training per week

[RAM18]

I love my Karate school and the people there but the problem is that they only teach 2 hours of Karate skills a week... I really wish we could do more.

Is that really enough? I do train kata's at home but 2 hours seems very low.

[Wado Heretic]

I used to attend 4 lessons a week but recently that got cut down to 2, and occasionally 3.

When you are a beginner, and through out your kyu and junior dan grades, you should be looking to do an hour or two of just karate a day. Early in karate training, rote memory recall and the development of good habits are needed.

As one gets older, more experienced, and beyond that point, I have found 3-4 intense 2 hour sessions a week with light training of 30 minutes a day consisting of stretches and conditioning.

It really depends on where you are in your training. As you advance, less is more becomes the better rule as you need to learning more from feedback you generate yourself rather than feed back from your teacher.

If you train hard yourself, you will get by with one lesson a week. It's far from ideal but it is not a barrier to your progress if you train hard.

[Zaine]

If you are happy with the training and the stuff they do then stick with it. It is fine to practice at home, in fact, I hold (as my signature states) that MA should be more home practice than classroom practice.

However, if you are unhappy with your experience, then consider looking for another dojo that trains more.

[Wastelander]

Class-time is for learning new material, refining material that you've been working on, and doing partner work. Repetitions of everything but partner work can (and should) be done at home. Two hours of class per week isn't ideal, but it's sufficient if you are doing a lot of training at home. Whenever you have a chance to get more class-time, though, you should take it--seminars, private sessions, special classes, etc.

For what it's worth, I attended 13-14 hours of classes every week for the first two years of my training. After that, I moved to another state and had nowhere to take karate classes, so I started attending 4 hours of judo classes every week for about 2 years, while practicing my karate solely at home. Now, I teach 3-5 hours of class a week, attend 2-3 hours of classes for myself to learn, and practice every day at home. I found that to be a good balance, for me, but everyone has to find their own way.

[sensei8]

I love my Karate school and the people there but the problem is that they only teach 2 hours of Karate skills a week... I really wish we could do more.

Is that really enough? I do train kata's at home but 2 hours seems very low.

2 hours might seem enough, but, that depends on the practitioner. However, the 2 hours is doable, and it appears that you're doing 1 hour per class in your dojo.

This leaves you doing quite a lot of practice, which isn't a bad thing because you can only be at the dojo as much as it's allowed, but you can be at home/gym/etc. whenever personal time's allowable.

Ideally, 3 days a week at the dojo is much more desired, but again, it depends on the dojo and on the practitioner. Spending time on the floor with your CI/Sensei is vitally important, especially while one's a beginner. No matter the rank, floor time with the CI/Sensei is crucial to ones MA betterment.

More personal practicing over floor time CAN create some bad habits that the CI/Sensei will have to adjust and the like as often as it's deemed by the CI/Sensei. Not always, because what I've just said, isn't a part normal occurrences within said practitioner, but, I've seen it enough, and that's why I stated that.

If it's possible, maybe you can find a school that offers more floor time with the CI/Sensei. If not, then what you've got at your current dojo is fine. Train hard, and train well.

Good luck!

[Archimoto]

What do you think of the instruction that your receiving?

I ask because I think it's best to find a school that offers more hours per week BUT ONLY if the quality of instruction is comparable. 2 hours per week with a great instructor is time well spent.

[sensei8]

What do you think of the instruction that your receiving?

I ask because I think it's best to find a school that offers more hours per week BUT ONLY if the quality of instruction is comparable. 2 hours per week with a great instructor is time well spent.

Solid post!!

[shinaido]

Two hours even with great instructor is not enough, as really you have only forty minutes of actual learning per session. As around twenty minutes is used for warm up and cool down. Or we talking about hour for specialized training within hour and half session?

Optimum would be 3-5 times a week around hour and half per session if we think bit more serious about karate then just recreation/social activity.

[bushido_man96]

Not every instructor has the time to devote to what I would consider a "full-time" school. Many MA instructors do it on the side, and have a separate full time job, and possibly a family. So they may not have the time to make more classes available to you.

The class room time you get should be supplemented with some solo training time. If you like your school, stick with it, train some at home, and keep working from there. If you really feel like you need more time, then you may have to find a different school.

[tallgeese]

Not every instructor has the time to devote to what I would consider a "full-time" school. Many MA instructors do it on the side, and have a separate full time job, and possibly a family. So they may not have the time to make more classes available to you.

The class room time you get should be supplemented with some solo training time. If you like your school, stick with it, train some at home, and keep working from there. If you really feel like you need more time, then you may have to find a different school.

I agree wholeheartedly here. Shinaido is also correct, if you want a more serious look into the art you'll need more. But that's entirely dependant on your goals. Also, accept that your progress will be slower than some of your contemporaries who are training at different locals more times per week. This too is okay as long as you've done an assessment of your needs.