How do you keep up your training when on the road?

[Carol]

I noticed a few folks here have posted concerns about juggling an MA training schedule with a travel schedule. A friend of mine has the same concern himself, he recently started BJJ but will be traveling for a fair amount of the summer for work...sometimes going to places where venturing outside the hotel is not a particularly good idea.

How do you like to keep up your training when staying at a hotel or are otherwise away from your school? Any favorite exercises or practices to share?

 

[Danny T]

Most all hotels and motels have an exercise area and swimming pools so cardio and strenght training is rather easy. Footwork drills, basic fundamentals, stance work, and forms can be worked most anywhere you may be.

 

[Cyriacus]

Lots of mental stuff.

 

[Argus]

If you happen to be doing BJJ, it's popular enough that you should be able to find a school almost anywhere you go.

I train traditional arts, and spend a lot of time just working on form and footwork. I know there aren't forms or kata in BJJ, but I'm sure you can still practice form and technique on your own, right?

 

[nocturnal_]

I noticed a few folks here have posted concerns about juggling an MA training schedule with a travel schedule. A friend of mine has the same concern himself, he recently started BJJ but will be traveling for a fair amount of the summer for work...sometimes going to places where venturing outside the hotel is not a particularly good idea.

Isn't venturing outside the hotel (and potentially get into trouble) would be a way to test his MA skills? It's even better than gym/dojo training because it's real life training.

 

[Cyriacus]

Isn't venturing outside the hotel (and potentially get into trouble) would be a way to test his MA skills? It's even better than gym/dojo training because it's real life training.

Why would you want to stack the odds against yourself?

 

[nocturnal_]

Why would you want to stack the odds against yourself?

The thread starter asking about her friend training while traveling. What's the purpose of this person training MA ? For health/fitness/exercise? If that's the case, push ups and sit ups can be done in the hotel room. If the purpose is to train self defense, it's an opportunity to test it in real-life situation that may or may not arise.

 

[Cyriacus]

The thread starter asking about her friend training while traveling. What's the purpose of this person training MA ? For health/fitness/exercise? If that's the case, push ups and sit ups can be done in the hotel room. If the purpose is to train self defense, it's an opportunity to test it in real-life situation that may or may not arise.

No, its not an opportunity to test anything. Its an opportunity to go out and play childish games. You can do that anywhere, anytime.
Self defense is defending yourself. You do that by not being immature. You practice self defense by staying as safe as possible.

 

[Kong Soo Do]

Kata and individual drills

 

[Zero]

Isn't venturing outside the hotel (and potentially get into trouble) would be a way to test his MA skills? It's even better than gym/dojo training because it's real life training.

Nocturnal, are you for real? Some of your comments have been thought out albeit coming from different perspectives than my own but this response almost defies logic.

Are you saying this guy, who "has recently started BJJ" should, instead of doing the likes of plyometric training or push ups etc and working through moves in his hotel room or hotel gym (physically and mentally), venture out to see whether trouble comes his way and then if he can extricate or avoid it? Would he not be doing this basic SD all the time in any event, ie practicing situational awareness during the day (and avoiding walking down back alleys of cities he is not familiar with at night, which you seem to suggest)? That does not seem best suited for a guy just starting out in BJJ.

Are you really suggesting Carol tell's her mate to spend the precious spare time he may have to "walk about the streets and parks or frequent unfamiliar bars and see what happens and if you can handle it"?

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

Carol,

I travel pretty regularly and when on the road I usually work some basic things I can do without equipment. Things like push ups, sit ups, leg lifts, free body squats, etc. I always have a folding knife with me so I also practice some drills from IRT that I can replicate as a solo practitioner. If where I am staying has a swimming pool then I am definitely in the water getting a workout! If the area has some Training Halls then I will also check them out as well and maybe get a workout in with a class or by having a private lesson or a teacher's exchange where we just train. (depends on the person) Bottom line there are a lot of things you can do and if your friend is in BJJ more than likely there will be a school near where he is staying.

 

[Zero]

Carol, here's a couple pages from my on-the-road book for your mate:

Flexibility:
- Dynamic stretching
- Static stretching (dynamic is king in my view)
Strength:
- tricep dips off side of bed base
- full/low squats (quads) high reps,
- back and forward low lunges (quads/hams) - high reps
- calf raises (calves) - hand against wall for balance, calf dip and raises using bed base or toes on couple phone books
- static squats, straight back against the wall, hold for 30 secs/a minute at a time with arms held out in front holding phone book etc, x3 reps
- wide pushups – chest , pushups arms close to side – triceps, pushups with clap hands, chest and cardio
- bicep curls - single/double arm using room chair/full bottle of water etc
- crunches / ab work on floor and with feet on bed - lots
- oh and a lot of the interval training moves I have recently been focusing on for CA work is great in confined spaces and I guess could work well in a hotel room with some floor space

All the above can be better done in the gym if hotel has a gym.

