First month done

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Well, that's January gone, and 100% success in training!

Some of the things I noticed this month were:

  • finding time to practise.  On almost everyday there was a period of time (usually after dinner) that I could put aside for training
  • organisation is king.  Even though I didn't always stick to my weekly training structure, it gave me a framework to guide me and keep me on-track.  No training session felt like a wasted opportunity
  • core-strength work.  Pushups, crunches and kettlebells.  I feel better, and my movement and efficacy of techniques is smoother and improved.
  • half an hour is often not enough for changing or examining something.  When I was working on saifa this month and, having identified things that needed fixing, I started working on them, half an hour felt empty and unsatisfactory.  Longer sessions of an hour gave me the mental and physical "space" to work on it properly.  The shorter sessions I felt were better for bag work, or running over well-known kata to keep them current.
  • It required a mental push to get myself out there every day for the first week, but by the end of the month, I was doing it without even thinking - repetition forms habits! (gee, where have I heard that before?)
  • It was/is important to plan ahead so that events/changes to daily routine don't shut-out training for that day.  I've had to get up a couple of times before 6am so far, otherwise there would have been no other time to train.
Bring on February!

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