It is all too common for students to separate training from other aspects of their lives.
Martial arts shouldn’t necessarily be something that you practice in isolation but a daily practice that is integrated into your everyday life.
All of us would love to be able to put aside a designated amount of time to one side each day to practice and train but in reality we all have family, work, studies, friends and many other commitments that demand our time and attention, so this ideal scenario becomes almost impossible.
Many people give up at this point, frustrated in the lack of time to train and thinking they will never improve.
The mentality to get into is one of integrating training into everyday life.
Why not get up 5 or 10 minutes earlier (… come on, you can set that alarm 5 mins earlier!) to go through a quick but very effective joint mobility routine (see previous post), have a pull up bar on one of your door frames and perform a set of pull ups as you walk through to the kitchen to put the kettle on for your morning cuppa. As the kettle boils perform San Zhan or the first four Tai Chi moves, have your breakfast and then while brushing your teeth, get into low horse stance!
That’s mobility, forms, strength, fitness and flexibility training before you’ve even left for work in the morning….. all integrated into your daily routine! No need to set endless hours to one side each week to train. Get along to class for a hard and more intense workout, other times use your imagination and see how you can integrate your training into your everyday life…….
See you in class,
Mark.
