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High School Kata Creation Exam
Hello fellow karate enthusiasts. I thought some of you may be interested in this.
I teach Martial Arts 11, an accredited course at Charles P Allen High School in Bedford, Nova Scotia, Canada.
The practical exam requires students to create a number of two-person drills to deal with Habitual Acts of Physical Violence. Students then create the solo representation of these drills as kata.
The Martial Arts 11 exam is as much an exercise in critical thinking as it is a demonstration of physical skills. On the day this video was filmed these students were 15 and 16 years old with 4.5 months of training.
I have written about my experience teaching this course. My article, "The Inclusion of Karate in the Public School System" can be found here
https://iainabernethy.com/article/inclusion-karate-public-school-system-andy-allen
Awsome! 4,5 month you said. Is that in total or just for preparing the practical exam including the kata creation project? How many hours per week can you train with them?
I like the idea. Despite we don't do that in our dojo, but it'll give a chance for a student to open their minds and create each techniques for every suitable situations step by step appraoch.
The semester is 4.5 months long. I have them 5 days a week. 4 of those days are for training so 4 hours/week on the floor. Students usually come to me with no previous experience so I have to start from square one. ..how to make a fist, front stance etc. They start working on their exam after a few months. I start them on the exam process a bit a time because all the criteria would be too overwhelming. I first have them make a 2 person drill for defence against just one attack, usually a Haymaker punch. Their drill must have a back up plan and include rules of bunkai (proper use of angles, hikite etc). Later I'll have them make another 2 person drill for a different HAPV and have them go through the same process. I give them anywhere from 15 to 50 min of class time for about 6 weeks. More time per clsss as we near the exam date. They are more focused then. It's a huge undertaking but makes for an interesting high school.experience.
Hi Marc. See below.
The semester is 4.5 months long. I have them 5 days a week. 4 of those days are for training so 4 hours/week on the floor.
[...] I give them anywhere from 15 to 50 min of class time for about 6 weeks.
[...] It's a huge undertaking but makes for an interesting high school.experience.
That is awsome! I personally would love to be able to spend that much time on the floor. :)
The project sounds demanding as well as fulfilling. Your students are very lucky.
All the best to you and your students
Marc
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Nice work! We don't have a requirement for students to create a kata, at this point, but I do periodically have classes collaborate on putting together simple kata to get an idea for how the techniques and solo movements reflect each other. I'm actually curious about your students' process for how they went about putting this together.