I know I'm a little late to the scene and I know a lot of people have already covered this, but here you go. I've been thinking of posting a few things here but I just haven't had much time to so until now. So this is primarily a short post to get me started with this platform again.
Now we've all been there. People are locked up in quarantine, unwilling to step outside of the home, stocking up endlessly on rations (and toilet paper) for the slight possibility of an apocalypse. While that is all well and good, the primary problem is the lack of training. Most of us martial artists heavily rely on our gyms and schools for our training and now all of a sudden we have no clue on how to train any longer now that your schools and gyms are closed to contain the spread of the novel Coronavirus. Stepping out of home is a terrible idea for obvious reasons, and so is contact with other humans.
However, the outbreak of the new virus does not mean the end of the world. There are, in fact, countless ways to train yourselves at home. To be truthful, it doesn't even have to be at home. It can be anywhere such as a park or an empty lot. Just make sure that the place is isolated for the most part, avoid human contact with as many people as possible, and make sure that if you're touching people, they're very limited in number. Train with only a select few individuals until this virus stops circulating and take the appropriate precautions such as wearing masks, bathing and cleaning yourself as soon as you're home, sanitising, and the rest of the good stuff. We all know how to take care of ourselves during this pandemic.
Now granted, that training striking arts during this period is much easier than training grappling arts, or at the very least, less risky, there's still hope for all. There are quite a few ways in which you can train yourself to be more productive and maintain or sharpen your skills during this time of crisis. Let's talk about them below.
If you practice some martial art like Karate, Taekwondo, some Chinese Martial Art, etc, this would be more or less a natural fallback option for you. Similarly so for Boxers who prefer to do some Shadow Boxing. But forms and shadow boxing, in general, are very underrated with wither the coaches screaming at you to do more of it or you voluntarily practising only and only forms and nothing else. In any case, it is helpful if you've got to practice alone and don't exactly have any equipment for yourself to use.
However, there is a side to shadow boxing or forms which most people don't seem to understand. Let's start with some basics here. Shadowboxing is not only limited to only boxing and it can be applied to grappling as well as all other martial arts. Also, shadow boxing is a little more than just moves in the air and doing it properly requires a little bit of experience and imagination. Furthermore, Forms are also something that can be applied to all martial arts. There are a lot of misconceptions in this area so let's talk about them briefly.
Let's start off with forms. You might have often seen a Karateka or a Taekwondoin dance around in beautifully ornate moves and call that training. These are traditionally called forms and many people believe that their primary purpose was to send techniques down over the ages in a physical form since printing wasn't a commodity and speech is easily corrupted, especially over time. But what most people don't realise is that forms are much more than dances and ancient teachings. At the very least, they help you drill a few moves into you. Thinking of them on a broader scale, forms are essentially a sequence and they need not be limited to only what certain arts teach. You can make your own forms no matter what art style you belong to. In fact, combinations in striking arts and flow drills in grappling arts can be called just that. Forms. They are sequences in the end, and you can use them to build up your own combinations and flow drills and practice them. The forms can also be refined to better suit your purposes or be designed to exploit your opponent's reactions as time goes on and you get better. And that's how you can create your own forms and use them to your advantage by practising them over and over again.
Now moving on to Shadow Boxing, I've mentioned earlier how shadow boxing isn't solely limited to boxing or kickboxing and can be used for all arts, including grappling arts. I've also mentioned that there's a trick to shadowboxing which most people don't realise. The fact is, knowing this trick will only make shadowboxing that much sense to you and help you apply it to your art, whatever it is.
Most people believe that Shadowboxing is all about throwing punches and kicks in the air or trying to grab the air and slam it. But they seem to be missing two key factors. First, shadowboxing helps your footwork, or more broadly speaking, helps you in terms of movement. Shadowboxing is what makes your training complete and makes it less rusty, giving your moves better form over time and making them feel much more natural while ingraining them in your muscle memory. Second, shadow boxing is about imagining you sparring or fighting against a mysterious person and moving and fighting accordingly. You're not just supposed to throw random strikes into the air when you feel like it. It's about trying to get the dominant position on your imaginary opponent, defending yourself when they attack, and attacking them with what you have with the idea of outsmarting or confusing them. It is a vital tool which not only boosts your form and footwork and makes your moves feel more natural, it also works to increase your fight IQ over time.
