Words That Shield

Verbal anti-bullying training — calm voice, tall stance, walk away, tell — rehearsed until the words are as reflexive as any block

Kids martial arts
Kids 6–12 · Any art
45 min
8–20 kids (helper useful above 14)
1 coach
Effort 2/5
Full mat area
anti-bullying
life-skills
character
parent-shareable

The MatPlans curriculum teamBJJ black belts & coaches · 12+ yrs on the mat

Kit: Mats, 8 spot markers, 4 cones, a deck of silly-tease cards you write beforehand (shoelaces, socks, cartoon opinions — never real traits)

Warm-up8 min

Bow In & Tall Tag

Setup: Bow in on spots. Set tonight's frame in two sentences before the game: martial artists never use their hands for teasing trouble — we use posture, words, feet and telling. Then open the mat with corner cones and two taggers in bibs.

How it works: Ordinary gentle tag with a posture twist: you are safe for three seconds in the Mountain — feet planted shoulder-width, hands relaxed at your sides, chin level, eyes up, tall as you own the ground you stand on. Not a fighting stance; a standing-tall stance. Swap taggers every minute. Between rounds, thirty seconds of mountain practice: slumped shoulders on 'jelly', tall mountain on 'mountain', and let them feel the difference in their own chests.

Rounds: The word 'mountain' is now a class cue — it returns in every block tonight.

What to say

“Sell the feeling: 'notice how different tall feels on the inside — that's the trick working.'”
“Eyes level, not at the floor — 'mountains look at the horizon.'”
“Praise stillness in the mountain, not speed in the running — tonight posture is the scoreboard.”

Easier

Walking taggers, longer safe time, mountains checked by a partner.

Harder

Safe only if the mountain includes calm slow breathing the tagger can see.

Drill10 min

The Calm Fence

Setup: Lines facing you on spots. You will act the teasing side all block, using only the silly cards — the coach plays the fool so no child ever has to.

How it works: Teach the calm fence: one small step back into balance, palms open at chest height, relaxed shoulders — a shape that says stop without starting anything. Add the breath: one slow breath in through the nose before any words. Then the voice: low, level and bored, never shouty — teach the golden sentence pair, 'Stop. I don't like that.' Drill it as choreography: you read a silly card in a cartoon voice — 'your shoelaces are ridiculous' — the class steps to fence, breathes once, and answers together, flat and calm. The flatness is the skill: teasing is fishing, and a calm voice is an empty hook.

The technique, step by step

Step back into balance — the fence, palms open, shoulders soft.
One slow breath in through the nose.
Say it low and flat: 'Stop. I don't like that.'
Stay tall — mountain body, bored voice.

Common mistakes

Shouting the line — loud reads as rattled; low and level reads as strong.
Answering the tease with a tease back — comebacks feed the game we're ending.

What to say

“Bored beats angry: 'a wound-up answer is food for teasing — a flat one starves it.'”
“Palms open, never fists — the fence is a stop sign, not a threat.”
“Keep the cards ridiculous — laughter keeps this safe; real insults are never rehearsed here.”

Easier

Class answers together every time; no child answers alone unless they ask to.

Harder

Kids answer solo by choice, and add a second line: 'Stop. Not funny. I'm going.'

Drill12 min

Walk Tall, Tell Smart

Setup: A path across the mat: fence spot at one end, two cones marking the walk, a friends zone, and the trusted-adult square (you or a helper standing in it) at the far side.

How it works: Teach the full sequence as three moves with names. Move one, FENCE: the calm words from the last block. Move two, WALK TALL: turn and walk — not run — to your friends or a safer place, mountain posture the whole way, because walking away is the strong move, not the weak one. Move three, TELL: go to a trusted adult and say one clear sentence — who, what, where. Then draw the crucial line and have them say it back: tattling is trying to get someone IN trouble; telling is getting someone OUT of trouble — telling is what strong people do. Run the whole path in small groups: card read, fence, walk tall past the cones, tell the adult, and the adult always answers, 'thank you for telling me — that was the right thing.'

The technique, step by step

FENCE: 'Stop. I don't like that' — flat and calm.
WALK TALL: turn, mountain posture, walk to friends or safety.
TELL: one clear sentence to a trusted adult — who, what, where.
Keep telling until an adult helps.

Common mistakes

Staying to argue — two lines maximum, then feet.
Not telling because 'it's tattling' — replay the line: telling gets someone OUT of trouble.

What to say

“Walk, never run, on move two — 'runners look chased; walkers look finished with it.'”
“One-sentence tells: who, what, where — rehearse the sentence, not just the idea.”
“The adult's thank-you is part of the drill — telling must feel welcomed every single time.”

Easier

Walk the path with a buddy shoulder-to-shoulder; the class chants the moves as prompts.

Harder

Coach follows for two steps with another silly line mid-walk — the walker keeps walking, no answer needed.

The rest of this lesson is free — along with 3 more this week.

MatPlans curriculum team

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