Start all over by myself

[non_descript]

Hi,

I am looking for advice on how to start training again after several years pause and doing it by myself. One reason is that in my current town there are no karate dojos, the other reason is that all of the karate dojos I know of are orientated on sports karate and although I respect them all ( I trained in one for years before moving to another town) I feel like it was ... far from true traditional karate which I actually want to study. Please don't get me wrong I loved training there and my sempai but I feel like I didn't learn anything about real self defense and karate techniques.

I stopped training because life took a crazy turn but I missed karate (and still do) every single day and now I think it is about time to start training again.

So can you give me practical advice on how someone starts training by him/herself and how to keep motivation especially at the beginning before the habit kicks in?

Thanks!

[LastKing]

https://bmaba.org/

Seems at first, I know, like one of those buy a blackbelt from home websites, but from all I can tell they are a reputable organisation who are trying to bring some order to the martial arts world (accessible database of instructors giving details of CRB/first aid qualifiations etc).

They offer a training from home system which, if I remember correctly, is graded by video, by three assessors who grade independent of each other then submit assessment. They will accept present belts, so long as they are verified by a karate association.

Haven't got any connection with them, just came across them when looking for a solution to a problem similar to yours.

[non_descript]

Thank you, I will look into it! I don't care about grades anyways so I won't matter how the grading is done.

If anyone has other suggestions or study at home advice it will be greatly appreciated!

[P.A.L]

Thank you, I will look into it! I don't care about grades anyways so I won't matter how the grading is done.

If anyone has other suggestions or study at home advice it will be greatly appreciated!

nowadays there is so much information over the net that with the help of your previous experience you don't need a teacher to start again. If you know all the basics then you can proceed to the katas. I think your self-learning program would suffer more from not having a Sempai to practice with. So I would make a makiwara and I would start learning the katas and I would look for a serious sempai.

a good book about traditional karate is " the Essence of Okinawan Karate" by Master Nagamine.

[LLLEARNER]

If you have the resources, try traveling. Find a dojo, travel there for a week at a time and train hard while there. Work independently between trips. You might be able to space the trips out a couple of months. Make it your home dojo. Maybe it is commuting distance from a friend or family's residence.

[OneKickWonder]

Hi,

I am looking for advice on how to start training again after several years pause and doing it by myself. One reason is that in my current town there are no karate dojos, the other reason is that all of the karate dojos I know of are orientated on sports karate and although I respect them all ( I trained in one for years before moving to another town) I feel like it was ... far from true traditional karate which I actually want to study. Please don't get me wrong I loved training there and my sempai but I feel like I didn't learn anything about real self defense and karate techniques.

I stopped training because life took a crazy turn but I missed karate (and still do) every single day and now I think it is about time to start training again.

So can you give me practical advice on how someone starts training by him/herself and how to keep motivation especially at the beginning before the habit kicks in?

Thanks!

Are there any clubs covering styles other than karate in your area? Do you specifically want karate? In my experience sometimes changing styles is a good thing even for your primary style, as often they shed new light from a different perspective that makes previous stuff you learned make more sense.

[non_descript]

If you have the resources, try traveling. Find a dojo, travel there for a week at a time and train hard while there. Work independently between trips. You might be able to space the trips out a couple of months. Make it your home dojo. Maybe it is commuting distance from a friend or family's residence.

Due to my full time job I cannot apply this method. But I was thinking about something similar. Maybe going frequently to different seminars and visiting my old dojo maybe onece a month. I just need to find someone to train with me at the weekends.

I think your self-learning program would suffer more from not having a Sempai to practice with..

This is my main concern. I have already started gathering information about making my own makiwara and about any specifics on using it. Practicing kata is one thing that I definitely do not underestimate but I also think that sometimes you just need to try the techniques with a partner.

There are clubs around but they are all focused on the sports karate. I used to train in such club and although I deeply respect them this is not my thing anymore. I want to focus more about traditional karate and especially on Wado Ryu and Shito Ryu styles that I have trained and am somewhat familiar with.

[singularity6]

When looking for a house, I told my wife I needed space to train. Seeing that we have about 6 months of Winter where we live, it had to be indoors. Well, we found a house that was satisfactory for both!

I have a large portion of the basement where I can train with a fair amount of freedom (if you ignore the low ceilings!) I can do my forms to about 80% or 90% (again, ceilings get in the way sometimes) and I have plenty of space for my free-standing heavy bag. While I don't have any formal bag training, it is nice to have a target.

[non_descript]

When looking for a house, I told my wife I needed space to train. Seeing that we have about 6 months of Winter where we live, it had to be indoors. Well, we found a house that was satisfactory for both!

I have a large portion of the basement where I can train with a fair amount of freedom (if you ignore the low ceilings!) I can do my forms to about 80% or 90% (again, ceilings get in the way sometimes) and I have plenty of space for my free-standing heavy bag. While I don't have any formal bag training, it is nice to have a target.

This is really amazing! My dream house has training space in it

Is this your only training place or you just use it for additional training? Do you train alone? My main concern is how do you progress in your knowledge and mainly in certain techniques when you don't have training partner. I know that now there is enough information on the internet you just need good filtering to know what is worth and what is not and there are good seminars and options for training with different masters but still how do you perfect your blocks, punches, locks, throws etc. when the main part of your training is alone?

PS: Just wanted to thank you all for your advises and opinions.

Please excuse me for any typing mistakes or misplaced words as English is not my native language.

[sensei8]

If you train by yourself, how will you correct your mistakes?? How will you know that you made a mistake?? How do you gain, even just the smallest fraction of improvement and recognizing it before it becomes a bad habit??

Without a qualified watchful eye over you, the trails and tribulations of going about MA training might have more than it's share of potholes on your MA journey.

It can be done, going about it on your own, but extremely difficult to receive the necessary quality and effectiveness.

Train hard, train well!!