you are doing techniques in the mirrors, or when you are punching and kicking the pads. How can you be disciplined at school? Fitness is when your body is healthy because it gets enough exercise. There are many ways to exercise and achieve fitness. In Youth Martial Arts we do mat movements, we hit pads, and we jog around the room. All of these things help our bodies become fit. What are some ways that we can be fit outside of Youth Martial Arts? When we focus, we are paying attention. Focusing is very important in Youth Martial Arts. When we focus, we learn more quickly and have more fun, because we pay attention to our instructors and know exactly what we should be doing. Focusing also allows us to be safe. If we are not focused in Youth Martial Arts, we could accidently get hurt. What are some things we need to focus on when we are at home? Our families are the people in our lives that love us and care for us. Each family is very different. Some families have a mom and a dad in one house. Some families have a grandma and grandpa. Some families have a mom, a dad, and siblings, but they live in two different houses. No matter what our families look like, it is very important that we help our families when we can. What are things we can do to help our families?
MERIT BADGES Gratitude is being thankful for something. There are many people in our lives that do kind things for us, and those kind things help us to become happy and healthy people. Showing those people that you appreciate the kind things they do, shows that you have gratitude. What are some things people have done for you that you are thankful for? A goal is a reason for doing something. For example, you might work really hard every day in Youth Martial Arts because you have a goal of getting your black belt. Sometimes it take a lot of hard work to achieve our goals, but in the end, it is always worth it. What are some other goals you have? Being honest means to tell the truth. When we are honest, other people are happy to be around us, because they know that we are trustworthy. Sometimes it feels scary to tell the truth, especially when you might have made a wrong decision. If you choose to be honest, even though you are scared, you can feel a lot better afterwards. Independence means to do things by yourself. When we are little babies, we don t have any independence. Everyone around us has to do everything for us. As we get older, we learn to do more and more things by ourselves. What are some things you can do independently now, that you were not able to do by yourself last year? Having knowledge is to understand something. It is a little bit different from learning. To have knowledge, you must first learn something, and then practice it over and over again until you will not forget it. Once you have practiced it so many times that you won t forget, then you have knowledge. A leader is someone that is in charge of a group of people. There are good leaders and bad leaders. Good leaders are people who are happy, and motivated, and set a good example. These types of leaders make people feel good and try their best. What are some examples of good leaders that you have in your life?
MERIT BADGES Having a good memory means you are good at remembering things. We use our memory to store lots of important information. We store information about school and about Youth Martial Arts. We also use our memory to store memories about family trips and happy times with our friends. What are some things you have in your memory? Having good manners means you behave towards people in a polite way. When you have good manners, people are happy to spend time with you and help you with things because your good manners make them feel good. Using please and thankyou are two great ways to use good manners. What are some things you do at school to show that you have good manners? Having patience means to wait calmly and quietly for something without getting frustrated. Sometimes when we are waiting for something really exciting to happen, it is hard to be patient. We have to remember that even if we are really excited, whining and complaining about how long it is taking does not make our exciting event come any sooner. What are some things that you were looking forward to that you had to be patient for? Respect means to treat other people the way you want to be treated. In Youth Martial Arts, we are respectful by using good manners, by listening quietly when the teacher is talking, and by being kind to our friends. What are some way you can be respectful at home or at school? Having a responsibility means to have something that you are in charge of doing. At home, you might have the responsibility of taking the trash out. At school, you may have the responsibility of handing out supplies to your classmates. What are some other things you are responsible for? Teamwork means to work together. When we work together to reach a goal, we are able to reach the goal sooner, and do a better job of reaching it. For instance, if you need to bring all of your groceries from the car into your house, you could certainly to it by yourself. BUT, if you and your mom and your brother use teamwork and ALL bring in groceries, you will finish the job much faster. What are some examples of how you use teamwork?
