Rock and Water Teaching Resource Booklet€¦ · 15 Minutes- Lesson Theme, Rock and Water against...

Rock and Water

Teaching Resource

Booklet

Brian Hayes

Rock and Water Lessons for Primary Schools – 30 Min. Lessons Brian Hayes

Lesson 1 Theme – I Can Stand up for Myself 5 Minutes Warm up – Walking around the room and changing direction every 5 or 6

steps. The rule is that we never touch anyone else. This is fundamental, and the students

must agree to this at the start. As they develop a sharper awareness and are all cooperating,

increase the pace to power walking and even jogging with a very alert group.

Stop where you are and make sure you all have aenough personal space to swing your arms

without touching anyone else.

Complete the warm up with some simple upper body stretches, then Turning wheel. This is

where we swing the arms and generate our power from the hipsm, experiencing the centre

of power, from the ground, through the centre and through to the arms ( Exercise 13)

20 Minutes Lesson Theme – Standing Strong

5 m ins- Focus exercise Breathing in and out. Hands go up and down as you breathe to

show the importance of breathing down and lowering the centre.

Testing the grounding and centring – teacher moves through group, and tests the ability of

students to keep their shoulders down. As teacher lifts the shoulders there should be firm

resistance and no spongy feeling at all. This means the students are truly centred and

grounded, and if tested, could not be lifted up at all.

Student validation – Students now test each other by leaning on each others shoulders and

also by lifting shoulders to test for solidarity.

Note – This is the right time to introduce the Rock and Water bow. Explain the bow, and

have students repeat, “I respect you, and I will not hurt you” as they bow to each other.

5 Mins – Discussion Key questions

How did you feel?

How did your partner feel when you tested them?

Were they reliable, steadfast, could you lean on them, could they take the weight. In short,

do you think your partner would make a good friend?

10 Mins – Standing Stronger

Step 1 - Grab each others wrists in a monkey grip, and pull away in a horse stance until you

feel the other person’s centre (Exercise 4) .

Step 2 – When you have established centre of balance and being in control of one’s basis,

then we test it, by calling out “1,2,3 let go” and students test to see if they are indeed

standing in their own basis and grounded.

Step 3 – Challenge with a tug of war.(Exercise 6) Introduce here the first three rules of

confrontation

1. Breathe out, centre and ground

2. Make yourself bigger

3. Make eye contact with the other person.

4.

5 Minutes Reflection ( For discussion, or to write in Rock and Water reflective journal)

Where in my life would standing strong like that help me?

When I feel upset, what key words could I use to get my centre back and ground myself?

How long does it take to find my centre?


Lesson 2 Theme – Finding my Own Strength 5 Minutes – Warm up game – “ No Friends”. In this game we start the same way we did

for lesson 1, with students walking around, changing direction every 5 or 6 steps, with no

touching. We extend the game , by allowing students to tap others on the back, if they are

not watching us. Students may powerwalk or jog, depending on the instructor’s feeling

about potential for accidents with their group. The idea is to tap more students on the back

than touch you, and to do this you must be really “switched on”.

Discussion – Where is the safest part of the room? The answer will be at the sides, and this

is important to know from a self defence point of view. It is also useful to consider that if

you don’t dare to cross the room, you don’t learn.

15 Minutes Lesson Theme: Finding my own strength using strike shields.

Step 1 – Flaming Eyes – (Exercise 8). Students stand facing instructor, in their own space (

where they could do turning wheel without touching each other). They take a self defence

stance, front knee bent, hands up and open, with palms facing out. Instructor calls “Go” and

all make flaming eyes at instructor, while holding the self defence posture.

Discussion – When would flaming eyes be useful?

What are the first three rules of confrontation?

Is this rock or water?

Step 2 Learning to punch. (Exercise 14 and 15). Students learn to do the jab, then the

cross, before using strike shields.

Step 3 – Using Strike Shields. Explain the etiquette of using the strike shields. We never

throw them, we only strike on the instructor’s count. Check that all students are holding the

shields safely. Exercise 1 – On each count, students do jab, then cross on the shield.

Exercise 2 – Jab and cross continuously as instructor counts down from 8 to one. This is to

challenge the student holding the shield to stand strong in place, ground and breathe.

10 Minutes Discussion – What is violence?

Under what circumstances do I think it is OK to defend myself?

What kinds of things are worth fighting for?

What kinds of things do we fight for that we should not?

When I was put under pressure, how did I go? How was my centre? Did I breathe or hold

my breath?

Is it possible to remain calm while people are putting mental or physical pressure on us?