Now shadowboxing and forms are well and good, but what about all the junk that you have laying around? Well, we've got that covered.
Now not using any equipment which you might have during the epidemic is a waste of equipment. And why not use it when you do have it? But beware, you need to clean your equipment out regularly or risk catching the coronavirus. But apart from that, everything is all fine.
Needless to say, you don't always have equipment which you can use alone and in such cases, it's shadowboxing for you. But there are, of course, other alternatives instead. You could always use a side pillow or a soft bolster as a target for whatever it is that you want to do. You can also use a lot of duct tape to create a panel sort of thing to hold said equipment in the event of focus mitts or kicking mitts. Punching bags and grappling dummies are a no-brainer, even though it might get pretty expensive cleaning them in a safe manner.
Hence, it is good to use the equipment, but if you wish to remain safe, it is best that you limit your use of equipment to as less often as possible. And o make sure to clean them after every use. There are limitless clever ways you can make use of equipment, and you don't really need to have the actual equipment themselves to make use of them. All you need is materials and a healthy imagination. For example, you could simply fold a pillow over onto itself and tape it to the wall to make a striking surface of sorts. Alternatively, you can fill some rocks or sand into a pouch and pack it into a pillow with densely packed cloth, much like the way in which you pack a punching bag, to make a grappling dummy. The larger the pillow, the better. Your mattress can act as mats and crash pads. Use a piece of wood and some jute to make a Makiwara which you can hold in one hand while you punch with the other. The possibilities end where your imagination does as well.
Just whatever you do, make sure to clean your 'equipment' well after use. You might want to check up on instructions on how to safely clean your equipment for it to have a greater shelf life.
Now bringing a friend over is not exactly a recommended approach to things during these times. But having a friend to practise with also makes it easier and more fun. So, if you really want to invite someone over to train with you, make sure that you're on good enough terms with them that you can train with them for the remainder of the lockdown and nobody else. Avoid human contact with all people.
Having a friend makes it easier to do drills and sequences, and spar. And it suddenly makes grappling a whole lot easier than just rolling around like a panda, trying to grab some air. It can also get the two of you to know each other better as fighters and help your relationship grow, whatever it be. However, there are some precautions that you need to take before some arrangement like this can be made.
Make sure that whether they're coming over or you're going over, to preferably pick someone who lives close by. If you have to travel for a longer distance, one should avoid public transport at all costs and use privately-owned transport such a bicycle instead (It'll also make for a good pre-warm-up). And when you do meet each other, make sure to wear your masks and not take them off unless you're no longer with each other or back home again. Spar and train with the damn masks on. Finally, make sure to bathe after your training or at least use sanitisers both before and after.
It is also advisable to keep training with a friend to a minimum as well. Your friend may just be afflicted and pass the virus on to you without knowledge of it.
Well, you've done it all, shadowboxing, and the lot of it. You don't even have any equipment which you can use or any friends for that matter (Ahem Ahem). What do you do in such a case? Should you just lay down in bed all day like a loner, or stay on the couch like a couch potato? Well, the answer is no.
The primary prerequisite for being a martial artist is that you have to be an athlete first. Sadly, this might shock a lot of people including mortally obese eighth-degree black belts from a few arts which don't really try and apply what they learn, but martial arts isn't magic. You don't have a Five-point-exploding-heart-palm technique and while techniques help you to achieve what you want to achieve more easily, it is your purely physical aspects which govern your techniques in the first place.
Your body moves the way you teach it to move because of your muscles and your lungs and your various other organs attached to them which let them move in that certain way. Knowing that fact, it wouldn't be a fool's errand to strengthen your muscles, bones, stamina, and other factors. They'll only help you become stronger, faster, and longer-lasting, and help you gain an edge over the opponent.
