Brace yourself, grab a coffee, and get ready for some inspiration…
Yes, if this sounds like the Japanese sport of wrestling to you, you are correct. But, don’t worry, we will not be wrestling! Instead, SUMO for debate camp is a 1 versus 1 quick debate match.
Sumo Inspires:
● Quick thinking
● Respect for your opponent
● Diverse argumentation
● Deep listening
How it works:
1. The judge, called the gyoji, selects two competitors with similar experience from the pool of debaters and finds out which one is older. The older debater will get to choose the determining number first.
Gyoji: Please bow to each other. What is your birthday?
Debater 1: January 22, 2009
Debater 2: March 3, 2008
Gyoji: OK, deater 2, ichi, ni, or san?
Debate 2: Ni.
Gyoji: No. Debater 1?
Debater 1: San.
Gyoji: Yes, that is correct. What would you like: topic or speaker position?
Debater 1: Topic.
Gyoji: Debater 2, you get speaking order.
This is how the time segments look:
Debater 2: I will choose 2nd and 4th.
Gyoji: The topic is What is best: waffles or pancakes?
Debater 1: Waffles!
Gyoji: Debater 2 you have Pancakes. Time begins NOW.
Gyoji: Time! Debater 1, begin in 3, 2, 1…
Debater 1: (For 30 seconds, Debater 1 delivers arguments and anything
else they can think of why Pancakes are better than Waffles.)
Debater 2: (For 30 seconds, Debater 2 delivers arguments and anything else they can think of why Waffles are better than Pancakes.)
Debater 1: (For 30 seconds, Debater 1 delivers arguments, refutation, and anything else they can think of why Pancakes are better than Waffles.)
Debater 2: (For 30 seconds, Debater 2 delivers arguments, refutation, and
anything else they can think of why Pancakes are better than Waffles.)
Here, the gyoji considers what they have heard, determines who won, and
points to the winner. At this point both debaters bow again to each other,
and the next two debaters are called out.
In a single SUMO tournament you may lose three times before being done; on the third loss, you continue to work with the gyojis to get better!
Mind blown yet?
“Release the HYDRA!”
Named after the many-headed serpent of Greek mythology, the debate game of HYDRA features many debate heads all arguing for a particular candidate to a special prompt.
Hydra Enhances:
● Diverse consideration of argument content
● Framing of the topic at hand
● Teamwork, partnership
● Quick thinking
● Note taking
How it works:
At the end of the first day of camp, we will announce the HYDRA topic. Let’s say that the topic is “Most Impressive Animal.” That night Justin will begin taking answers to this prompt at 7PM sharp at his [email protected] email address.
Debaters will secure their answers on a first-come-first-served-basis:
As the responses come in:
Justin will respond to each request with “Yours” meaning the debater is awarded the response they sent in or “Taken” meaning that the response they sent in was already submitted by another debater and that they need now to find another. Once the debater receives a “Yours!” response, the debater should do some research on their awarded topic.
The Next Day
We will announce who it is each debater is paired up with and give all pairs approximately 75 minutes to do the following:
1. Discuss which of the two answers the pair has obtained should be the
one they will begin writing arguments for. Quickly!
2. Begin writing Impacts and arguments. As many as you would like!
3. Fulfill Special Task element*
Each pair preparing for the HYDRA will have at least one coach that will be
their contact person and their guide.
When prep time is over, all pairs of debaters get into the same room and
form an oval, creating a discussion/argumentation space. Typically one
HYDRA room will have 7-8 pairs of debaters arguing. Let’s pretend that this example HYDRA has 8 pairs. Here is the speaking time schedule. Start
with 1st Rd./Team 1 and go left, snaking around in the three rounds like a
backward “S.”
m = minutes, rd. = round
1st Round
● All teams are allowed only to give out impacts, arguments, and to take POIs (POIs will be explained during camp)
● Each argument must provide a warrant. In other words, if your animal is cockroach and you say “Cockroaches can turn in 36 directions in a second” you must also tell us why this is IMPRESSIVE! If your animal is the panda bear and you say “Panda bears can eat 50 lbs of bamboo a day,” you must also tell us why this is IMPRESSIVE!
2nd Round
● All teams may continue to give out impacts, single arguments, and take POIs
● As well, teams may begin refuting other teams’ points
3rd Round
● Everything goes in this round!
Here’s how you score points with the judges of HYDRA:
When the HYDRA is over, judges combine points and announce which teams finished 3rd, 2nd, and 1st. If you finish 1st, you are called “King/Queen of the HYDRA” until the next HYDRA is complete. On the following page is a blank HYDRA scoring sheet (for coach use only).
Hydra Scoring Sheet
0-5 pts. for Impact,
1 pt./Point,
1 pt/original Refutation,
1 pt/successful Counter Point,
2
pts for POI taken,
1 pt for POI given
Do I want my child to win every debate from now on?
That is a scary thought, but TOTALLY worth it!
This game is for those who are ready to take on the entire camp itself. Don’t worry, this is done on a volunteer basis, but we do encourage those with some experience to give it a shot.
ATH Grows:
● Courage
● Quick, on-your-feet thinking
● Framing of one’s argument
● Time management
● The ability to identify counterpoints that threaten your argument and those that do
not
How it works:
A debater tells a coach at any time during camp that they “want to go
against the herd.” The coach then asks them what it is they want to argue.
Arguments range from “Soccer is the best sport” to “We should colonize
Mars” and anywhere in between–it’s whatever the debater wants to argue!
All the debater needs to do is write an impact and at least three points and
submit it to a coach.
At a planned time this debater will face the whole camp and give out their
argument. While they do this, campers will start standing up to challenge
the speaker with POIs. The ATH debater must take at least 7 POIs in 5
minutes and successfully refute 70% of POIs taken.
In the end, Justin asks select judges if they believe that the speaker has
refuted 70% of the POIs and, if 70% of the judges say yes, then Justin
announces to the whole camp that until it is argued otherwise “Soccer is recognized by the House as the best sport in the world” or “we should
indeed colonize Mars” or whatever else it is that the ATH speaker
proposed. If the House does not find that the speaker defended their
argument successfully, the motion is struck down.
This GDB game challenges the debater to see phenomena as either good or bad, effective or ineffective, weird or boring, cool or not cool. In three person teams, debaters find images of unique dresses, food, events, animals, architecture, songs, videos, tattoos (anything, really) and determine whether it is Awful or Awesome? The twist comes when the team has to defend something they find Awful as Awesome or vice versa. Diabolical? I know!
The Fractal develops:
● Humor and wit
● The ability to see outside your preferences
● Teamwork
● Strategizing
● Weighing arguments’ value
This is Emma Stone’s Oscar dress from 2019. Awful or Awesome?
Could you be able to effectively debate either side?
Three-person teams cooperate to find a cache of images and videos that they are willing to argue that they are Awful or that they are Awesome. As they rotate round robin style in “home and away” competitions with other teams, they have to strategize on which image to use and which side they anticipate having to defend. Eventually, after a spiraling series of matches, one team emerges from both Fractal Belts and competes in front of the whole camp in what we humbly call THE FRACTAL BOWL.
Beta (Judges Wes, Sylvie, Logan)
SPK. TIMES ARE 30-30-15
Gamma (Judges Zoe, Oscar, Ellis)
SPK. TIMES ARE 30-30-15
Where else can someone evolve their skills, this much, in only 5 days?
Nowhere else, on planet earth…