Reflection Journal

What did I do ion Rock and Water today?

How could I use this in my own life?


Lesson 3 Theme – Blocking in a Minute

5 minutes Warm up. Salute to the Sun

The exercise follows these 12 steps.

Praying Mountain, Backward bend, forward bend, Lunge, downward dog, Spider, Cobra,

Downward dog, Lunge, forward bend, Backward bend, Praying mountain.

You can repeat this and in the next round, you step your right leg back in position four

and forwards in position nine.

15 minutes Lesson Theme – Learning to Block

Step 1 – Stand facing instructor and all together practice, and call, “head, shoulders, hips”,

while doing the correct block, emphasis on forming an unbendable arm.

Step 2 - Instructor demonstrates the process in learning to block, from checking strength of

each block, to applying the correct block in a sequence, to random with calls first, like

head, shoulders, hips, and then random with no pre-calls.

Step 3 – Students work in pairs, and each coach tries to teach their partner to block in only

one minute. The challenge here is to copy the instructor’s technique to bring the best out of

their partner.

Teaching point - It is important here that we use the hands as though they are a baton,

rather

than bending at the elbow. We press, rather than strike, as this allows a quicker

learning experience and is also more like a typical violent attack by an angry person who is

reaching out to strike or to grab. Remember that your partner learns to block only if they

have a great coach, and that is you.

Step 4 – Repeat our affirmation for the day

“I am strong

I know what’s right and wrong

I know which way I am going

I can defend myself.”

5 minutes Reflection

Think, Pair, share

In pairs, discuss the two questions

1. How was I as a coach?

2. How is my ability to defend myself now?

5 minutes Reflection journal entry

1. What did I learn in rock and Water today?

2. How could I use this skill in my life?


Lesson 4 Theme – Sticks and Stones Can Break

My Bones….

5 Minutes – Warm up. Shoes off, bow to instructor, and begin walking randomly around

room. The rule is that we cannot touch anyone else. Change direction every 5 or 6 steps.

Instructor calls, “Stop”. Stop and face the person closest to you. Flaming eyes and hold

your warding off posture for 3 seconds, before you soften your eyes and your stance.

Introduce the theme of the class. It is about using rock or water to handle the taunts or

unkindness of other children.

15 Minutes- Lesson Theme, Rock and Water against bullying

Step 1 - Go to the ward off stance again, all facing the instructor. Review the feelings of

standing in a rock stance – determination, focus, steadfast, strong.

Now test each other’s stance with gentle pushes to prove those qualities.

Step 2 – Apply the rock attitude against taunting. In this case loud claps and calling out, as

your partner tries to distract you. If you can remain in your stance, and you do not laugh or

lose your concentration, then you are good at being rock. Now switch roles with your

partner.

Step 3 – Talk about this. You will see that some people are not so good at rock attitude and

they either need more practice or a different tactic.

Step 4 – Now explore the weakness of the stance. There is a problem in being strong

against a side push. Discuss this, as it reveals a lot about the dangers of single mindedness

or stubbornness. Let’s try an alternative, the water stance.

Step 5 – Our partner now gives gentle pushes from any direction, We keep the top part of

our body relaxed, stay grounded and in our basis, and we will be able to withstand any push

and still recover our balance, like a live bamboo.

10 minutes Discussion and Reflection

Explore the two different ways to deal with taunting. One is to completely ignore, like the

rock. The other is to use humour, or to simply agree. This is the water way.

Which one are you best at?

Describe a situation where you used one or the other. Equally, describe a situation where

you failed to use either, and you lost your temper or became upset.

Write in your reflective journal for 5 minutes.


Lesson 5 Theme – Stop, I Don’t Want to Fight 5 Minutes Warm up – Game - Rock and Water Stuck in the Mud. This is much the same

as the popular stuck in the mud game, except when a student is tagged they must stand in a

horse riding stance, and can be freed when a friend crawls through their legs. As an added

challenge, a student can be considered “safe” if they stand strong in a defensive stance, use

flaming eyes and say “stop” to the tagger. This gives them 5 seconds of safe time to get

away.

15 Minutes – Lesson Theme – Walking away without losing face (Exercise 24)

Follow the procedure in the manual here. It is very important to spend a little time on how

to receive the push to the chest, as this is an area where mishap can occur. Appropriately

match students, then gently push to each others’ folded arms, back and forth until all are

confident in their ability to receive the push and retreat without tripping. Self control and

restraint are crucial here.