MAT MOVEMENTS Individual Bear Crawl On all fours, knees straight, walking like a bear. Crab Walk Sitting down on the mat, using hands and feet to raise hips off of the ground while moving across the mat. Forward, Backward & Egg Rolls Roll forwards over your head, roll backwards over your head, roll side to side across your stomach Seal Walk Stomach down, using both arms to move across the mat while dragging legs behind. Inch Worm Stand up, reach down and touch your toes, walk your hands forward until you are in push-up position, now walk your feet forward to touch your hands. Repeat. Either your hands move, or your feet move. They can t move at the same time. Forward & Backward Shoulder Walks On your back moving backwards. Push with one leg and reach with opposite shoulder. Now do the same with the second leg and opposing shoulder. Doing this back and forth will move you backwards. Shrimps On your back, hands by your neck, feet close to the hips. On the balls of your feet, lift yours hips, and turn to the side. As you turn, leg press your hips backwards. Partner Shrimps Shoulder Walks & Knee Walks Flying Partner Drill Stationary Spider Flips Backward Rolls against Wall Break Falls & Get Ups
GAMES Games Sifu Says Just like the game Simon Says, but using Martial Arts techniques. There are 2 rules to Sifu Says...no talking, and don t do ANYTHING unless Sifu says! Memory Similar to the memory game, Simon. Line the kids up and give them a short combination such as jab, cross. Continue to add additional techniques to the previous combination. When a student messes up the combo, they sit down. Last student standing wins! Crab Soccer Just like a soccer game, but all participants are in the crab-walk position. An exercise die is the ball. When a goal is scored, everyone has to do whatever exercise the die lands on! Wall Ball Students line up against a wall and one student stands on the other side of the room and tries to hit someone with the ball. Last one in gets to be the one who throws the ball. If someone catches the ball when it is thrown, the person doing the throwing switches places with the person doing the catching.
TEST DAY FORMAT Arrival Students arrive Make sure all students have gone to the restroom and had a drink. Once the test begins, they will not be able to do these things. Check and make sure all parents have left the building so the students will not be distracted once the test begins. Quickly go over test day rules. -No talking -Do not do anything until Sifu says go -If you talk, or if you do not wait until Sifu says go, you will do 10 pushups. Bow In. Line students up. Make sure they are not facing a mirror. Begin Technique Portion Stance and Footwork Punches Kicks Blocks Begin Rounds Portion Fundamental Students 2, 4 minute rounds Rounds 1 and 2: 1st and 3rd minutes All Punches 2nd and 4th minutes All Kicks
TEST DAY FORMAT (CONTINUED) Rounds Portion Continued Intermediate/Advanced 2,4 minute rounds Round 1: 1st minute All Combos 2nd minute Jab Cross as many times as they can 3rd minute All Combos 4th minute Lead High Hook, Rear High Hook, as many times as they can Round 2: 1st minute Pad holder s Choice for Kicks 2nd minute Touch and Go Round Kicks 3rd minute Pad holder s Choice for Kicks 4th minute Touch and Go Switch Kicks Begin Cardio Conditioning Portion Star Jumpers (1 minute) Punch and Crunch (1 minute) Push-ups (1 minute) Leg Lifts (1 minute) End Test Allow the students to get a drink of water. Line them up. Discuss the format of the Belt Demonstration. Bow out of Class.
TESTS YOUTH MARTIAL ARTS Name Belt Stripe A. Footwork B. Punches C. Kicks D. Blocks E. Rounds F. Conditioning G. Attributes 1. Form 2. Technique 3. Speed 4. Power 5. Timing 6. Balance 7. Focus 8. Respect PASS / FAIL Testing Instructor Signature
TESTS YOUTH MARTIAL ARTS Name Belt Stripe A. Footwork B. Punches C. Kicks D. Blocks E. Combinations F. Offense / Defense G. Grappling H. Sticks I. Rounds J. Conditioning K. Attributes 1. Form 2. Technique 3. Speed 4. Power PASS / FAIL Testing Instructor Signature