As the title suggests, I was wandering, whats your routine when training alone? What you do and why you do it?

I always struggled to train alone at home, tried to start many times, keep a rhythm going and failed just as many. It was boring, unmotivational and showed no results what so ever.

That is, until this year!

Once I started borderline obsessing about the Gekisai-dai kata (yes yes, I'm still working on that), the constant repetitions, the moments of epiphanies looking for the connections....it's like something clicked!

I greatly enjoyed and benefited from Zach Zinn’s “advice for boxing” thread.  About six weeks ago I began taking Muay Thai lessons, and I thought I would start a similar thread.  So this will be some reflections on karate and martial arts more generally, stimulated by my experience practicing Muay Thai. 

Hello everyone, hope this message finds you well!

I have another exciting video I wanted to share with you.  I am proud of this one, as the message is super positive and different in my opinion.  Please give it it a watch, like, and subscribe to my channel for more content.  Below is the video summary:

Having a growth mindset is something we should all strive for both in our martial arts of choice as well as in life.

During the Covid pandemic I did a lot of online training with my high school Martial Arts 11 class. At the end of the 2019/2020 school year I assigned a self reflection exercise. Students were asked to record themselves doing a kihon combination of their choice then analyze their performance.

So, I finally pulled the trigger on one of my bucket list (Covid kinda pushed me to check it off) items and joined the boxing gym here. Whenever lockdown lifts enough I'll be starting.

I'm 43, and I'm guessing I'll be on the older end. Wondering if anyone else has done this, and what advice you have, especially if you are middle aged or older.

Hey Guys, thought I'd share the most important event in my Karate Life with you.... https://youtu.be/V-d3NZBd-j8

Hey!

I used to usually in the evening when I was back on campus ( I am 21, studying mathematics), but due to the current epidemic, I am back at home. My training schedule has gone sort of haywire, i.e. I practice sometimes in the evenings / late nights sometimes and early mornings on others. Sometimes I just end up sleeping through the day.

I'm approaching 44 now, and during the pandemic I've been really ramping up things like bagwork, etc. I notice my hips tightening up even more than usual, a pattern over the past few years. I wonder if anyone has a particular hip mobility regimen they might share. I don't do particularly high kicks or anything either, at least not often. So, my desires are not for a huge amount of flexibility, just healthy range of motion and mobility.

Dear Silverfox Karateka,

Yes you. The 40 something (and up) leaving the Dojo, waking up the next morning and instantaneously reaching for the Ibuprofen bottle fixed permanently to your nightstand. How are you? As I’m writing this, I’m finding it almost therapeutic and may continue it as my own form of “martial arts journey”. I am not a Doctor, but I would like to base this on my personal experiences and hope that my fellow “Grey Haired Bushi” will also share their thoughts, stories, and home remedies.

Hi,

So I wanted to know how others fit in their daily training when they have a full time job, family etc.:

I am 47, run a dojo 3 times week now and work around 8 hours a day in a workshop. With travelling there and back that could be about 10 hours that I am out of the house. I am also a 4th Dan in Shotokan WCA so its not like i'm just starting karate as such - just incase anyone wanted to know my background.

so for eg - my schedule is like this:

Mon - Work 6am to 4pm - gym for 90 mins after I have come home