Looking for something different to do this Valentine’s Day? Try a martial arts workout!
Whether you’re celebrating romantic or platonic love this February 14, partner drills are a great bonding experience. They’re enjoyable, effective, and a great reminder that working together can make us all stronger.
In addition to its psychological benefits, working together with a trusted partner can also improve the physical aspect of your game. Partner drills can have a positive influence on a number of fitness components, including speed, endurance, reaction time, and accuracy. In other words, training one-on-one with another person can make you a better and happier martial artist.
To help you get the most out of your training and the most out of Valentine’s Day, we’ve put together a selection of some of fun and effective partner drills from a variety of disciplines.
Try them with your sweetie, bestie, or favorite gym buddy!
Boxing
The Drill: Partner Bag Drill
What it does: Paying attention to your training partner’s movements and learning how to copy them sharpens your reaction time, reflexes, and general ring awareness.
What you’ll need: A heavy bag, boxing gloves, handwraps
How to do it: Set a round timer and stand on opposite sides of a heavy bag. Partner B holds the bag in place while Partner A strikes the bag with a combo of their choice. Then Partner A holds the bag while Partner B tries to replicate their partner’s combo strikes, intensity, and timing as precisely as possible. Repeat. Switch roles for the next round.
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
The Drill: Turtle Top Spins
What it does: For the spinner, this drill provides a full body strength and condition drill that also strengthens your agility, speed, and overall body awareness. For the person in the turtle position, it helps you learn how to remain calm during uncomfortable and frustrating moments in sparring and competition.
What you’ll need: mats, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu gis (or no-gi gear like rash guards and MMA shorts)
How to do it: Partner B gets into the turtle position. Partner A rests their chest on Partner B’s back and practices moving around and keeping most of their weight on a turtled opponent. Switch positions.
Cross-Training
The Drill: Medicine Ball Hot Potato
What it does: Maintaining a stable position while catching and throwing the ball does wonders for your core strength. It can also improve your balance, hand-eye coordination, agility, and reaction of time. All of which will benefit martial artists of any discipline.
What you’ll need: mats, medicine ball
How to do it: Sitting on the mat, Partner A balances on the back of their sit bones, bends their knees, and lifts their feet off the floor. Once they’re comfortable in that position, Partner B tosses a medicine ball to them. Partner A’s goal is to catch the ball and throw it back while remaining as stable as possible. Repeat. Then switch sides. For an extra challenge, both Partners A and B can try doing the drill from the seated position.
Karate
The Drill: Mirror Work
What it does: Learning to watch and replicate your partner’s movements and timing will fine-tune your concentration, coordination, and reflexes. And these improvements can go a long way to making you better at both your Kata and sparring.
What you’ll need: mats, Karate uniforms (or workout gear like Karate shorts and a rash guard if you’re training more informally)
How to do it: Stand on the mats facing each other and perform a Kata. Partner A’s goal is to try to “trick” their training partner with the exact timing and form of their movements. Partner B’s goal is to replicate those movements as exactly as possible. At the end of the Kata, switch roles.
If you’re up for some extra conditioning, you can also add a cardio component, as seen in this demo:
MMA
The Drill: Ball Sprawls
What it does: Sprawls improve your conditioning and reaction time. Adding a partner and a ball to the mix will also add an excellent challenge for your reflexes, agility, reaction time, and overall body awareness, and improve your ability to defend against takedown attempts in sparring and competition.
What you’ll need: mats, comfortable workout gear like rash guards and MMA shorts, an exercise ball or a soft medicine ball
How to do it: Stand on opposite sides of the mat, some distance apart. Partner A takes the ball and rolls it away from them on the mat. Partner B’s goal is to run toward the ball and stop it by sprawling on top it. (The exact way you hit the ball is up to you, but you’ll probably feel most comfortable and be most effective if you aim to hit it with your lower abdomen or hip on the way down.) Then it’s Partner B’s turn to roll the ball and Partner A’s turn to chase is and stuff it.