Then, receive the push and retreat 5 to 7 steps. Follow the 5 rules of confrontation;

1. Breathe out, centre and ground

2. Make yourself bigger

3. Make direct eye contact

4. Speak from your stomach

5. Say clearly what you want the other person to do.

This can be practiced as many times as we need to get the process right. Studetns will soon

see that it is not only about fighting, but about how to deal with other types of trouble, and

also it is a mental process when we are faced with inner turmoil.

5 Minutes – Pushups to fail. Students nominate how many pushups they think they can do.

We do them all together, and students call out their totals at the end. This can be a real eye

opener, as students nearly always do more than they think they can. It is a great time to talk

about limiting beliefs.

5 Minutes – Reflection

When I walk away I am like a lion, or an ocean wave. How is this so? Write your own

sentences about what it is like to walk away with pride.

Is it possible to walk away with pride from trouble?

What people in history are famous for their ability to do this?

Write in your Rock and Water journal.


Lesson 6 Theme – Let’s Stick Together

5 Minutes Warm up – Rock and Water Dodgeball. You need a marked court, or even an

area divided and marked out with strike shields at the corners. Divide into two teams.

Students roll a ball and try to hit students on the other side, only below the waist. Noone

stands out here. When you are hit, you go to the opposite end and assist to attack from

behind. This makes ball retrieval faster and ensures everyone is involved. The game teaches

reaction time, movement and awareness.

10 Minutes – Lesson theme – Communication – The transfer of physical awareness to

social awareness.

Games – Chinese sticking hands (Exercise 31)

Finger fencing (Exercise 46, Intermediate exercise 2)

These games demonstrate important principles of communication. Chinese sticking hands is

about the willingness to maintain contact with the other person. It is not possible to work

together to resolve a problem unless we both remain in control but also stay connected.

Finger fighting shows that when it comes to handling trouble, it is often better to feel the

other persons energy and go around, rather than to immediately push back. This is

important to know for self defence, but also for gaining insight about ourselves and the way

we cope with any kind of pressure.

5 Mins - Reflection

Let’s talk about communication. How do we communicate our feelings to others?

Encourage students to illustrate various ways of communicating such as

Eye contact

Facial expressions

Verbal comments

Gestures

Actions

Sometimes we have difficulty working out what the other person is saying. Play the Barrier

Game.

10 minutes - Barrier Game – Arrange students into pairs. A and B sit back to back. A

describes a diagram to B. B then sketches it from that description.

A and B now face each other. A again describes the diagram and now uses eye contact,

body language, hand movements. B sketches it again on a new piece of paper.

Compare the results of the two attempts. What made it easier for A and also for B?

Communication is more than just talking. To really understand someone else we need to

find their centre.

Write in your reflective journal.


Lesson 7 Theme – You Can Push Me So Far … (before you run out of gas)

5 Minutes – Warm up and Review. Light stretching and then Chinese sticking hands and

then the bullfight game.

15 Minutes – Lesson Theme – Being resilient against physical pressure.

Step 1 – Begin with the turning wheel exercise. Here students practice twisting their body

and allowing arms to move freely. The example I use is Karate Kid 2, the taiko drum,

where the body is the drum and the arms are the strings, with the fists being the beads on

the end of the string.

Step 2 – Apply the turning wheel against gentle pushing, alternating with your partner.

Step 3 – Now explore what happens when someone is very angry and violent. They step

through and shove hard with the front hand. You now need to step back 90 degrees and

recover, by breathing and standing strong. It does not matter which shoulder is pushed, so

long as you go with the motion.

Step 4 – Try this with eyes closed. It is important to touch lightly and briefly before you

push so as to take care of the shoulder joint of the opponent.

Discussion – This can be a real eye opener. Students learn in a very authentic way that it is

better to flow with the attacker who is very strong rather than to resist in a rock manner.

Could this be a useful thing to do in an argument, a confrontation, or even when you have a

difficult choice to make.

Repeat this affirmation.

“When I am in trouble I breathe out.

I find the ground

I find my centre

I am in control of myself.”

Step 5 Extension – Now as you step back, after you feel the push on your shoulder, raise

your hands in an unbendable guard, so that they come between you and the attacker. This is

laying the basic skill for another lesson in warding off and partner control.

5 Minutes Reflection

Write in your journal.

1. When I am in trouble I (finish this)

2. When people are rude to me or angry with me, do I usually become rock or water?

What feelings do I have in my body?


