Generally, how often and how long should you train per week?

[Andrew Green]

I have looked into different places in my area which offer different things and what I didn't like is
that they usually offer 2 training sessions per week and each of them takes 1-1,5 hours. this really isn't very much especially when you really want to improve quickly.

If you're willing to pay for it you can probably get that much, but likely not all under one instructor. It's not at all realistic in any sense. Even in University courses where only 3 hours a week or so of instruction time. But if you can afford to train 10 hours a day maybe you can afford to pay to train those 10 hours a day?

Depending on where you are expect to pay $10-20 per hour of instruction in group classes though. So if you can afford it, you might be able to find it.

 

[Ironbear24]

I can't tell you what you should do, that all depends on your goals. Me personally I train 5 days a week, Sunday gym, Monday rest, Tuesday dojo. Wednesday gym. Thursday dojo. Friday rest or gym, Saturday dojo.

 

[JowGaWolf]

I don't think I saw this mentioned mainly because all of us understands this. It's not so much how many hours are trained as it is, the quality that is trained within those hours. 1 hour of working your butt off during training is still more than 10 hours of half-effort training.

I see students who don't put effort vs students who put effort and the difference in their progress is like night and day.

 

[Flatfish]

Were you not the person with all the health issues and perceived weaknesses? Why do you worry about 10h a day training if you're worried about so many other things. Like someone else said, just go to a class, any class, and try it out...it's it's not for you, you have lost maybe an hour and will be sore for a couple of days. You're overthinking things.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

I have looked into different places in my area which offer different things and what I didn't like is
that they usually offer 2 training sessions per week and each of them takes 1-1,5 hours. this really isn't very much especially when you really want to improve quickly.

at another place you only train ONCE per week for 3 hours straight.

what do you think about this? does this even make sense or is it a waste of time? i mean I'm not
getting into anything knowing that this is some half-assed stuff where I needed 5 years to get to a point
where I can use it.

i wish I knew somebody personally who knows some kind of MA or SD system and who could basically
train me 10 hours daily. imagine how MUCH quicker you would progress if you trained 10 hours daily
for weeks compared to 3 ridiculous hours per week!

after a few weeks you'd have made more progress than you'd make in 2 years training 3 hours per week.

and alone at home you can't really train anything can you? i mean it's not like they show you something
in class and then you can spend hours at home on your own perfectioning it right? this really sucks.

Most martial arts schools plan around students attending 2 classes per week. Most people these days have too many other commitments to do much more. At my primary instructor's school, you were expected to attend twice a week (actually a commitment to be there), and could come to as many more as you wanted. Sometimes I was a 2/week attendee. Other times, I attended 8 classes (at that time, 12 hours) per week or more.

I'll say this: attending more classes doesn't guarantee faster progress. That depends more upon your approach and attitude. I've seen students make a lot of progress in two classes per week, and others make great progress at 5 classes per week.

Pick the right school, and practice as much as actually helps you grow.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

I would take 2 x 1.5 over 1 x 3.0 personally. A lot of things come from repetition. Yes, you should be practicing on your own but having the more frequent vectoring from the instructor helps. It depends on the martial art too. If you've got forms to practice, then excellent. Or just strike patterns then you can work on a bag, then awesome. You should be doing that once or twice a week on top of your two classes. Then leave a couple days a week for conditions: weights or cardio (running, rowing, swimming, etc). Most people get plenty of calisthenic training from their martial arts and don't need it in their workout regimen. Lastly, make sure you leave a day for relaxing, preferably with some stretching (Or a massage). Good maintenance of your body will help your martial arts improve.

Distributed learning is an important concept in adult learning, which means the 2x1.5 is usually better than the 1x3.

 

[drop bear]

Our serious guys will do upwards of 12 hours a week. Depending on how much they care if they loose fights.

 

[Langenschwert]

To improve I would recommend twice a week for about one and a half to two hours per class. You can do more, but starting out you probably should give your body time to adjust. As you progress you might find you can train more often, but rest periods are still very important to let your body repair itself, especially as you get older.

