Creative Movement with Martial Arts

I recently finished a creative movement unit with martial arts at the core of the unit. The key concept was 'creativity' and the related concepts were 'refinement' and 'perspectives'. My previous blog was about what was going to happen in the unit, what I did before and how I was going to change the unit for my current school.

Here are a few examples of sequences produced by students in my classes:

Below is an example of a student's Martial Arts Sequence Plan, Criterion B. Please click on the image below to have a look at the example.

During the first three double lessons following the skills based lessons, students started planning their sequences on the sheet pictured above (Click on the pictures above). They used the skills they learned to build their sequences for the remaining lessons. Click below to view the task specific clarification for criterion C.

I then had the opportunity to work with individual groups/pairs on their sequences. We used 'Coaches Eye' to analyze the sequences. Students gave feedback to each group at the end of the fifth lesson after groups performed a practice video. Their final performance was filmed in the sixth lesson. Each lesson was ninety minutes long.

I feel the students found this part of the 'creative movement' unit rewarding. The first part of creative movement was gymnastics which a lot of the students struggled with due to their lack of experience and skill level but with martial arts some of the movement were more familiar and a little bit more exciting for them.