Home Practice versus Class Time

My schedule is ... well ... insane. I am starting my own law practice which takes a good deal of time. I think I am dedicating between 70 to 85 hours a week to work related activities. This leaves precious little time for anything else. What it means is that I cannot get to my Kenpo class as often as I would like. To fill the gap I am forced to do a few days a week of home practice while the rest of the world sleeps.

Moon shining

Feet moving, arms slashing

World Sleeping

I don't claim to be a poet and I know it is a bit off in the 5/7/5 format but there is my Haiku on my nocturnal activities. I digress.

As my schedule only permits so much time to exercise and maintain my skills when the rest of the world is at work and play, I need to practice at home. During my home sessions, I execute my lists of techniques and kata and try to maintain my form, speed, power and fluidity. Home practice is not the same as the time in class. There is no one there to correct you if you are off which can create an issue if you are practicing incorrectly. Because it is not practice that makes perfect but rather perfect practice. Additionally, Kenpo is about working techniques on your training partners. Without the reaction of an opponent you are not getting all the benefit you could be. Does that make it without merit? No not at all.

I have found my home practice very valuable for a few reasons. First, I get to set the baseline. When working with an opponent you have to adjust for the movements of the individual. When working alone you do not. Of course you have to remember this when you get on the mat. But working alone helps to cement the techniques in your head that isn't really duplicated when working with an opponent. Creating a mental blueprint is easier on my own than when working with others. I know that I have a tendency to try to work everything at once in class: power, speed and fluidity but this is not always the way to train. Sometimes you have to go slow to better understand the techniques. As I am not always able to do this in class my home study allows me to be more critical of the techniques and their applications.

Second, I am able to recover. The style I study comes with a good amount of contact. I like that about it but I need time to recover from it. A typical class comes with a few black and blues and a stinger here and there. Home study allows me to keep up on my training while dealing with these little hurts. When I was 20 I probably could have trained 6 days a week with no issue but at 40 I need a little recovery time.

Finally, (I say finally because I am a lawyer and I always make three points,there are more) I get to choose. Class time runs on the instructors prerogative, home time runs on mine. When I think I need to work on things I get to decide what needs to be worked on. The flexibility to decide where to focus my attention is a great benefit. Sometimes I feel that my kata needs work or I would like to really concentrate on speed or working my techniques in a 2 foot square or I might just decide that I need to work a horse stance and hand strikes for 30 minutes. Where ever I decide to take my training I am able. I appreciate and respect my instructor's guidance; home time is critical time to determine where the work needs to be done. In many ways home practice is about honing your skills where class time is about application. Application is important but you can't cut down a tree very well with a dull axe.