Working full-time puts a strain on the available time a martial artist has for training. Even though many of us probably want to train daily, this just is not feasible. So how to counter this dilemma?

What I have done for a while now is just simply setting my alarm 15 minutes earlier. Get out of bed, and for those 15 minutes just practise kihon, renraku waza and kata. Slowly, deliberately, nearly no little kime. This helped me tremendously in the amount of training time used each week (it easily adds more than an hour each week), plus it helps to wake up the mind and body.

While I have never been to China, even here in the West I occasionally spot Tai Chi practitioners early in the morning, so I wondered; are there any other Karateka's with comparable 'morning rituals'?

I go through 2 or 3 kata, with low intensity, in the mornings. I wouldn't call it a "workout," though .

Yes, I stretch each morning, and go through a bit of kihon and 1 or 2 kata 2-3 times a week in the morning. Not much of a workout, but more of a loosening up and muscle memory thing.

OSU!

I did so in the past, and I heartily recommend it. Time constraints don't allow me to do this anymore, and I miss it.

OSU!

I will practice kihon or kata in the morning.

I am rather sneeky, when i go to the gym I will practice there a bit in the class room (where there are fitness classes) and do it there.

Working full-time puts a strain on the available time a martial artist has for training. Even though many of us probably want to train daily, this just is not feasible. So how to counter this dilemma?

What I have done for a while now is just simply setting my alarm 15 minutes earlier. Get out of bed, and for those 15 minutes just practise kihon, renraku waza and kata. Slowly, deliberately, nearly no little kime. This helped me tremendously in the amount of training time used each week (it easily adds more than an hour each week), plus it helps to wake up the mind and body.

While I have never been to China, even here in the West I occasionally spot Tai Chi practitioners early in the morning, so I wondered; are there any other Karateka's with comparable 'morning rituals'?

Great idea! I should tart my day with sanchin kata !

I go to the gym every couple of days outside of karate and get the chance to do it. A few people happened to join me a few times and they do various styles

Starting the day with kata is like starting the day with a good breakfast; got to have it!! Stretching first, then hope on a stationary bike, then kata, ending up on the Wing Chun dummy.

I love doing this! I leave my house feeling like I just left my dojo, and that's always a great feeling. I'll usually practice all the kata I know 2-3 times and practice some Kihon.

You are doing very good thing. I also practice Kata every morning before going to work. This help me keep healthy. I usually five to ten minute warming-up and pracitce Kata Seinchin, Tensho, Gekisai 1 and 2 of Okinawan Gojuryu for five to ten minutes. Sometimes I practice the 24 Style Simplified Tai Chi for health promotion. Usually I practice at a public park almost every morning around 8:15 AM. If you are in Osaka, Japan, why don't you join me? Keep up the good morning practice. "Gambattene!"