Gameplay Study: Beginner LMA Taekwondo and Kickboxing (Patreon)

• LMA Curriculum

In this video, two LMA practitioners are running through two different sparring games. The first is a modified taekwondo game where you're only allowed to kick. The target areas are the body and legs. Clean kicks to the body score two points, and clean kicks to the legs score one point. Any kicks are allowed to the body, but for the legs, only turning kicks (round kicks). No strikes to the knees are permitted. Blocking, parrying, and catching kicks with hands are valid defenses while checking, parrying, and canceling kicks with legs are also allowed. Chest-to-chest clinches are permissible, but grabbing is prohibited. Participants have the freedom to shift between stances.

The second game is kickboxing with no head shots. Instead of targeting the head, the emphasis shifts to attacking the shoulders. Strikes to the legs and body remain in play, along with catching kicks. However, clinches are limited to brief durations. Participants switch stances every round. As a precaution, headgear is employed to safeguard against accidental injuries, particularly to the eyes.

Each game explores different skills and different ranges of distance while building off each other.

It's important to spotlight the practitioners' experiences. The practitioner in striped shorts is an activist and organizer who has only trained a total of nine hours. Their martial arts experience was limited to several months of BJJ at a Renzo Gracie affiliate, which they immediately discontinued after learning more about Renzo. Their nine hours of LMA encompassed warm-ups, cool-downs, mobility, flexibility, rehab, fundamental movements, footwork, stance, blocks, turns (slips), jabs, straights, hooks, uppercuts, teeps, turning kicks (round kicks), side kicks, sparring, and knowing where they are in space without having to look (they never ran into anything). During the day of filming, they were introduced to the spin back kick (spinning back kick) and encouraged to incorporate it into the games—which they did. By the 20th hour of training, that kick will look drastically different, not only in execution but timing.

In context, it's incredible how much they've learned in that short time, but that's what can happen when you allow the brain and body to learn as one through play.

Something worth noting, though the practitioners are missing a lot, they are consistently making reads instead of employing techniques blindly. This attribute sets them apart from many martial artists, even those with years of training. There's a reason behind everything they do because they're always looking and deciding.

Although their techniques are not yet polished, their perception already exceeds that of many practitioners, and it will only get sharper from here. They're also very composed despite still being new to martial arts.

This is because we begin gameplay almost immediately, so this is all they know. Learning by doing supersedes rigid top-down instruction. I don't need to stop them in the middle of play to fix things because I trust them to make self-improvements, and they trust me to intercede if necessary. Furthermore, they have trust in each other's control. It's an environment of mutual trust and guided self-discovery.

Moving on to the practitioner in black shorts, their martial arts journey started at age 45 with no prior sports or training experience. They came to me right off the couch with lots of injuries and poor conditioning. 

This LMA practitioner's initial phase concentrated on motor control, fundamental movements, rehabilitation, flexibility, and embodiment. As their movements improved, the games we played became more and more like sparring.

They don't have the same youth or natural ability as the young organizer, but they have better-trained eyes since they've been training longer. Their gaze never wavered, enabling them to make more reads over time, bridging the age gap.

Each training session lasts an hour and primarily involves gameplay. The more games or live rounds you accumulate, the better you get. You improve by doing. Despite their brief training period, they've amassed more rounds than individuals who've trained for much longer. Moreover, their discoveries are guided, making them more productive rather than haphazardly left to chance and accidental.

At the end of the video, you can hear some of the guidance I give during their gameplay. I'm guiding their eyes—providing open-ended prompts, and aiding them in reorienting.

Breathing techniques are introduced between rounds to enhance oxygenation while de-escalating. (This method can be adapted for your own use.) The practitioners remain standing between rounds to maintain blood circulation unless sitting down is necessary.

Safety is prioritized at all times.

When I say "antenna," I'm referencing an ant's antenna—using contact to feel for your opponent. When they kick your leg or punch your glove, that is still contact. All of that is information to wayfind. This makes every position and technique multipurpose. For instance, the jab.

Actually looking means seeing the opportunities your opponent gives you and seizing them rather than waiting for them to walk into whatever you've been premeditating. 

Since both practitioners were scoring from open space, neither were interested in clinching.

A common pitfall among beginners is overreliance on punches due to poor leg coordination. By playing taekwondo first, both participants developed increased comfort with kicks, even when punches were in play.

– Sam