LIL Dragons/Tiny Tigers (teaching kids)

Discussion in 'Tae Kwon Do Resources' started by Chazz, Jan 18, 2005.

  1. blessed_samurai

    blessed_samurai Valued Member

    Some of the things we emphasize are for the children to scream "fire, fire!" when an adult is trying to take them away. We forego the usual "help" because the public is generally desensitized to someone screaming "help," but everyone loves a good fire. We have found (psychologically) this brings more attention from those nearby.

    We follow up with the kids screaming "You're not my dad (mom), let me go!" This alerts others of the situation. Since it's not uncommon for children to be abducted in public places, this is an ideal cry for help.

    We definately integrate all the punching and kicking, but we also teach about "distracting" or "softening" techniques-foot stomping, etc

    The games we play are like Simon Says, where the instructor will give a command "Simon says touch your nose" and will often touch his cheek to see if the kids are listening or not.

    We also play a game called Pillars where you put two kids together and space them out. Then one kid runs to the safety of a pillar (two kids grouped together) and the other kid tries to catch them. This teaches paying attention and finding a safe base.

    Almost every class has 1-2 self defense techniques from grabs or strikes and basic skills work. We try to emphasize to the parents the importance of their interaction with their kids through the week. Basically, the premise is "through the week, grab your kids...grab them like you mean it and let them get out of it the best they can."
     
  2. Chazz

    Chazz Keepin it kickin TKD style

    Well i just had my first lil dragons class. (real class with two 5 year old) Right now we are working on the Dicipline section. The only game i can think of for a beginners game is Instructor Says. Any other ideas for this section. (no matter what skill lever real easy ot a little hard)
     
  3. neryo_tkd

    neryo_tkd Valued Member

    i found and read the entire thread again. i myself am starting a kids program and i found some really useful info here. so if there is anyone who wants to share more games and drills that can be used with kids, please post them.
     
  4. neryo_tkd

    neryo_tkd Valued Member

    i found the following tip on a site with games for kids:

    Ok take a cookie sheet about 1/2 inch deep. Fill it with water and freeze. Now put a few together for a nice effect when breaking. This is usually used for kids.

    what is a cookie sheet?
     
  5. NaughtyKnight

    NaughtyKnight Has yellow fever!

    One thing my master does. He gets the kids to take off their armour and hold it out infront of them. And facing a partner they do roundhouse kicks moving around in a circle to the armour. The kids LOVE it, and they get really fast from doing it.

    I tried it aswell, hell of a work out.
     
  6. Thomas

    Thomas Combat Hapkido/Taekwondo

    A shallow metal pan to cook cookies/small cakes on in the oven. It's made out of steel, so I imiagine you remove the ice from it before breaking. I imagine you could use the cheap aluminium foil ones without removing the ice for a neat effect though (might be easier).
     
  7. neryo_tkd

    neryo_tkd Valued Member


    oh that? ok, thanx, but i still don't get the idea of the breaking as i posted in my above post. how should we put them together?
     
  8. jcurtis

    jcurtis Valued Member


    I would imagine that you remove the ice from the pan and stack them like you would boards or bricks for the break. Most people stack their bricks or boards or ice for that matter, on cinder blocks from what i have seen.
     
  9. neryo_tkd

    neryo_tkd Valued Member


    and would you allow young kids to do such a break?
     
  10. neryo_tkd

    neryo_tkd Valued Member

    i checked out this link. the web site is really great. i'm gonna use some of those games and drills in my kids' class.
     
  11. jcurtis

    jcurtis Valued Member

    I guess that would depend on how thick it is, and what technique they are going to use. i am not an instructor yet so i have no say in the matter currently but, all the instructors i know are very careful with the kids and dont allow them to do things that would cause them serious injury.

    I have only seen one person break ice in our organization and it was during their test for 2nd Dan. It looks really impressive but doesnt seem to be any harder than bricks or boards, if anyhting i would say it was easier. But i don't really know as i have never tried it.

