# Solo Training



## marvelous65 (Mar 15, 2015)

Hi Folks,

Is there any good parry drills which can be trained solo?


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## Kung Fu Wang (Mar 15, 2015)

Left arm does downward parry, upward wrap. Right arm does comb hair, downward wrap.


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## Buka (Mar 15, 2015)

Unfortunately, *no*.

But, welcome aboard, bro!


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## LibbyW (Mar 16, 2015)

marvelous65 said:


> Hi Folks,
> 
> Is there any good parry drills which can be trained solo?



If you get a wooden man and tie a blindfold over your eyes then maybe, but nothing really compares to doing it with a partner.

Reading back what I just wrote there, it seems everything I say can REALLY be misconstrued if the context wasn't there.

Anyway, have fun on the site.
L


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## Dirty Dog (Mar 16, 2015)

Sadly, no. How can you effectively parry something that isn't moving?

I suppose if you had the resources, you could build a wall with a bunch of pneumatically operated fists that would randomly shoot out and hit you if you didn't block them. 

I could see the guys at _*Mythbusters*_ building something like that, but it would likely be beyond most of us.


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## Shai Hulud (Mar 16, 2015)

Dirty Dog said:


> Sadly, no. How can you effectively parry something that isn't moving?
> 
> I suppose if you had the resources, you could build a wall with a bunch of pneumatically operated fists that would randomly shoot out and hit you if you didn't block them.
> 
> I could see the guys at _*Mythbusters*_ building something like that, but it would likely be beyond most of us.


I am an engineer. This has tickled my fancy.


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## Kung Fu Wang (Mar 16, 2015)

Dirty Dog said:


> How can you effectively parry something that isn't moving?


"Solo drill" can be "partner drill" without partner. Is that what we all train at home when training partner is not available?

Here is "partner drill".






Here is the "solo drill".


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## Dirty Dog (Mar 16, 2015)

Kung Fu Wang said:


> "Solo drill" can be "partner drill" without partner. Is that what we all train at home when training partner is not available?



Not useless, but not the same, either. You can 'go through the motions' by practicing forms or solo drills or whatever you'd like to call them, but it's not the same as actually parrying or blocking something.


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## Kung Fu Wang (Mar 16, 2015)

Dirty Dog said:


> Not useless, but not the same, either. You can 'go through the motions' by practicing forms or solo drills or whatever you'd like to call them, but it's not the same as actually parrying or blocking something.


Of course the solo training (polish) is not the same as the partner training (develop). So what kind of "solo training" do you prefer to do at home when training partner is not available?

Since "jab, cross" combo is commonly used, the double parry solo drill can be useful with proper footwork.


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## Dirty Dog (Mar 16, 2015)

Kung Fu Wang said:


> Of course the solo training is not the same as the partner training. So what kind of "solo training" do you prefer to do at home when training partner is not available?



Well, my wife is one of our black belt candidates, so I don't really have to worry about it. Our running joke when the weather is nice and we're working outside is that when the neighbors call the police we will tell them "it's not domestic violence, it's part of her training..."

But in general, I think the best you can do solo is practice forms, work on flexibility/balance, and do bag work.
I think that to actually practice parrying, you need to have something to parry.


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## Kung Fu Wang (Mar 16, 2015)

Dirty Dog said:


> to actually practice parrying, you need to have something to parry.


But we are not talking about

- skill "development", or skill "testing" that we do in school, but
- skill "polishing" and skill "enhancement" that we do at home here.

I think that's the OP's question - solo training at home. It can be any solo training besides just the "parry solo training".

For example, here is the "hip throw" solo training.






and here is the "cross, jab" combo solo training.


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## Dirty Dog (Mar 16, 2015)

Kung Fu Wang said:


> But we are not talking about
> 
> - skill "development", or skill "testing" that we do in school, but
> - skill "polishing" and skill "enhancement" that we do at home here.
> ...



If you say so...
But personally, since the OP asked specifically about parrying, I assume they want to know about, you know... parrying...


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## Danny T (Mar 16, 2015)

Dirty Dog said:


> If you say so...
> But personally, since the OP asked specifically about parrying, I assume they want to know about, you know... parrying...


And then we have those who get upset over semantics. 
Gotta agree with Dirty Dog. The OP asked: "Is there any good* "**parry"* drills which can be trained solo?"

One can certainly move their arms and body working the gross motions simulating parrying. Problem is parrying requires the proper range, timing, and pressure. That is a bit difficult to train against the air. If one has a dummy then range can be worked and movement to a particular position can be worked; timing and pressure not so much.


