Outdoor Training for Martial Artists
During the period of closed gyms and limited activities, we learned that it can be great fun to fit in an outdoor training session, especially with the lovely weather we have been having lately.
Of course, we can all go walking, cycling, running, and so on, but as a martial artist, you naturally sometimes want to do something different as well.
Of course, follow the rules imposed by the RIVM and train only with your partner, children, or housemates, while keeping sufficient distance from one another.
Starting with a running workout and some light stretching exercises is perfectly fine, but throw some pads, jump rope, a medicine ball, and preferably a large kicking shield into your sports bag and take them with you.
Training with Punching Mitts
Pad work is great fun and can easily be done together while keeping sufficient distance. With children and beginners, you can use inexpensive punching mitts, but for adults, we do recommend spending a little more on somewhat more durable punching mitts.
You will truly enjoy them for many times longer. We recommend pads such as the Booster BPM2. They are really fantastic! You can have a lot of fun with the small focus pads, so that investment will quickly pay for itself.
And let's be honest... for the rest, we are living quite frugally at the moment.
'Focus pads', small (often round) kicking shields that can be used to practise countless exercises and techniques, are highly enjoyable and also very good for training.
The larger kicking shields are also very useful, especially for children, beginners, or when training powerful techniques.
Hard Kicks on Large Kicking Shields
A large kicking shield is an absolute blast. Let loose with low kicks, front kicks, side kicks, and round kicks. And while you're at it, why not practise those more difficult spinning back kicks and 360-degree kicks as well?
You can also use the kicking shield as an additional training tool during the warm-up and training session. Place the shield flat on the ground and use it as an obstacle to jump over forwards and sideways.
It also works perfectly as the bench we normally have in the gym. These jumps greatly improve your conditioning and jumping power. Your legs will soon start burning.
Besides catching (hard) kicks, you can use the kicking shield for many other exercises: hold the shield at chest height (and gradually move it higher), jump up onto it with both feet at the same time, and pull your knees up so that you tap the shield.
As you do this more often, you will notice that your leg strength, volume, and jumping power increase enormously.
Would you like to add a little more play to your training with children (or grown men, it makes no difference ;) )? Use the shield as a ramming or pushing pad to push away Dad or that big, strong partner in rugby style. In short, with a little creativity, there are plenty of variations to come up with for an enjoyable outdoor training session with a large kicking shield.
Technical Exercises
Would you like to work more specifically on your footwork or on evading techniques through body movement (bobbing and weaving)? Stretch a cord (or long budo band) between 2 poles or trees, or hold it together at shoulder height.
Stand at the beginning of the cord in a fighting stance and move slowly forward to the other side while continuously moving under the cord, in 'bobbing & weaving' style, with your eyes facing forward.
And for the martial artists among us, now is also a great time to perfect those breaking techniques with our reusable plastic breaking boards in various thicknesses.
For highly enthusiastic martial artists, we also have various kicking cords and fitness bands to make training your legs and glutes really challenging. Use these during your training and you will emerge from your training regimen like a real beast!
Dummies and Punching Bags
Nowadays, besides traditional punching bags, there are also 'dummies' on the market. These are freestanding striking dummies filled with sand or water. The advantage of these dummies and/or a punching bag is that you can always train without a partner.
Moreover, you can perform techniques as hard as you like without injuring someone else. They are of such high quality that you can easily place them in your garden and, if you can afford it, really go all out on them.
Skipping rope, abdominal exercises, and the like are also perfectly doable, so we should not use this crisis as an excuse to get out of shape. Osu, Ush, Taekwon, and train hard!