Lesson 8 Theme – Knowing Me, Knowing you

5 Minutes – Warm up. Circle of Friends. Have all the students sit down in a circle with

their feet touching. Stretch to the left or right and touch or tickle your neighbour’s toes, but

don’t bend your legs. Now wriggle back a bit. Stretch left and right again. Keep wriggling

back until children cannot keep foot contact any more. This gives incentive to stretch.

Stand up and review sticking hands and finger fighting for 2 to 3 minutes.

15 Minutes Lesson theme – Communication centre to centre through pushing hands

Games – Introduce pushing hands. (Refer to Exercise 46)

The Chinese Master tournament (Exercise 47)

Observations – You may need to stop several times and discuss elements of the game and

the qualities that are emerging. Discussions on honour, the particular qualities of the

players, tactics and the relative merits of rock or water are useful and will serve to provide

short breaks where students can reflect and rebuild mentally. This is an exciting game and

very popular with students.

You will see that appropriate matching may have been important in earlier lessons, but

students by now have often found their own strengths. They will also choose their

opponents, and this will provoke discussions on winning and losing, what is honourable,

and where the opportunities lie to learn the most.

Students learn a lot about themselves playing this game, and also the key strategy to

success; that we must look to the other persons’ centre without losing our own. This is the

secret to negotiation, and to building strong relationships.

10 Minutes Discussion -Assertive Behaviours

To be good at pushing hands we need to focus, centre, communicate, be flexible, show

determination. Encourage students to discuss these traits.

They will realise that aggressive behaviours, and submissive behaviours do not really work

for this game. The physical qualities needed are the same as the mental qualities of the

assertive person.

Assertive people

1. Stand up for their own rights and also recognize the rights of others

2. Express themselves confidently

3. Respect other peoples qualities

4. Play by the rules

Students could brainstorm a list of the qualities that a rock and water warrior should have.

Write in your reflective journal


Lesson 9 Theme – Don’t Cross That Line .. 0r

Whose Line is it anyway?

5 Minutes Warm up – Master Says. This is the rock and water version of “Simon says”.

We do not only stretches and basic rock and water movements, but also audio commands,

like kiaii, “stop, I don’t want to fight” and anything else you feel silly enough to try. It is

great fun but it also teaches the honesty so important in rock and water. The children don’t

wait fro the instructor to count them out, they sit down on their own as they know they have

made a mistake. They know it is better to sit down honestly than to win a game with

dishonesty.

2 to 3 minutes – review pushing hands, using an inner and an outer circle to rotate partners.

15 Minutes Lesson Theme – Developing awareness of boundaries.

Step 1 – Feeling boundaries. Have students walk towards each other. (Exercise 86). A

indicates to B, who he is approaching, when he feels he is close enough. They discuss this

and the group shares understandings, that the centre of power may also be the centre of

feeling. We do indeed have a sensitivity ( most people anyway) to what is an appropriate

distance and what is inappropriate.

Step 2 – Exercise 88 – The group observes one person approaching another. This is a good

exercise to establish consensus. We feel strongly our boundaries and the non verbal signs

are very evident when we are crossing someone else’s boundary.

Step 3 – Eye contact is very important in communication, and can be misunderstood. Sit

closely facing your partner and look into their eyes for 20 seconds. This is very difficult for

some. Now we should discuss this, especially the theme that “the eyes are the mirror of the

soul’.

Step 4 – Now try a technique I call “seizing the spine”. We look through the other persons

eyes as though we could see the very top of their spine. Our eyes now show no emotion and

it is a little unnerving. This is the look we need in confrontation.

Step 5 – Now try a range of expressions, softness, friendly, laughing eyes, but no talking.

5 Minutes – Pushing hands fixed step for review

5 Minutes – Write in your reflection journal.


Lesson 10 Theme – The Wolves are at the Door

5 minutes Warm up. Shoes off, bow in with a rock and water salute to teacher and

announcement about the lesson today and its theme of self defence.

Begin with a light stretch to mobilize arms, shoulders hips etc, working from top to bottom.

Warm up game – Chinese sticking hands Breathing exercises to reinforce the importance of grounding and centring through

breathing.

15 minutes Lesson Theme Self Defence against Grabbing

Step 1 Begin with release from a single hand hold to the wrist.

Emphasise the importance of breathing and sinking in this escape technique.

Step 2 Try to defend against a grab with two hands. As per the manual, reach over with free

hand and assist in puling straight up.

Step 3 Test the technique – Attacker tries to drag defender back, who must learn to

suddenly lunge forward and free hand while the attacker regains balance,

Step 4 – extension – Release any single grab, using simple blocks learned previously, as

well as breathing and observation of correct angle.