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## Dirty Dog (Mar 16, 2015)

Shai Hulud said:


> I am an engineer. This has tickled my fancy.



I expect video of the completed project...


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## Shai Hulud (Mar 16, 2015)

Dirty Dog said:


> I expect video of the completed project...


I'll be doodling in my notebook for the next day or two.

To the OP though, what art are you practicing? If it's a CMA, those wooden dummies are always a go-to.


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## Dirty Dog (Mar 16, 2015)

Shai Hulud said:


> I'll be doodling in my notebook for the next day or two.
> 
> To the OP though, what art are you practicing? If it's a CMA, those wooden dummies are always a go-to.



And when you get rich off it, remember where the idea came from...


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## Shai Hulud (Mar 17, 2015)

Dirty Dog said:


> And when you get rich off it, remember where the idea came from...


I'll call it the "Dirty Dogger".


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## LibbyW (Mar 17, 2015)

Shai Hulud said:


> I'll call it the "Dirty Dogger".



I'd like to put my order in now for 1 "Dirty Dogger".
Could it come in black and chrome by any chance?
L


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## MJS (Mar 17, 2015)

marvelous65 said:


> Hi Folks,
> 
> Is there any good parry drills which can be trained solo?



Footwork, along with the parry drills, can be done, but anything done in the air, without a live body, really isn't going to produce too many solid results.


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## Shajikfer (Mar 22, 2015)

marvelous65 said:


> Hi Folks,
> 
> Is there any good parry drills which can be trained solo?


 
Sticky hands!

Pak Sao is also good practice. Here is a version of it; it isn't the one I practice, but I think it a good demonstration of one way to practice it.


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## Chris Parker (Mar 23, 2015)

Step one. Find an instructor. Learn what "parrying" is in the system they're teaching you. Then learn what a solo drill for such skills would be. Then practice.

Note closely step one...


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## Tez3 (Mar 23, 2015)

LibbyW said:


> I'd like to put my order in now for 1 "Dirty Dogger".
> Could it come in black and chrome by any chance?
> L



I'm just going to shake my head at you two!


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## Mephisto (Mar 23, 2015)

In FMA some people make a tool called a decuerdas. It's basically a pvc cross that you strike with a stick it rotates around and you've got to work use of the left hand and head movement, but it's a tool for stick training.


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## LibbyW (Mar 24, 2015)

Tez3 said:


> I'm just going to shake my head at you two!



Sometimes I shake my head at my self . . . 
L


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## SteyrAUG (Jul 14, 2015)

Chris Parker said:


> Step one. Find an instructor. Learn what "parrying" is in the system they're teaching you. Then learn what a solo drill for such skills would be. Then practice.
> 
> Note closely step one...



Again, somebody saves me some typing.

I would only add, when it comes to genuine martial arts, something beyond Tae Bo exercises and cardio kickboxing, two people can do what looks like an identical thing to the untrained eye, except one person will be doing it completely wrong and it will be completely ineffective.

In decades of teaching I have taught a LOT of students who came to me with less than experienced instruction, self instruction or books and video instruction. In many cases I could name the book they learned from based upon continuity and flow errors the book was not capable of relating to them. In other examples I could name the video they practiced from because weight distribution or proper distancing errors.

These aren't really advanced things, but without an instructor who actually knows the system these errors will never be corrected and you will never end up with genuine martial arts. At best you might achieve an effective looking mimic that lacks any real substance.

Now several of the students in question were very dedicated, they just simply had not found adequate instruction. They attempted to learn what they could from the sources available to them. And while they could kick "head high" their kick had no chamber (which meant they were fully committed as soon as they moved and could not adapt to changing situations) and they typically telegraphed horribly and were severely limited when it came to targeting and power.

So if they had trained for a couple years, it would take me almost half as long to undo ingrained habits and reteach them the correct basics. In a real sense, they did more harm than good. Their time would have been better spent learning two stances, two blocks, two punches and two kicks correctly and doing nothing else for two years.

Books, youtube videos and similar things have one thing in common, they don't tell you when you are doing something wrong and they don't correct your mistake. It's bad enough when you have a teacher that isn't fully qualified. It's even worse when the student tries to become the teacher.

You can learn some things by trial and error, but that is a tough way to figure out what works and there is a better way because the trial and error process has already been done hundreds of times by thousands of people and you can just learn correctly from somebody qualified to teach.

I could put up a solo training exercise on youtube that contains the major elements of parrying, trapping, entering and closing. You might even learn something. But what I can't do, is fix your errors over the internet. Nobody can.


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