Training for Life

One of my fellow students cornered me recently with the question, "How much outside training do you do?" From his reaction to my standard response, "That depends on what you define as 'training'," I could tell he was - as usual for him - not interested in a "BS" response. He meant physical TRAINING!

As I've mentioned recently here, my core training routine is three classes a week, roughly 3-4 hours of mat time. I run three days a week. I try to get in roughly 50 push-ups and sit-ups a day (but I admit to being inconsistent on this). I park far from my office and mark a point of walking the half-mile or so into the building and up the stairs to my office. I also try to stay hydrated.

For the most part my "outside" training is focused on fitness maintenance. I'm not really a weight-lifting guy. And one constant weak spot is stretching. While it's easy to pump-out push-ups and sit-ups inside 15 minutes (and throw some other exercises in for variety and to hit other muscle groups), stretching requires a commitment of time I have real trouoble finding. Finding the time for running required the sacrifice of sleep as it was.

I have been lucky, at certain times, to have various people in my life who were also martial artistss interested in cross-training. So there have been times when I did supplement dojo time with outside training in actual techniques. There have also been times when I was learning particular new skills when I devoted significant outside time to drilling the actions. The big example I recall was learning the Sanshin no Kata. Later, when I had a lightbulb moment that lead me to another, deeper level of understanding of the sanshin, I spent more time training the kata.

This is not meant to contradict the sage -- and correct -- advice provided by many a Bujinkan teacher to practice your techniques everyday and focus on Sanshin no kata and Kihon Happo. I'm just a realist about time management. If I'm going to do justice to all my responsibilities, I simply can't do everything. Even when I know I should.

Besides, there's more to my fellow student's question than the no-nonsense answer he thought he wanted. Physical training on a schedule is only part of the equation of "outside" training...

I take the attitude that I'm always training.

Some of that training is, in fact, physical, just not the kind of physical training people generally recognize.

Take, for example, my point about walking to the office... I'm not just walking to get my heart rate up. I'm trying to smooth out my motion. I'm conscious of walking with proper taijutsu. Yes, there is a proper way to walk. I do not want to waste motion bobbing up and down as I move forward. I try to put my foot down correctly to shift my weight forward properly, not fall forward like so many people do. I try to move as if a string attached to my center was pulling me forward. How successful am I? Well, I'm still training my walk -- and I still feel this training is important. On the other hand, my four cats -- who like to lounge around under foot, in the dark -- are very glad I do not just stomp around the house.

I try to be conscious of my movements even in the little things to keep me safe from the kinds of little bumps and bruises that most of us encounter in everyday life. This too is taijutsu.

Take, for example, a public rest room. These have "blind doors" with no window to warn you someone is on the other side. People frequently burst open the door -- deep within their own thoughts, and careless that someone else might be on the other side.

This too provides a moment to practice. Don't be careless yourself. First, see if you can sense, or feel, someone on the other side of the door. Don't open the door yourself in a way that could hurt another person. Make sure you approach the door in a manner that keeps you safe from being struck by wildly swung door. As you reach out for the door, are your fingers safe from being jammed by a sudden burst of the door?

If you can do all these things -- in everyday life -- then you are practicing taijutsu outside the dojo. And if you can make your safe approach to the public rest room appear completely natural, then you are practicing ninjutsu.

And, of course, there is training in a non-physical -- but still vitally important -- sense.

Ever been suddenly called in to brief the boss on a project and gotten nervous? Calming yourself down is training. Ever get really angry in traffic? Regaining your mental center is also training. You must learn to maintain control over yourself in any situation, especially stressful ones. Musashi said that we should maintain the same mental outlook whether we are involved in a duel to the death, or painting a a sumi-e picture.

Reading -- research -- is also very important to progress. I have a huge martial arts library. Now, you can't learn a martial art from a book, but you can still learn a lot about martial arts context. You can learn philosophy, you can glimpse similarities between arts, you can learn about the lives of famous martial artists and warriors, history, weapons, and equipment. Having this kind of knowledge can immensly inform your training.

The same goes for watching. I also have a number of martial arts DVDs and Tapes. And we are now seeing an explosion of martial arts on TV, both on reality shows and in dramas. Yes, watching evem a choreographed fight in a movie can be training.

This, however, is not a call to grab a six-pack and cheetos bag to settle into a long marathon of UFC reruns. You have to be actively engaged in reading or watching. then you have to be willing to take your insight onto the mat dring your regular practice to test what you have learned.

If you're getting the sense that "training" is more than perfecting a stepping straight punch, heel stomp kick, or hip throw: you're right.

Everything is training.