Animals learn how to protect themselves through play with their parents. Think of how your dog plays with you or with a toy. They are practicing how they can protect themselves and catch and kill prey.
Kids learn through play too. Creating drills and activities that engage kids through play will catch their interest and inspire them to improve. It's not enough to just learn a skill, it must be practiced over and over to make it part of their muscle memory. Repetition gets boring for kids so it must be disguised. Working it into a game or activity helps to keep it fresh. It can also help kids see a skill differently which can help them to better understand that skill.
Using skills in free form play helps with reactions. When you get people moving in an activity, things can get messy and unplanned. This is a great way to practice because you never know how things can play out in a fight or a self defense situation. Your best laid plans can go out the window immediately. In play, you can learn how to react to the unexpected.
Not all games help you learn, we work very hard to make sure that every activity has a purpose. Paradise Valley Karate has taught kids for 40 years. In that time we have perfected bringing fun into class.