 

[crazydiamond]

I am not sure what constitutes "training" is it only pure practice of the Martial arts movements ? I take three classes a week - an hour each time. Thats all I can muster with family and work - to get to a dojo.

On off days -at home I do either yoga/stretching/foam roller massage for flexibility and release of tension, or weight training geared for martial arts. Would the yoga/stretching routines and weight training days be considered "martial arts training" since they are geared towards improving my abilities and body for martial arts?

Beyond this I also read books or watch instructors video material 2-4 hours a week. Someday's reading or watching videos is all I do if my body needs rest. Is that MA training?

As for pure MA practice movements (kicks punches weapons) I would say only another hour a week. If its before testing for stripe or belt - I will do 4-6 hours on a week/weekend at home prepping before test week. Testing is every two months.

 

[Midnight-shadow]

I am not sure what constitutes "training" is it only pure practice of the Martial arts movements ? I take three classes a week - an hour each time. Thats all I can muster with family and work - to get to a dojo.

On off days -at home I do either yoga/stretching/foam roller massage for flexibility and release of tension, or weight training geared for martial arts. Would the yoga/stretching routines and weight training days be considered "martial arts training" since they are geared towards improving my abilities and body for martial arts?

Beyond this I also read books or watch instructors video material 2-4 hours a week. Someday's reading or watching videos is all I do if my body needs rest. Is that MA training?

As for pure MA practice movements (kicks punches weapons) I would say only another hour a week. If its before testing for stripe or belt - I will do 4-6 hours on a week/weekend at home prepping before test week. Testing is every two months.

Stretching increases your flexibility which will help perform your kicks higher with more power and accuracy. The Yoga will help improve your balance so you can perform those higher kicks without losing your balance. Weights training will strengthen your arms allowing your punches to deliver more power. All of these things you do will help improve your Martial Arts. If you wanted to do even more, work on your core strength by doing sit-ups, push-ups and crunches. Core strength and abs training is hugely underrated, and yet is integral to a lot of different sports, Particularly dynamic ones like Gymnastics, Springboard diving and Martial Arts. There's a lot of crossover in all of these, which is why I have my divers (I coach in a diving club) do the same workout that I do for my Martial Arts. All the stretches are the same for both sports.

 

[RTKDCMB]

Usually we recommend classes at any particular Dojang to run twice a week with at least one day in between. We have several Dojangs within a reasonable travel time so students can train up to 6 days a week.Training at in the class should be just the tip of the iceberg, not the whole thing. We recommend a minimum of twice a week with a day in between because this gives a good balance between having enough time to practice and assimilate what you have learned and keeping what you have learned fresh in your mind before the next class and students are always encouraged to attend extra classes.The quality of your training is far more important than the quantity. You can train properly for a few minutes a day and be good or you can train poorly for a few hours a day and be rather useless.

If you were doing half assed training it is no wonder it took you 5 years to be able to use it because it should only take about 3 months to start being able to use it appreciably. Students can learn something usable after the first one or two lessons.

 

[crazydiamond]

Weights training will strengthen your arms allowing your punches to deliver more power. All of these things you do will help improve your Martial Arts. If you wanted to do even more, work on your core strength by doing sit-ups, push-ups and crunches. Core strength and abs training is hugely underrated, and yet is integral to a lot of different sports, Particularly dynamic ones like Gymnastics, Springboard diving and Martial Arts. There's a lot of crossover in all of these, which is why I have my divers (I coach in a diving club) do the same workout that I do for my Martial Arts. All the stretches are the same for both sports.

Yes core is important. I recently modified my weight training to incorporate routines from a martial arts weight training book which includes alot of core related routines.

 

[geezer]

Chris Parker is not one to suffer fools lightly and sometimes can sound a bit harsh. But he is seldom wrong. Post #16 hits the nail on the head. Personally, I will not respond to the OP again on any martial arts related topic until he gets off his duff, enrolls in a program, and actually starts training something!

...and I'm not holding my breath.

