Fresh Focus: How Themed Practice Can Revolutionize your Training Year

[Xue Sheng]

Fresh Focus: How Themed Practice Can Revolutionize your Training Year​

The journey of personal Practice – whether in Martial Arts, meditation, or any disciplined pursuit – can sometimes feel stagnant. Never fear! There’s a simple but powerful approach that can revolutionize your training: theming your Practice throughout the year.

 

[_Simon_]

Ah absolutely fantastic article, really enjoyed that, thanks Xue!!

It's something I've actually done every now and then when I think about it... For a bit I was obsessed with spirals.. and it became a bit of a theme I'd explore.

Another useful question someone dear to me said which is great to ask ourselves... "What are you thinking about in your practice?" And letting that question provoke an inquiry and depth of exploration in your practice.

I'm feeling like letting a theme guide my practice today now...

 

[Buka]

 

[Sammy Naur]

Fresh Focus: How Themed Practice Can Revolutionize your Training Year​

Did you write that?

That was a great article.

 

[Xue Sheng]

Did you write that?

That was a great article.

No, I just read the page and the things I find interesting, I post the link

 

[isshinryuronin]

TMA already has themes - kata. In sanchin, it's rooting and breathing. In seiunchin, it's grappling. In Kusanku, it's double striking and evasion. Joint locks or strong blocking and striking may be the theme in others. Often, a kata will incorporate several of these.

In practicing, one can concentrate on power, speed, flow, simultaneous blocking and punching, side stepping and other footwork, close-in or long-range fighting technique (or transitioning from one to the other) etc.

But I really don't see any of these things as a "theme." It's just developing various skills that can be combined to use in a fight. I think it's very difficult to hold on to a theme in an actual fight as the dynamics and conditions change. You use whatever you can in that specific moment. The closest one can get to a theme in combat is a general strategy based on the battleground and opponent's abilities/tendencies.

If you want to call practicing a particular skill set or a particular way of executing a technique a "theme," I guess semantically it's not wrong. I just call it training.