In the first of a two-part piece, I will be addressing how to structure Self Defence & Martial Arts training.
Coming from a Jeet Kune Do, Cross Training or MMA background we all know there are not enough hours in the day let alone when you add work and family life to that, it is easy to watch the hours melt away.
Separate your self-defence training.
As people who choose to train in Martial Arts and Self Defence, we know covering all areas in one session (Stand up, Grapple, Trapping, Weapons, Strength and cardio) is very hard to do.
Many years ago if you went to your local Doctor, he did everything for you. As time passed, experience and science improved doctors realised they could not do it all and had to specialise.
Bodybuilders, for instance, find it hard to train every body part every day. Like them, we must separate our training and give each area 100% without overtraining.
The purpose of this blog is to help you structure your self-defence and Martial arts training in a way to ensure ongoing improvement.
What will your Martial Arts Training Include?
So I am assuming you have read my previous blog on making sure you make the right choice when choosing which Martial Arts you want to train.
If you have not done that yet, click here and give it a read.
Now that you have read that and you are back, let us crack on.
Your first step is to ensure you have a list of your Martial Arts and Self Defence goals and targets.
Decide what you want to work on and study/train.
Decide if your punches need work. how’s your kicking coming along?.
Pick one skill for each of the areas you have chosen.
Apply this to Martial Arts Training
Now you have picked what you want to do. Drill these skills for the full month, keep focused and stop getting distracted.
As an example, you may decide your rear hook is lagging compared to other punches. So train it for a month. Break it down into two or three sections and drill each section.
The three sections could be –
1, Fist alignment.
2, Shoulder rotation.
3, Recovering to on guard.
You could then spend time each allotted session drilling each one of these sections.
I have used this way for years and found it works very well for me. I apply this to my solo and partner training.
Let’s look at how to use this for solo and partner training.
Solo Self Defence Training.
You will need to build a weekly training timetable, let’s be honest if you’re serious about self-defence and martial arts, you already have this.
For example, you may choose to separate your training like this –
Monday, Footwork and kicking skills.
Tuesday, Boxing and weapons.
Wednesday, Grappling and footwork.
Thursday, Kicking skills and Boxing.
Friday, weapons and grappling.
Following a timetable like this allows you to spend a certain amount of time in each area, giving it your full attention.
This may be a simple idea. I am yet to find a better way to control your training.
Set your goal, break it down and work on it.
Martial Arts Training with a partner.
I use this example for my partner training. I am lucky enough to have a reliable regular training partner, they are worth their weight in gold.
As with the solo training separate all areas (Stand up, Trapping, Grappling and Weapons) and train them on a monthly rota.
Again, it is that simple. I believe it was Albert Einstein who said things should be made “Simple but not easy” or words to that effect.
What about my other Self Defence Skills?
You may be thinking, “If I only train one thing a month won’t the other areas suffer”
The simple answer is yes.
It is impossible to improve in all areas all the time.
You may decide to work your punching from the mount when training grappling. Drilling this several times a week for a whole month will improve your skills, however, may lessen your climbing armbar.
It is all about percentages. Let’s say you improve your mount by 100% over the month.
The next month you may choose to isolate a triangle from the guard. During the time before you train the mount again, the skill will drop by a percentage.
Your mount may drop by 30% of the 100% you improved it. Remember that’s still 70% better than it was.
When you revisit the mount, you are starting at 70%, not 0%.
Do this several times your mount improves 150% in a year.
Recap –
- Separate each range of fighting.
- Pick one thing in each of the ranges.
- Break it down into several steps.
- Drill those steps for a whole month.
Then repeat those steps each month to ensure yearly improvement in your martial arts and self-defence training.
In my next post, I will talk about how you can still ensure you practice all the other skills regularly enough while doing this isolating training.
Until then thanks for reading
Paul
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