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Martial Arts Maths

Maths in martial arts: personal bests

Compare old and new results.

Quick answer

Maths in martial arts: personal bests helps you compare your old and new results to see how much you’ve improved. You can use subtraction, number lines, or bar charts to show your progress.

Learning outcome

By the end of this page, you will be able to compare your old and new results in martial arts using subtraction and visual methods. Success signs:
  • You can find the difference between two numbers
  • You can show your improvement using a bar chart or number line
  • You can explain how you got your answer
  • You can use maths to set new goals

Why this matters

Maths helps you see how much you’ve improved in martial arts. When you track your progress, you can set new goals and feel proud of your hard work. Whether you’re learning kicks, punches, or new forms, maths helps you measure your growth. You might also use this kind of maths in other areas like sports, school tests, or even cooking. If you want to see how much your plants have grown, or how much money you’ve saved, you’ll use the same ideas!

How it works

To compare your old and new results, you:
  1. Find your old score or time
  2. Find your new score or time
  3. Subtract the old from the new
  4. Use a bar chart or number line to show your improvement
Let’s try this step by step with a martial arts example.

Examples you can see

Imagine you’re learning karate. You did 5 kicks in your first lesson. Now, you can do 12 kicks. How much did you improve? Step 1: Find your old score – 5 kicks Step 2: Find your new score – 12 kicks Step 3: Subtract the old from the new – 12 – 5 = 7 Step 4: Show it on a number line or bar chart Here’s how it looks on a number line:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Start at 5, jump forward 7 steps to 12.
You improved by 7 kicks! Here’s a bar chart example:
Lesson Kicks Done
First Lesson 5
Second Lesson 12
You can draw two bars – one for 5 and one for 12. The difference is 7.

Try it as a mini adventure

Martial Arts Challenge: Track Your Progress! You’ve just started martial arts and want to see how much you’ve improved. Here’s your adventure: 1st time: You did 3 punches in 1 minute 2nd time: You did 7 punches in 1 minute 3rd time: You did 10 punches in 1 minute 4th time: You did 15 punches in 1 minute Your goal: Show how much you’ve improved each time. How much did you improve from 1st to 2nd time? Answer: 7 – 3 = 4 punches How much did you improve from 2nd to 3rd time? Answer: 10 – 7 = 3 punches How much did you improve from 3rd to 4th time? Answer: 15 – 10 = 5 punches Can you draw a bar chart to show this? What do you notice about your progress?

Common mistakes

  • Mistake: Subtracting in the wrong order – like 5 – 12 = 7 instead of 12 – 5 = 7
    Why it happens: You might forget that “improvement” means how much more you did, not how much less.
    Fix: Always subtract the old number from the new number. The answer should be positive.
  • Mistake: Not showing your work
    Why it happens: It’s easy to rush or get confused.
    Fix: Write the subtraction sentence and draw a number line or bar chart to show your thinking.
  • Mistake: Thinking that a smaller number means better progress
    Why it happens: Confusing what “improvement” means.
    Fix: Improvement means more, not less. If you went from 5 to 10, you improved!

Parent and carer guide

To help your child with this topic:
  • Ask them to tell you about their martial arts progress
  • Use a simple number line or bar chart to show how they’ve improved
  • Ask questions like: “How much more did you do this time?” or “Which time did you do the most?”
  • Encourage them to write the subtraction sentence
  • Don’t worry if they make a mistake – it’s part of learning!
This is a great time to use real-life examples like:
  • Measuring how high they can jump
  • Counting how many times they can do a move
  • Timing how long it takes to complete a routine

Practice questions

  1. You did 4 kicks in your first lesson. Now you can do 9 kicks. How much did you improve?
  2. Your old time for a routine was 30 seconds. Your new time is 20 seconds. How much faster were you?
  3. You scored 6 points in a test. Now you score 11 points. How much did your score go up?
  4. You did 20 sit-ups last week. You did 25 this week. How much more did you do?
  5. Your old record was 7 stars in a game. Your new record is 14 stars. How many more stars did you get?
Answers:
  1. 9 – 4 = 5 kicks
  2. 30 – 20 = 10 seconds faster
  3. 11 – 6 = 5 points
  4. 25 – 20 = 5 sit-ups
  5. 14 – 7 = 7 stars

FAQ

What is personal best in martial arts?
A personal best is your highest score or best result in a martial arts activity. It’s something you’re proud of and want to beat next time.

How do I compare my old and new scores?
You subtract the old score from the new score. If your old score was 5 and your new score is 12, then 12 – 5 = 7. You improved by 7 points.

Can I use maths to track my martial arts progress?
Yes! You can use subtraction, bar charts, and number lines to see how much you’ve improved.

Why is it good to track my progress?
Tracking helps you see your hard work paying off. It also helps you set new goals and stay motivated.

What if I get a lower score next time?
That’s okay! Sometimes you have off days. You can still use maths to understand what happened and plan to improve next time.