This is a demo of my Debate Dojo. I use it in my classroom.
I'm Svenja and I teach English and Economics at a vocational school, and I built this for my students. I want to teach them how to debate in English, and I wanted every single student to get individual support while they learn. So I built this Dojo.
I wanted to give each of my students their own sensei that helps them go through each learning step and prepares them for real debates they have with their classmates. After each kata they immediately practise what they have learned and go into the dojo with real classmates. The sensei is always there to help but he will never just give you the answer. He is there to help when you are stuck, but he is handcuffed to not give the answer.
To make this possible for 30 students at the same time I built myself a dashboard where I can see live where every student struggles and where they thrive, so I can concentrate on the students that struggle and help out where they are stuck. My students love this so much that most of the time I just sit back and watch some really heated debates about if pineapple on pizza is a good choice, if AI agents should be included in political decisions and if ads should be allowed to play with your emotions.
Each belt teaches something new. In the beginning, how an argument is structured, then the fallacies, and in the end they will face the final boss: a tournament among several classes, with a winner who will be remembered forever.
A short kata on screen. They read it, then answer one quick question.
They write their argument and the sensei helps them sharpen it, but he will never finish it for them.
Stand up and debate a real classmate. Face to face, in English.
Every belt runs the same three steps. It just gets harder.
Five belts, five new moves. They train each one with the sensei, then test it in a real fight with a classmate, and belt by belt they level up until they are ready for the final boss.
In the first belt they walk into the dojo with nothing and learn their first real move: how to build an argument that actually lands. Three sentences, and suddenly they sound like they know what they are talking about.
Now they learn to block. When someone throws a trick argument at them they learn how to spot it, call it out, and hit back with a real counter.
This is where they learn the combo: one argument is not enough anymore, so they chain three together into a full speech and learn how to take the whole room with them.
The difficulty spike. Someone interrupts them mid-speech and the ground shifts, and they have to react, stay cool, and keep fighting without losing their thread.
The final boss. They don't know the topic until 15 minutes before, the whole dojo watches, and at the end there is one winner who will be remembered forever.
Click through one round, the way a student lives it.
Every round starts with a small lesson on screen. Belt 1 is about taking a clear stance.
They write a first argument. The sensei shows them how to make it stronger, but he never writes it for them.
Here is one exchange. A student wrote: “We should ban phones in schools because students get distracted.”
Before the debate, every student writes their final argument by hand in their notebook. That is what they take into the ring.
Two students stand up and debate in English. No device in the room, just what they trained. Then the next belt, all the way to the final tournament between classes.
