Improving math skills through karate drills

While a graduate student in Education at Stanford in the 70s, I developed a program that attempted to reduce some of the dropout rate at local high schools. Drop out was high at the time, in excess of 30%. That meant that one out of every three high school students would quit before graduating. I haven’t followed dropout rates in several years and don’t know what the percentage would be today – hopefully far less but probably not.

Many of those who dropped out were kids who had never done well at school. Their failure was often attributable to conditions that were no fault of their own. They were, for example, born with predispositions – such as ADHD or drug or alcohol addicted mothers, who passed their addictions or life-long collateral damage on to their unborn children.

I discovered late in life that I was likely ADHD and been so all my life. I succeeded because of an inner drive to better myself, encouragement from my parents, and eventually the discipline acquired from my years in karatedo. A couple of school teachers along the way had also believed in me – although there had been many who hadn’t. “Butts in chairs” I later termed those teachers who thought I could only be educated or work properly while sitting focused on whatever they were discussing at the chalkboard – as if a student couldn’t figure it out quickly on their own and become bored with her droning on and on about it. For me, things worked the exact opposite of the butt in chairs approach to education. I was most attentive and thoughtful when my body was busy, silencing a constant cry for action.

I realized part of the dropout problem could be due to students suffering from the same condition and teachers unwilling or not bright enough to realize the problem was in their approach, not the student. As I’ve said before, a teacher is one who teaches. If a student doesn’t learn, the teacher has failed in his/her task, not the student. Good teachers – in the martial arts too – find ways to reach their students. Bad teachers attempt to make each student adapt to their teaching methods.

So I developed what I called “Active Learning” drills, which used karate techniques to teach academic subjects, such as math, in a manner better suited for students like myself. (I used the same approach to teach a variety of academic subjects, not just math.) The value of these drills was in its ability to totally engage these students – physically and mentally – while teaching them subjects that had previously turned them off. An added benefit of using karate to achieve this is pre-gang bangers – who comprised a significant percentage of dropouts in the schools in which I was involved – were attracted to the martial arts, so it wasn’t a nerdy thing to do. (There were a variety of other dynamics that I covered, which made the program and subsequent life choices more appealing to this segment of the population. Perhaps I’ll discuss these at some future point.)

Let me give you an example of one of the math drills.

1) Have your students line up and take their right legs back. 2) Teach them how to throw a lead-hand jab, if they don’t know already. 3) Tell them “Every time I say ‘one’, you jab.” 4) Lead them through jab practice for single, double, even triple jabs – “One.” “One,one,” for doubles. “One, one, one,” for triples, etc.

Now, tell them they should reverse punch each time you say “Two”. Repeat the same sequence as you did for jabs. “Two, two,” means they should throw double reverse punches with the same hand, etc.

Then, tell them they should throw a rear leg front kicks each time you say “Three”. And do the same as above – “Three, three,” for doubles, etc.

Lastly, do the same for front leg roundhouse kicks. They should throw a front leg roundhouse kick whenever you say “Four”, and follow that with practice of singles on command, doubles, triples, whatever you want to do.

They should now know those four basic techniques, if they didn’t already. (If they already know them, then only repeat the counts, training them to execute the appropriate technique and the appropriate number of reps as instructed.)

Lead them through combinations based on the number system you’ve taught them. “One, two,” means they should throw a jab, followed by a reverse punch. “Four, two, four,” would be for a front leg roundhouse kicks, followed by a reverse punch, and another front leg roundhouse kick. “One, one, two,” would be a double jab and reverse punch. Do this for a while, so they’ve had a chance to practice the many combinations of techniques.

Now, you’re ready to begin using the groundwork you’ve set to teach them math. Tell them “A One technique – a jab – is worth one. A Two technique – reverse punch – is worth two. A Three technique – a front kick – is worth three. And a Four technique – a front leg roundhouse – is worth four.”

Point at a student and say something like the following: “Give me a combination of techniques that equals five.” The first person will often throw five jabs in a row. After he’s done, discuss the other options he had available – a jab and a front leg roundhouse kick. A jab and two reverse punches, etc.

Point to a second student and ask him to give you techniques that would equal six, seven, eight, etc. After he is done, again go over the other options to make sure everyone starts thinking about the factors that, when added together, equal that number. You can do the same with most areas of basic math.

Give these a try in your dojo. Students enjoy them and the parents of students struggling with math will see far greater value in their child being a part of your school, increasing retention.

Take care and thanks for your continued support.