 

[kehcorpz]

hi folks,

i know that 2 times per week for 1,5h is better than 1 time for 3h. But time and money also play a role.
If I have to driver a longer distance then i'd rather go there only once per week
than having to go there 2 times.

If I don't have to travel far then going more often would be better, but I think that generally you don't train
more than 2 times per week. I looked at different stuff in my area and
they all trained 2 times for 1,5h expect the one which only has a training per week for 3h.

If you can train something on your own at home also depends on what you're training. For example when
you do boxing then you can hit a bag at home for hours.
But what if what you do heavily depends on technique like wing chun? This is nothing you can just train
at home without supervision!

I don't know if I'd even "learn" much during the training. I mean what do you do if during the training you're
too nervous and can't really memorize how to do a technique
and then you go home feeling crappy and there's nothing you can do until the next training.
This is something I worry about.
I don't think that I can just watch how something is done and then directly repeat it, especially when I'm nervous.
And if for example you fail at repeating something correctly
then you become even more nervous and totally shut down.

If you could just watch something during the training and then spend the week at home practicing it
then it would be much different but if you basically only the training
sessions to learn something then this is a short window of opportunity.

For example if you watch a video where a certain technique is demonstrated then should a normal person
be able to just watch this and then duplicate it? For me this doesn't work.
And in real life when an instructor demonstrates something you cannot watch it in slow motion or watch it
again and again like in a video.

 

[kuniggety]

Dude, just go train. Even wing chun has solo forms for you to practice. I've yet to have an instructor that won't demonstrate something again with more detail or from a different angle when asked. You should walk out of a class with a basic grasp of how to do a technique.

 

[kehcorpz]

How do you practice solo forms without partner or dummy? What forms do you mean?

I watched a video where the instructor demonstrated a lot of techniques first he showed them on a dummy and then he showed them against an attacker.
It provided a real good overview over different techniques but at the same time I thought this stuff all looks so complicated even mastering just 1 of these
many techniques probably takes months. Now imagine there are 50 of them then you can calculate how many years you need to learn them all. If every single
one of the techniques exists for a purpose then this means it's important and you can't just replace it with something else you already learned, right?

 

[kuniggety]

How do you practice solo forms without partner or dummy? What forms do you mean?

I watched a video where the instructor demonstrated a lot of techniques first he showed them on a dummy and then he showed them against an attacker.
It provided a real good overview over different techniques but at the same time I thought this stuff all looks so complicated even mastering just 1 of these
many techniques probably takes months. Now imagine there are 50 of them then you can calculate how many years you need to learn them all. If every single
one of the techniques exists for a purpose then this means it's important and you can't just replace it with something else you already learned, right?

A form is a routine of predetermined movements to practice technique and chain movements without a partner.

Martial arts is a life long process. I've been doing BJJ for 3 yrs and am still a beginner.

 

[kehcorpz]

but how do you practice a form on your own without risking that you do it wrong and then train your body to do it in a wrong way so that you cant even correct it anymore?

for example i watched a docu about kung fu monks. these guys already knew what they are doing and still the master corrected them all the time showing them little things
which they did wrong. this shows that you always need somebody to watch and correct you.

 

[Dirty Dog]

but how do you practice a form on your own without risking that you do it wrong and then train your body to do it in a wrong way so that you cant even correct it anymore?

You don't. You need an instructor. This has been explained to you many many times.
Turn off your computer. Get off your ***. Go train. With a real instructor.

 

[kehcorpz]

You don't. You need an instructor. This has been explained to you many many times.
Turn off your computer. Get off your ***. Go train. With a real instructor.

But how much can you learn in 3h per week? And the chief instructor also won't be standing right next to you all the time
and supervise everything cause there are many other people there.

My concern is simply that during the actual training I'm not able to really pick up much cause of being too nervous and then
during the week I can't do anything on my own.

I don't think that Bruce Lee for example only trained 3h per week. He probably trained every day with somebody.

I realize that this is a major criteria. I need something where you can do something at home. If you cannot do anything
at home at all then this would be too frustrating for me cause then I have no influence on my progress at all!

How do I find out which kind of MA allows you to practice stuff on your own?