So stay at home and start lifting some barbels and dumbles. Pull yourself up on a bar and push yourself off the ground. Imitate sitting on nothing but air or trying to get up after drunk and failing again and again and all over again until you're too tired to do it anymore. And once you're done, call it a day, pack up, and come back and do it again the next day. It'll help you become much stronger over time and that's a huge advantage in martial arts.
But it doesn't just end there. As a beginner, you could also just throw the punches and kicks you know in the air to help refine your moves. Alternatively, you could strike a punching bag or a tree with shin pads and gloves on so that you can condition your bones against stress. The point is, there are many things to do alone at home, and you're never really out of options. Just full of excuses as well.
Now another way to train yourself in this time of great strife is to rely on those who are not your master but will teach you as so nonetheless, for no amount of money whatsoever. In other words, go over to YouTube and look at people who teach you new things about martial arts, not limited to solely instructionals, but also much, much more. I, for one, learnt most of my martial arts this way. The essential thing after learning what you do learn is to practice it enough so that you can successfully use it when required. I'll just leave a list of people that I'd recommend following below:
Honestly, the list can go on and on indefinitely, and I'll make a list of all the Martial Artists n Youtube that I follow later. But for now, I'll leave you with this so that you can explore more on your own pace. In the end, the risk of learning from online sources such as these is that you fail to identify what is correct and what is wrong. Especially as a beginner or as a person who's new to any art. Hence, it is important to always try out what you learn and keep verifying right from wrong.
One of the ways to broaden your horizon and arsenal this quarantine season is to study martial arts formally. There are many concepts of martial arts which you can study, including the philosophical aspects behind many arts as well as the psychological impacts of martial arts. Not to mention, the biomechanics behind all arts and what ties them together. To say that you would run out of content would be lying.
There are many things you can learn and explore, and while they're not going to help you out directly, they will surely help you out in the long run when you begin to grasp things easier now that you've learnt he mentality behind a specific art, or you know the difference between hardness and softness, or simply because you now understand biomechanics better, which enable you to figure out how to use your body better. History is yet another rich source of inspiration which can tell you how a martial art got corrupted or altered over time.
While studies will broaden your horizons, looking at fighters fighting each other on the mats, in the rings, or in the cages will give you more insight on the little things that you could do to make things work to your advantage or few nifty little tricks that you could pull out of nowhere to get the drop on your opponent like a pro. I recently sparred with a friend of mine before the Cronovirus pandemic. Now, we haven't been getting a lot of time to practice, but he told me that he has been keenly observing Khabib Nurmagomedov and his wrestling. When I sparred with him, I noticed that his wrestling had indeed improved a lot, and taken a style much similar to Khabib's minus the skill level. His BJJ was still horrible and he didn't know what to do once he hit the ground, but his wrestling game had become super strong just by watching one of the best professionals at the time compete in the Octagon. Well, if he can do it, you can do it too. Just look at the little details and try to figure them out and use them to your favour. Pay more attention.
While this is by no means the last thing which you can do in your self-isolation, it is one of the finer things which you can resort to. Questioning what you already know helps you unlock newer perspectives and opens your mind to more understanding. It makes you seek knowledge and sense in the world and helps you understand a lot about people, yourself, and the art which you're learning. Ultimately, as things stand questioning your art only makes you stronger in it. So go ahead and challenge and question everything from the way you walk to the way you move, including the way you do certain things such as simply bowing to the Dojo or touching gloves while fighting. Who knows? In the end, you might just gain enough wisdom to make your own Martial Art like Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris.
While I had intended this to be a short post, I certainly overshot myself yet again and created a post of significant proportions. I did try to keep things brief here so that it is easier for you to go through, but I will be touching on a lot that I've mentioned here in upcoming posts on this community. I would urge to stay with me and contribute anything that you might have t contribute just as well.
Until next time, may your self-isolation be free of self-loathing.
