New Game (Variation on Braveheart)

"Back in the day", when excessively drunk, my friends and I would play a game named "Braveheart". The game required very little: only a wiffleball bat and some derringdo. The rules: two men/women--one holding a wiffleball bat--stand back-to-back, take 10 steps away from each other, and turn around. The one without the bat closes his/her eyes and puts his/her behind his/her back. (I focus on the political correctness only because the best person I've ever seen play this game happened to be a woman). The bat-wielder has three chances to throw the bat at the other person, with the objective being to hit them either in the head or crotch. A stomach or arm shot is worth points, but not the same amount as the more damaging areas. Often this game would result in no real damage, but periodically a ringer would smile, toss the plastic at a perfect trajectory, and land a direct hit on the opposition's grill, and the crowd would celebrate as if the Wall had fallen.

I've adapted this game to the hagwon classroom, and it was a great success this afternoon. I'm fortunate enough to have one class that has only two students, both male, and it hit me today that Korean children are more than sadistic enough to enjoy playing "Braveheart". I wasn't quite brave enough to let them use anything harder than a tennis ball, and rather than having them face each other, I had them turned in opposite directions. Still, watching them throw the ball over their backs and at the other kid brought joy to my heart, and while there were only five "hits", the victor did an inconceivable dance of joy each time it happened. No damage was done, and Liam and Joseph high-fived me harder than they ever have when leaving the classroom.

I'm not saying you should try it out in your classes, but I know it's now a permanent staple of this one.