Help with solo training please

[username19853]

I love the idea of doing my “sacred ritual” each day (example below). The whole session took me about an hour on the dot earlier today and I felt perfect.

- Breathing Exercises

- Warmup Exercises

- All 20 karate kata

- Makiwara

- Stretch and Meditation

Karate Kata:

- Fukyugata 1-3

- Naihanchi 1-3

- Pinan 1-5

- Seisan

- Ananku

- Wankan

- Rohai

- Wanshu

- Passai

- Gojushiho

- Chinto

- Kusanku

Bo Kata: (I’m new)

- Choun No Kon 1-2

If I have a training partner, I love practicing a few Futari Geiko, Yakusoku Kumite, and Judo Randori or freestyle sparring.

Anything you guys think is essential for me to have in a daily routine?

[Wastelander]

Studies have shown that personal rituals can have beneficial impacts on a person's mental wellbeing, as well as their performance in tasks they associate with the ritual. The example I remember from one study was putting on a suit and nice watch before giving a presentation, and it makes me think of putting on a keikogi and belt before training. While most of my solo training is done in street clothes, I do feel that my karate is better when I "suit up," lol.

As for my own routine, I'm honestly not a very routine person. I tend to do things on whims instead of plans (which drives my wife nuts). Over the course of my day, I will run kata, at random, when I feel like it. I will stop by the kakiya and drill whatever comes to mind. I will hit a bag or makiwara as I pass by, and sometimes stop for a while to work them. I will pick up a chi-ishi or ishi-sashi and do a few exercises when I see them. I find that this approach breaks up the monotony of the day, and keeps me in a more positive mental state.

When I set aside dedicated training time, I will generally warm up with some junbi undo, then work with the chi-ishi, ishi-sashi, or other weights, before running kata. Again, I hardly ever plan to work something specific, so it might be running all of the kata I practice, or it might be spending an hour on one kata. After that, I'll usually hit the bag or makiwara for a while as a cool-down. In a sense, it's a routine because it has a consistent pattern, even though the activities in the pattern change every time.

[sensei8]

Power lies within one's hips. Therefore, as a suggestion, I'd add daily bag workouts for kicks and punches as well as other drills to increase hip rotation both external and internal.

Some for example:

*Medicine Ball Variations

*Sledgehammer Slams and Swings

*Stationary Short Stick Drill

Hope this helps a bit. Please keep us informed. Good luck, train hard and train well.

Edited July 27, 2023 by sensei8

[Zaine]

It sounds like you have it pretty covered. When I am training solo, I tend to focus on a particular kata and try to break down its parts into drills. By isolating those parts, I improve on the kata as a whole without having to do the kata the whole way through a bunch, which can get boring.