    I would definately test it out and see how hard it is to do before allowing any student, child or not, to try it.
     
  12. neryo_tkd

    neryo_tkd Valued Member

    yes, 'careful' is the key word. those kids are my responsibility and i would not allow them to break ice. why not start with something that won't injure them like styrofoam? that's a good idea and that's what i'll do. when kids get more confident with their techniques and breaking we can move on to thin boards. even though i don't know if they can injure their fist/hand that way :confused: breaking boards with their leg sounds better.
     
  13. jcurtis

    jcurtis Valued Member




    For really young kids our org allows them to break what we call "demo" boards. They are about 3/8's of an inch (1cm) thick and really easy to break. The person holding them has to be careful not to put to much pressure on them as they sometimes will snap (depends a lot on how dry they are). As they get better we add more demo boards until they are about the equivelant of a regular pine board, at that point they switch to normal boards.

    Edit: I have never seen any of the children hurt themselves on these demo boards.
     
  14. neryo_tkd

    neryo_tkd Valued Member

    that's good to know. could you please tell me what techniques the kids use to break those boards and what age are we talking about here?
     
  15. bluekey88

    bluekey88 whimsical in the brainpan

    at our school, breaking is a regular part of our Little Dragons class. We use a regular thickness board (1"...which is really 3/4"). We cut the boards 3" wide and the kids break using a foot stomp. It's a great confidence booster. Stronger kids tha show aptitude sometimes get a chance to break a 3" boad using a hammer fist (the first white belt break at our school).

    The order of breaks in our children's program (after Little dragons) goes hammer fist, hammer knife, side knife. That's all I can remember off the top of my head. I'd have to look up the rest.

    Peac,e
    Erik
     
  16. jcurtis

    jcurtis Valued Member

    From what i have heard from most instructors, they dont allow students under the age of 5. So all of them are at least 5 as far as i know. Depending on body type and size they could be up to around 11-12 before breaking regular boards.

    Some of the techniques i have seen are:
    straight punch
    reverse punch
    elbow strike
    knife hand strike
    palm strike
    back fist
    round house
    side kick
    back kick
    axe kick

    We also dont start breaking until usually the yellow-green belt level(yes yellow-green is one belt, its in between yellow and green and is the 2nd belt after white). So they have typically between 6 and 9 months of practice before they start breaking.

    We also use a lot of different types of re-breakables for practice since real wood can become quite expensive and messy.
     
  17. neryo_tkd

    neryo_tkd Valued Member

    yes, that sounds good. i started the kids program last week. so far we have had only 1 training session. i've got app. 20 kids and they are great. they are very competitive. the parents watched the first training too and they kept laughing at the kids all the time :D i also came up with a song for them for motivation :D
     
  18. NaughtyKnight

    NaughtyKnight Has yellow fever!

    What song was it?

    If my master pumped some hardstyle dance while we trained, I think i might kill everyone I'd be so motivated :D
     
  19. neryo_tkd

    neryo_tkd Valued Member


    it's only 6 short lines. a song i came up with. they'll perform it accompanying it with techniques at a grading in our club :D
     
  20. Deadly Nik

    Deadly Nik New Member

    re: little dragons

    Hi Chaz,
    My head instructor and I teach a program similar to the little dragon's program. It for 4 - 12 year olds, teaching all the usual things to pass up through the ranks (such as patterns, 3 step, sparring, self defence and when high enough up in the ranks breaking) but also incorporating a stranger danger element and a strong "no to drugs" message.
    I find that the kids develop self confidence, manner, improved posture, they are happier and are fitter, and with the self defence program it makes them feel confident if a stranger were to attack them (we use adults padded up in sparring gear and the kids are allowed to do anything but spit).
    You have to teach them in a different way to adults, i'm lucky that i have a background involving children, so it's easy for me to adapt, just using simpler ways to explain, making training "FUN" and patience!!!!. :)
     

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