Fitness – swim in hotel pool or treadmill if these facilities available.

Forms/kata in room.

Techniques:
Slow technique application
Shadow boxing and kicking in room – not sure if bjj techniques could be trained to same extent or as easily as stand-up style (thinking back to my judo days (although often "bigger" moves than bjj) you could work some moves on your own without uke or practice in a hotel room but not as much as stand up and the same may apply for bjj – a bjj guy could help out here??)
Practice rear naked chokes and "figure fours" etc on chair leg or lamp stand (don't break!)

Relax – hotel sauna / hot tub - often overlooked by MAists but this is key!! : )

 

[nocturnal_]

Nocturnal, are you for real? Some of your comments have been thought out albeit coming from different perspectives than my own but this response almost defies logic.

Are you saying this guy, who "has recently started BJJ" should, instead of doing the likes of plyometric training or push ups etc and working through moves in his hotel room or hotel gym (physically and mentally), venture out to see whether trouble comes his way and then if he can extricate or avoid it? Would he not be doing this basic SD all the time in any event, ie practicing situational awareness during the day (and avoiding walking down back alleys of cities he is not familiar with at night, which you seem to suggest)? That does not seem best suited for a guy just starting out in BJJ.

Are you really suggesting Carol tell's her mate to spend the precious spare time he may have to "walk about the streets and parks or frequent unfamiliar bars and see what happens and if you can handle it"?

I was partially joking, but here's the serious part:

He doesn't have to find trouble to test his skills. But he shouldn't restrict himself inside the hotel room just because he worries that there might be trouble if he ventures out. He should feel free to venture around, not looking for trouble but be prepared to fight if there's some trouble. If he's so worried about some troubles (that may or may not happen) that he prefers to stay at the hotel most time, then what's the purpose of him training martial arts?

 

[Zero]

I was partially joking, but here's the serious part:

He doesn't have to find trouble to test his skills. But he shouldn't restrict himself inside the hotel room just because he worries that there might be trouble if he ventures out. He should feel free to venture around, not looking for trouble but be prepared to fight if there's some trouble. If he's so worried about some troubles (that may or may not happen) that he prefers to stay at the hotel most time, then what's the purpose of him training martial arts?

Ok, got the joke bit. But for the serious bit, you gotta remember that many people into a MA (and this is the "general martial arts" forum) are not doing it to better their self defence abilities or are focused on or concerned with SD. Some, in fact many who partake in sport arts, such as bjj (I am not saying bjj is not highly credible style or anything like that, just acknowledging it has an extremely high sport/competition element/focus as does judo, which in my view is fine) are there to learn skills and to try them out competing. The last thing many MAists want to do is try their luck on the street or be placed in a situation they may need, heaven forbid, to depend on their training and skills.

To summarise, his purpose could be anything but training for real life SD, it could be purely for sport/hobby/fitness/disciplin/camaraderie...

 

[Carol]

I'm not so convinced. I think nocturnal's reply was serious....until he got called on it. Then it's a joke, of course.

Tell me, nocturnal, what do you think the point and purpose of traveling of business is? And please be clear whether your response is serious or another joke.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[nocturnal_]

I'm not so convinced. I think nocturnal's reply was serious....until he got called on it. Then it's a joke, of course.

Why would I be worried if I got called for it? It was a partial joke, but there's a serious element to it that I've explained.

Tell me, nocturnal, what do you think the point and purpose of traveling of business is? And please be clear whether your response is serious or another joke.

This one is a serious answer. If your friend's point is to travel for business, then there's no point mentioning missing training. It sounds like such a big deal that he misses training on something that he's not planning to use.

 

[Cyriacus]

This one is a serious answer. If your friend's point is to travel for business, then there's no point mentioning missing training. It sounds like such a big deal that he misses training on something that he's not planning to use.

Youre confusing fighting with self defense, good sir.

 

[Carol]

This one is a serious answer. If your friend's point is to travel for business, then there's no point mentioning missing training.

Really?

It sounds like such a big deal that he misses training on something that he's not planning to use.

Why do you say that?

 

[nocturnal_]

Why do you say that?

Here's why:

A friend of mine has the same concern himself, he recently started BJJ but will be traveling for a fair amount of the summer for work...sometimes going to places where venturing outside the hotel is not a particularly good idea.

How do you like to keep up your training when staying at a hotel or are otherwise away from your school? Any favorite exercises or practices to share?

From this post, it sounds like a big enough deal that he's concerned that he'll miss on training on something that he doesn't want to use.

 

[jks9199]

Here's why:



From this post, it sounds like a big enough deal that he's concerned that he'll miss on training on something that he doesn't want to use.

You ever think that maybe, just maybe, while traveling, he'd like to maintain as much of his skill as possible? Kind of like a runner asking for routes/running programs while traveling, or a body builder asking about gyms while traveling... It's not a bizarre or difficult concept.