5 Minutes- Group discussion

What did I need to do to make this work? ( Focus, breathe, balance, don’t give in, be

determined etc)

Who are the wolves? ( Dangerous, angry , violent, greedy people. Sometimes we are the

wolves.)

What are the wolves? ( drugs, fear, depression, despair, anger, jealousy)

What do I have to do to defend against them? (Focus, breathing, balance, determination etc)

Can I? (You just did)

5 Minutes Reflection Journal

1. What did I learn today in rock and Water

2. How can I apply this in my life?

Teaching Rock and Water Some advice for teaching primary school children. Brian Hayes

When teaching young people, note that their social and emotional intelligence is still in a

formative stage. They sometimes do not know the cues to use with each other, and also

react to signals from partners in an emotional way. They need to be eased into exercises,

positively pre-framed about the exercise, drill or game, and shown it very clearly.

DECR means Demonstrate the skill, then Explain how it works, Correct errors as the

students practice, then Rehearse the skill again. You may thus cycle through the DECR

process as the skill develops.

PCP means Praise, Correct, Praise. “I like your strong stand. Now you might try to look up

and focus on the other person. Yes, that looks even stronger.”

3 X 3 means that an instructor should always be mindful to make every student feel equally

special in the room, by using each Name 3 times, making eye contact 3 times and

appropriate touch 3 times. A great teacher makes every student feel like they just had a

private lesson with you, even though there were 20 other students in the room.

Demonstrate everything in at least two directions, so that all students can see clearly

without having to move around you. A 4 directional demonstration would of course be best.

Use your Rock and Water focus getters.

“aaaand breathe out, aaand ground and centre”

A round of applause after any good segment or exercise is a good energizer and group

affirmation that they are doing well.

Other focus getters;

“Eyes on who?” (Students respond together with) “Eyes on you”

“Last one!” (Students respond with) “Best one!” (This is good for strike shield work)

With younger children you may have to draw out their responses. Avoid lecturing as the

program is all about self reflection and self discovery, so it is important to ask;

How do you feel?

Were you rock or water?

Did it work for you?

The key is to try to make transfer to ones personal life.

What does this mean for the way you talk to other people?

Where in your life do you need this?

The next time ………… happens, how could you act differently using this feeling?

Use affirmations with young people. They like to call back to you, and it reinforces aspects

of the program.

“I am strong

I know what’s right and wrong

I know which way to go

And I can defend myself”

See it, Say it, Do it. This means that we use Auditory, Visual and Kinaesthetic cues to learn

fastest and in an inclusive way. Break down a technique into simple key words that are

called out as the technique is rehearsed. An example is the Rock and Water form, where

students call as they perform the moves.

“Head, shoulders, hips, side, cross high, side, cross low”

Discussions. Be non-judgemental. Ensure that rules of discussion are very clear, so that

everyone gets a chance. “Earn your turn” is a useful affirmation.

Use higher order thinking tools in class assignment or reflection. X and Y charts are very

easy to use. Venn diagrams, SWOT analysis, mind maps, graphic organisers etc. promotes

cooperative learning and reflective practices.

Setting Rules

A useful way to set rules a the start, is to ask students fro reasonable rules we can adopt in

the Rock and Water room.

e.g. We respect each other by;

Always listening to each other

No put downs

Never refuse to work with a partner

We are safe because we;

Always stop when the instructor says stop

Take care of smaller people

Remove our shoes on entering the room

We respect our equipment and never hit the shields out of turn

My Rock and Water My Rock and Water My Rock and Water My Rock and Water JournalJournalJournalJournal

Name ________________ Class ____________Name ________________ Class ____________Name ________________ Class ____________Name ________________ Class ____________

Standing Strong Grounding Centering Standing Strong Grounding Centering Standing Strong Grounding Centering Standing Strong Grounding Centering Focus Intuition Balance Honour Focus Intuition Balance Honour Focus Intuition Balance Honour Focus Intuition Balance Honour Beach Attitude Beach Attitude Beach Attitude Beach Attitude Water Attitude Water Attitude Water Attitude Water Attitude

Rock Attitude BreathingRock Attitude BreathingRock Attitude BreathingRock Attitude Breathing

Today in Rock and Water I learned to; __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ An example of how I have already used this skill OR a situation where I think I could try it. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ My Rock and Water words for today are; _____________ ____________ _______________ _____________ ____________ ______________ My class focus today was (Circle) Awesome Good OK Could be Better

Rock and Water Teaching Resource Booklet€¦ · 15 Minutes- Lesson Theme, Rock and Water against...

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