About the Author: Quick Tips for Training (Part 1) Are You Maximizing Your Time?
With the hustle and bustle of everyday life it becomes difficult to fit everything in. Work, family, school, extracurricular activities; all of these things viewed separately can seem overwhelming. The following are some tips that may help incorporate and combine a few of these items with your martial arts training to maximize your time and help you get more for your efforts.
Training at Work
It is probably a fair assumption that your boss doesn’t want you beating on your co-workers, or busting into a form at your desk. Having said that, it doesn’t mean that you are unable to get some practice in while bringing home the bacon.
In the morning, especially if you had class the evening before, think of one technique that you would like to focus on for that day. Commit yourself to completing that technique ten times throughout the day. Now, I want you to think of any place or time that you will be able to accomplish this task. Do you work in a building with stairs or an elevator? When passing the door to the stairwell, jump in there and blast through your technique. Taking the elevator between floors blow through it again. What about that empty conference room? Maybe a couple of quick stops wouldn’t hurt?
Before you know it you will have done that technique ten or more times. You will feel more comfortable and better prepared for your next class and for the street.
Training at Home
Time at home is precious. Whether you are single, married, or living at a dorm in college most of us don’t feel we have enough time at home. It is difficult to spare any of that sacred time you do have to practice.
Very few people are without a favorite TV show. The standard one-hour show has fifteen minutes worth of commercials. These commercials are excellent times to get out of your chair or off the couch and blast through a set or form. You haven’t cheated yourself of any TV time and you still got fifteen minutes worth of practice in.
Another great idea is to get the family involved. Come home from class and talk to them about what you are learning. Get everyone together and teach a technique. This will force you to think through what you learned and begin to internalize those teachings by vocalizing them to another person. Then have the family quiz you by randomly calling out techniques from your list. They will enjoy watching you react and you will enjoy a good workout.
Training at School
It seems that there is always a test that you are cramming for. The never endless pressures of college life can be enough to put anyone in an early grave. Especially, if you are a married college student working full time, GAME OVER. Just when it seems all is lost. Here is a tip that may help you still get all that precious studying in and practice a little as well.
Different studies have determined that you should study for a period between thirty and forty minutes and then take a fifteen-minute break. This allows the mind to retain the information you just fed it. This break would be the perfect time to run through a form or two. They can be done slowly, focusing on body mechanics and flow, or blasted through for that burst of energy preparing you for your next block of studies. The same thing could be done with techniques or some basic floor drills.
Is There More?
These are just a few of the MANY things that could be done to fit practice into your normal schedule. So, next time you are glued to the TV and a commercial comes on just tell yourself “get up and practice”. There will be more quick tips to follow, so stay tuned and keep practicing.
How do you practice outside the studio?
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Thanks for the tips Mr. Gough. I try to train several times per week at home, usually on the weekend. I used to have a freestanding bag in our guest room that I would use to practice techniques, strikes, etc. However, I found I was easily distracted and it sometimes annoyed the neighbors (building with 8 condo units). It was too easy for my wife to pop in and ask me something. We have 2 storage rooms in the basement garage, each about 6 feet by 10 feet. I made it a weekend project to put all the junk in just one of them, and convert the other to a Kenpo sanctuary of sorts… I now have a 70 pound hanging bag in there as well as several of my famous “robots”. Nobody knows when I’m in there, and it’s just isolated enough so that I don’t get distracted. I think that’s a real key to practicing at home: getting yourself far enough away from day-to-day distractions to be able to focus a good hour on just Kenpo. I would think this would work well if one had a garage, basement, backyard, or whatever.
By the way, is there any way to post pictures on this weblog? I could post some photos of my practice dummies.
Comment by Adam Posly — 6/16/2005 @
I am brand new to this ( karate, not blogs or the web ) and find the tip here very interesting. I regularly ride the train to work, and therefore have around an hour per day where I can read, play or work on my laptop, sleep, listen to music or the radio or whatever, but the train isn’t the best place to be practicing my forms! I know there is a book that is recommended. I would like more information on that book, and I am wondering if there are other books out there that could help me get a head start in the history, forms, sets, and reasoning behind it all.
On my first day, we performed quite a few moves, all stringed together, and yet, I didn’t know the basics of a back knuckle or whatever it is called. I want to get that basic stuff right to begin with, so that during the combinations I don’t have to think about that, I can just work on how the moves fit together and compliment each other. That is stuff I could at least read about, and then practice when I get home so I could be more prepared for class, and quickly catch up to those that are ahead of me in the beginner group. There are a few books on amazon.com, and there are a couple that have high ratings that I would consider, but I’m wondering if someone more experienced than me has any input on this. So, does anyone have any suggestions?
Thanks in Advance!
Comment by Joel Weight — 6/22/2005 @
If you liked this post, be sure to read my post “How Often Do You Practice Martial Arts?“
Comment by Ryan Wheaton — 6/19/2007 @