Training at home

Hey all,

I started aikido 3 weeks ago and do 1 two hour session every Thursday. I was wondering however what i could do when not in my sessions to train? I don't mean like normal exercise, like weight training or going for a jog, i mean like doing the basic foot and hand movements while chanting to 10 in Japanese (that's all i can think of doing at the moment). Anything recommendations for aikido exercises at home solo?

Thanks a bunch
Cas
P.S. i'm 15 (but 2meters in height on the dot) so any fancy wrist stuff may be out of the question

 

Being that new it is probably better to focus on fitness at home for awhile. In the beginning you will be making lots of mistakes and it may be better not to drill these into your memory. This would be a good question for your teacher however. He/she knows your style better than anyone here and might have some suggestions for practicing footwork or something.
Also you really can't go wrong working on your core strength. Glad you are enjoying it and are motivated to do more practice! Stick with it and have fun!

 

Lift heavy, lift often. Eat a lot of healthy stuff and get lots of sleep.

 

Yeah what twiggy said.

 

Hi,

I wouldn't recommend lifting unless you have a good coach who understands the possible pitfalls of lifting too much whilst you are still young and growing.

At home, read Aikido books, look at Aikido videos (YouTube) and as has already been mentioned - ask your instructor for their advice.

 

go play some sports - contact sport especially.
rolling wont be a pain once youve learnt to deal with contact.

and also any contact sport will cause you to grow muscle

 

Okay, thank you all. Next time i can i will ask my teachers. In the meantime however i think i'll continue my basic foot movements, i am almost 100% positive i am getting these correct. I'll also try some break falling

 

And do judo too. It will improve your aikido, exam results and social standing in the world.

 

And your sex life, and your bank balance.

 

Other than basic kata and general fitness there really isn't a whole lot you can do. I don't personally recommend books or videos. You'll just end up with poor form ingrained into your practice that will be a nightmare to put right.

Two hours once per week isn't enough. It's better than nothing. But you really need to be doing 2 to 3 times that amount of training as a minimum. Otherwise your progress will likely be very slow. Is there a reason why your doing so little?

 

Lets keep the posts on topic people.

 

I am doing this amount because the sessions i attend are only once a week on a Thursday evening. Since i can't really train without a partner I can't really do much more.

 

Hi 'Cascades',

Train as often as you can... You are 15, I'm 60 and have been training (in martial arts) for 43 years... The point I want to make is that there is no rush, just do what you can, enjoy the ride and progress will come...

 

Yeah, thanks a bunch Robert I have been playing piano and trumpet for most of my life, i have learnt that things come slowly with practice, i know it'll be a long journey, but a worthwhile one. I guess i'll just keep doing my foot movements and talk to my senseis asap about what else i can do outside of sessions Thanks.

 

You should train as you fight. The "solo training" should be the "partner training without partner". In CMA, this is called to "kill 2 birds with 1 stone".

You use

- "partner drills" to "develop" your combat skill.
- "solo drills" to "polish" your combat skill.

For example, here is "partner training":

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxgBmMJoGRk"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxgBmMJoGRk[/ame]

Here is "solo training":

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCJGWANY_y8"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCJGWANY_y8[/ame]

Here is another "partner training":

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSWFMCw5Ulw"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSWFMCw5Ulw[/ame]

Here is it's "solo training".

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95kE21OIK1c"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95kE21OIK1c[/ame]

 

You can still go through the motions of the techniques/kata. Think of it like shadow boxing. Stick to the bits you know and get that straight in your head.

 

Aikido at home.

The thing I like to do for my training at home:
1- Stretch every day
2- Get yourself a boken and a jo.
Start off doing about 50 boken cuts a day and work your way up. Remember to keep your elbows down and not outward. You can work yourself up to 500 to 1000 a day if you want. This will help you with almost every aspect of Aikido.
3- Hopefully your school teaches jo too. Ask someone to teach you the 8 jo kata and start practicing it yourself.
4- Practice Air Tenkan. Imagine someone is grabbing your risk and practice your tenkan.. You can never do enough of them.

Depending on where you are. Get a book called the Dynamic Sphere of Aikido.
Read it once a year. As you progress in your Aikido journey you will understand it more and more each year you read it..

Ahh and Ukemi, goto home depot and buy a few cheap mats and do rolls. Do lots of rolls and when doing front rolls make sure you drop your forward shoulder close to the ground b4 rolling. If need be check out on you tbe, Donovan waite Meeting the mat video.. You wont be sorry.

That all I have for right now. Ill try and post more..

 

Thank you all very much for the feedback, it really is very helpful. I am sorry i don't quite yet know the Japanese terminology for all the techniques, but i will continue practising my foot movements, and the hand movements i know. I will also be doing some backward break falls every day, and practising some techniques that i would use in combat, as if i had an opponent. All the help really is much appreciated

 

Be careful jumping into too much work with a bokuto/bokken without some grounding in it.

Keep in mind that doing x amount of cuts per day is also installing any bad habits you have x amount of times.

It's a fine line for a brand new beginner to walk, yes you want to work on things but until you are capable of a degree of self correction then you run the risk of taking one step forward and two back.

The same can be said of ukemi, whilst it is necessary please do be careful because chucking yourself around can do you damage. Take it slowly and develop your technique from a low position first, there's less chance of injury and you can concentrate of being technically correct.

Also if you are going to stretch every day then look into how to do it correctly, just saying stretch everyday is meaningless without you knowing how to stretch and what type of flexibility you should be working on. MAP has a very good thread on this in the fitness section.