Gerudo Training Ground

The Gerudo's Training Ground is an optional mini-dungeon in Ocarina of Time. It consists of various difficult obstacles that Link must overcome in order to prove his abilities as a hero. If he manages to complete the training ground, he will be rewarded with the Ice Arrow as proof of his skill.

Entrance to the Ground
The place can be found within the Gerudo's Fortress. The Gerudo's Membership Card is required to enter along with a small fee of 10 Rupees.

Themes and Navigation
The Gerudo's Training Ground consists of eleven rooms full of traps, enemies, puzzles, and other obstacles that Link must overcome to receive a series of Small Keys. These keys are necessary in order to unlock the various doors within the chamber where the Ice Arrow resides. The Ice Arrow chamber, which is located at the center of the Training Ground, is made up of a small maze of locked doors. There are two paths that Link can take to reach the Ice Arrow; however, only one of them will lead to the treasure while the other one leads to a dead-end. A total of 9 Small Keys can be found hidden in the training ground, but only 7 are required to reach the Ice Arrow if the correct path is chosen from the beginning. Many assume that if Link chooses the wrong path to get to where the Ice Arrow is, there will not be enough Small Keys to correct the mistake, rendering the Ice Arrow impossible to reach. This is a common misunderstanding since there are other well-hidden keys inside the Gerudo's Training Ground that can help him correct the error.

The entrance hall of the training ground has three doors that lead to different puzzles. The northern door grants access to the Ice Arrow chamber, the eastern door leads to a room where Link must defeat two Dinolfos and one Beamos under a limited time, and the western door takes the young hero to a room full of quicksand where two Stalfos have to be eliminated within the time limit. The east and west doors all lead to the rest of the obstacles, in which the majority consist of collecting Silver Rupees under various conditions to receive a Small Key as a reward. Every time Link enters a new room, the conditions to be met will be displayed on-screen as well as mentioning whether the obstacle has to be complete under a limited time or not.

The following lists the necessary items to successfully complete the training ground:


 * Fairy Bow – Forest Temple
 * Megaton Hammer – Fire Temple
 * Longshot – Water Temple
 * Lens of Truth – Bottom of the Well
 * Hover Boots – Shadow Temple
 * Silver Gauntlets – Spirit Temple

It is worth noting that the Silver Gauntlets are not required to ultimately reach the treasure since the Small Key obtained through the gauntlets is only used if Link chooses the wrong path at the Ice Arrow chamber.

Master Quest
In the Master Quest version of the game, there are now only three keys in the dungeon. Instead of a chest, there is a crate that hides a rusty switch that, when activated, makes the chest with the Ice Arrows appear.

Boulder Room
The objective in this room is the same as in the original version. However, there is only one Ironknuckle now.

Maze Room
Same objective as in the original game. Boulders are no longer rolling, but there are stalactites that fall from the ceiling and a Wallmaster. The Hover Boots are required to get a single rupee.

Wolfos Room
Wolfos are no longer found in this room. Instead, there are now Dinolfos, Lizalfos and a Beamos. A Time Block must be used to go through the invisible wall. In the adjacent room to the north, there is now a Stalfos.

Statue Room
It is exactly the same, except for the fact that the statue is now surrounded by fire, which makes the aiming more difficult, and that the Scarecrow's Song is not required to play. The chest with the Ice Arrows is in the room in the upper floor.

Hammer Room
Instead of using the Megaton Hammer to break some blocks, Link is now required to fight Dinolfos and an Ironknuckle.

Lava Room
There are lots of Red Bubbles now and a torch has to be lit so the fire in the platforms disappears and Link can use his Hover Boots to get all the rupees. In the water room next to this one there are less rupees and enemies such as Biri.

Fire Wall Room
Again, Link is required to defeat some enemies in a limited time. Among them is an Armos in the wall, which is no longer surrounded by fire.