Standard Rules:
Make a deck of suitable cards. Each person secretly draws a card. During a 3 – 6 minute training period you try to accomplish what is on your card. The winner is the one who completes their card first. Keep track of points as a tie-breaker.
How I use the cards at my academy:
There are no wrong ways to use these cards. However, after years of using them, I have picked up a few tips along the way.
- Depending on who is training, I create the deck specifically for what they need. Most of the time I am either combining the white and blue cards or the blue and purple cards.
- Typically we set the timer for three minutes. If you can’t finish your card in three minutes, it’s probably not going to happen.
- If both partners are pretty close to equal, I will have them both draw a card.
- If there is a slight disparity in skill, I will I have just the more skilled person draw and have their partner roll as normal (going for any submission / defending what they think the card might say).
- If there is a large disparity, I will have the more skilled person draw a card and show it their partner. Their partner’s only job is to prevent what the card says.
Another variation is to use the “side words”.
For my kids class I use these like flash cards. I will draw a card and they need to race to reach that position with their partner.
For the adults I will draw a few cards and use the side words to create a sequence they must try to replicate. They get to use a willing partner and try to create as smooth of a flow as they can as they work on these transitions between positions and techniques. Using the cards above I would expect someone to start in guard, open the card, pass to side control, pop up to knee on belly and then transition to kneebar. I would probably expect someone to slide up to a version of reverse knee on belly, where they are already facing the legs and attack a kneebar from there.