Hey.
Ando again from Happy Life Martial Arts.
How can you practice martial arts alone?
Maybe you don’t belong to a club. Maybe you don’t have any friends. Maybe you just think
it’s cool to run around naked in the woods and play ninja all by yourself.
Hey man, I don’t judge.
Just don’t touch me.
Whatever the case, today I’ve got a quick tip to help you make the most of your solo
training. Here it comes.
Okay, before I give you the tip, let me give you one cold, hard fact.
Fact—you will never be a great martial artist if you only train alone.
It’s impossible.
If you only train alone, well, you’ll be the mayor of Fantasyland.
There is simply no substitute for a live training partner.
Your cat doesn’t count.
I always say there are two goals in martial arts training—the first goal is to control yourself,
the second goal is to control somebody else, specifically a bad guy who is out of control.
If you’re training solo, you can go a long way towards that first goal.
You can develop your speed, strength, flexibility, coordination, your stamina, and
you can do it a million different ways.
You can do calisthenics, plyometrics, isometrics, forms, shadow boxing, visualization, meditation,
videos— all good.
But ultimately, my friend, martial arts is about relationships.
It’s about relating to another human being, particularly one who is trying to hurt you.
A human being who wants the opposite of what you want and is fighting hard to get it.
Learning to manage a person like that is the second goal of martial arts training.
And to achieve that goal, you will always need another person.
Okay. So, that was your fact, Now, back to the question.
How can you improve yourself as a martial arts training by yourself?
Here’s my tip.
Do something with something.
If training alone is over here and practicing with a person is over there, I'd say the middle
ground is training with an object, a thing.
What kind of thing?
It could be a staff.
A tube.
Exercises bands.
A ball.
A weapon.
A heavy bag.
A stick.
Or two.
A jump rope.
A pair of dumbbells.
A dummy.
A chair. Whatever.
Really, you can train with anything.
Just remember the big idea.
The big idea is to control something outside of yourself.
Even a bag of potatoes is better than nothing.
Find something to push, pull, or carry.
Find something to challenge your strength, your focus, your balance, or your coordination.
The list of ideas is endless.
But now, it’s up to you to go experiment with equipment and exercises that are going to
fit your style and and meet your training goals.
So, if you’re training alone and want to make the most of your solo practice time,
do something with something.
Then when you hopefully get the chance to practice with another human being, you’ll have
some experience managing the resistance and controlling the pressure caused by something
outside of yourself.
Train alone, train with objects, and train with other people.
Do it all.
That’s the formula for being the best martial artist you can be.
If you liked this tip, thanks for giving the video a thumbs up and subscribing to the channel.
Until next time, hey—go spar a car and keep fighting for a happy life.