Martial Arts: Training At Home

Finding the correct dojo is paramount in the study of budo.

Within the framework of a good dojo you will be learning life changing lessons and spending a fair amount of time at the dojo, with the teacher, and the students of the dojo.

Weekly classes, events, seminars and time spent hanging out and exploring martial arts.

In many ways the dojo become a second home.

But that is only half of the budo puzzle.

The dojo is only half of the martial arts success equation.

Action outside of class, exploring the lessons, and practicing on your own completes the cycle in making progress in the martial arts.

Understanding the importance of working through the lessons at home, what are some action points to consider?

Primary is the basics.

Every martial art is about moving in a certain way, a martial way, and every martial art has the basics- in the Japanese arts this is collectively known as the kihon. These fundamental exercises are the DNA, the building block, the engine of all the martial arts movement in your school, style, and tradition.

Once you learn these, you spend the rest of your martial arts years training, perfecting, and polishing them.

At home training should always include these.

Capacity is also important, building your body which is the vehicle and expression of budo, and increasing the capacity of it each day. In our taijutsu art we have a series of exercises known as junan taiso- martial arts stretching. These exercises are about increasing the flexibility of the hips and spine to support the unique movement of our art. Junan taiso is something to zap each day, what stretching routine do you have for your art?

Going for walks is also important.

Walking as a way to build endurance, focus on moving smoothly and in correct alignment, and as a way to breathe naturally and regulate the nervous system. Walking is an important part of martial arts training, and is a secret weapon in the martial arts as it takes care of multiple action points at once.

Another action point is what lesson did you explore in the last class or training session in the dojo? What movements or concepts were shown? Classes build on classes to transmit budo, so keeping up with the transmission is important.

Work on lessons from the last class so you can be ready for the next class.

A final action point can be found in the direct instructions given to you by your teacher. Are there movements that they told you to be working on? What do you need to know and demonstrate for your next belt test? Have you polished the movements from your last belt test?

Building an at-home training routine from these action points will help position yourself in class for success, which will build on success.

See you in the dojo!