Ship, Shore, Island

Here's an interesting game for the young ones who need a break from the usual martial arts routine.  The problem with kids is their minds wondering off during class; this game should address any boredom and get their minds back on track.  The game goes like this; you nominate one part of the room, ‘shore’, the other side, ‘island’ and somewhere in the middle, ‘ship’.  Basically, the idea is for the kids to run to the nominated side of the room by the Instructor calling out either ship, shore or island, and do it in such a way to trick them.  Whoever takes a wrong turn, or is slow off the mark, gets taken out of the game.  You start off slowly to get used to it and there are no early disappointments.  As the game goes on and the students start to really wise up, the Instructor has to try all sort of things to outwit them so only one person is remaining who is then declared the winner.  There are lots of ways to make the game become difficult which is only limited by the Instructor's imagination.

Now the really interesting part for grown-ups about this game is how easy it is to get a response from the kids by just calling out one word.  They learn to respond to each word and do what is required from them to do.  This is not new; the police have been using key commands such as ‘drop, tap and rack’ to clear out any stoppages from their firearm, Karate Instructors count out aloud to make things happen, Kickboxing Coaches use key words such as ‘jab’, ‘right cross’, ‘left hook’ for their students. Master Grappler John Will uses this method with the military and BJJ seminars. 

This process is quite effective and simplifies the training without having to repeat long winded or complicated instructions.  After being trained, dogs and other animals also respond similarly to those one word commands.  If it works for animals then think of the possibilities with humans!
GA