TKD Training

[TracyLou]

Hi, is once a week enough to train in TKD?

[Shotokan-kez]

Hi. I do karate and i train at least twice a week, sometimes three times if i can afford it. To be honest i think for any martial arts system once a week isn't really enough to give the required commitment.

[bushido_man96]

When training in any MA, it is best to get at least 2 days in per week. It is hard to make gains with just one day a week.

[aefibird]

Well, it depends on what you want to get out of it. As a guide, I'd say a good minimum for training should be twice a week, more as you get higher up the ranks.

How often you train depends on a lot of things - how quickly you want to advance, how much money you have, if you are training in more than one martial art at once, how far awy from you your dojo/dojang is, how often you practice on your own at home, how much free time you have outside of work/school.

There's a lot of things that can affect a person's training time. At my karate school there's a guy who comes to training about once every 3 weeks. He works away a lot and can't come more than that. However, he trains a lot at home and so isn't much further behind someone who comes twice a week but doesn't ever practice outside the dojo. He's comitted to Karate and wants to learn but just can't fit in any more classes at the moment due to his job.

Generally, though, I'd say you need to be training more than once a week to get the best out of your martial arts training, especially if you are a beginner or a lower grade. By the time the next lesson comes around you may have forgotten a lot of what you learned last week - training 2 or 3 times a week will help knowledge to sink in more and help you retain it and get better faster.

[White_Tiger]

Once per week is better than nothing at all. If that is all you can attend I would say go for it, and practice a lot at home.

[Kill Jill]

At the very beginning, I think once a week is okay. Just so you can get the feel of it, and start to get your body used to extreme stretching and exercise - especially if you are an 'older' student. However, I would also try to do some supplementary training outside of class - situps, stretching, some running because your physical stamina will not increase much by exercising just once a week.

Gradually, you should increase the number of times per week you go to class. I've noticed that people really do make more improvement the more times they attend class.

In Korea, everyone is expected to go to the gym for 1 hour 6 days a week. When I tell a gym owner that I will probably come 4 days a week max, they get funny about it. But, when I do attend classes everyday, such as when I have a vacation, quite simply, I start to feel it as a chore to go to class, and could see quick burnout happening if I sustained this attendance rate.

Do whatever you feel comfortable with. I started out with 1 day a week. I ended up with 5 days a week. It took me about 4 years to get a black belt.

[MisterRadley]

I think once a week is okay, but not great. If you progress in training, you might find it difficult to retain your skill level while only training once a week. If you only train once a week, try to do some extra training outside of class, as some other members mentioned.

Best of luck to you in your training!

[Jiffy]

Regardless of the art, I really think people should base their training on at least twice a week, or 3-4 hours a week. I think this is the best point at which to start.

Having said that. One a week is better than none.

[Zorbasan]

depends on a few things

can you practice outside of class, how long are your sessions.

when i started TKD i did 2ce per week to start with, but they were only 1 hour classes. as i went higher thru the grades i began to intensify my training within a month or so of grading. when i was going for BB i was going 4 - 5 times a week for 4 months or so before grading.

[Munday]

Hi TracyLou

I used to train once a week and found it not to be enough as I would forget parts of my pattern and not be as flexible. I would also forget techniques too which isnt a good thing!

Our instructor then decided to do another session each week so now I go to both and it has helped loads!

P.S. What part of England are you from?