The Benefits Of Making Some Time to Train Alone In Martial Arts V.S. Training Martial Arts In a Group Only

This episode of the Martial Art of Self sheds light on the importance of being and working out alone. It is important to build a balance between working on yourself alone and participating in a group. 

Being alone with ourselves puts us in a much different space of self. In this space we are left with ourselves alone: Mind, Body and Being. 

This, in turn, gives us a unique opportunity to get to know parts of us that we otherwise wouldn’t. 

Here I share how working out alone and being alone with myself has created a calm and silenced space inside me where I can explore much more of me, my mind and body. This, in turn, allowed me to perceive new aspects within not only martial arts but other parts of my life.

Music by Fidelis Spies

Episode Transcript

[00:00] Welcome to the Martial Art of Self podcast, a podcast about bringing the essence of martial arts back to self.

[00:12] Hi everyone, this is Aldin and it today’s episode we are talking about working alone, or training alone. What I have realized for myself in having primarily worked out and trained alone in the past couple of months primarily, and more training alone than in groups or classes, is that during one of the training sessions I have seen and realized how beneficial being alone with yourself actually is, and how important it is actually for us to make time to spend alone-time with ourselves where we are not in a class, we are not with a partner training together, or in a class or group where we train together, but where we are completely alone, because what I have seen for myself in that training session and training sessions after that is that by training alone, it is quite different than training in a group. In the sense that when you are alone you are not in a group- or a peer-mindset or consciousness if you will. Where you are mostly bound to the exercises that are given to you to perform by your sifu, by your trainer, by another student. You are not in that sense really free to explore and move based on your inner feeling of yourself and your physical body, or yourself inside your physical body.

[02:14] What I have seen for myself is that when I am training alone versus when I am training in a group or class session is that training alone really puts me more into this — it creates more of this silence, this state of quietness, of calmness, of presence, of here wherein in that state of presence, of quietness, of here that gets created through training alone primarily, or more so than in a group session is that in that state it allows me to look at my inner movements. Meaning whatever mental processes, or emotional-feeling processes, thought processes, etc. that I am going through, that are happening within myself, that are going on within myself. As well as my physical experiences, and physical movements, pains, certain physical sensations on the skin, inside the body, certain physical involuntary movements, such as twitches, jerks, etc. that happens within and as my physical body. It allows me to look at them more objectively and analyze them, self-reflect and self-investigate them. I really come more in contact, in a more intimate relationship with these inner and outer movements that are happening within myself and my human physical body.

[04:05] Versus when I am training in a group session, or when I am training in a class as I have said I am more in that group-consciousness, that group-mindset where the focus is shifting more towards the exercise, and the execution of the exercise. Making sure the exercise is correct that has been given to you.  Making sure that the other person is also executing the exercise properly, as well as them making sure you are executing the exercise properly. You making sure you are executing your exercise properly and so on.

[04:47] So, there is definitely much, much less to almost none space or room for creating that specific state within yourself, where you come in contact with yourself to actually in self-awareness, actively, self-reflect, self-investigate and get to know and see and feel and give yourself time and space to investigate these inner and outer self-, mind- and physical movements that are happening within and inside yourself.

[05:30] That is a very, very important point to be able to come more in contact with yourself, with your inner movements, with whatever is going on in yourself, your mind, your physical body, and really get to know these parts of yourself as yourself, and create more of a self-understanding. Therefore why it’s important to do have and make time and space for yourself to do train and exercise alone, so that you can work on yourself alone, so that you can work on your inner relationship towards yourself, towards your mind, towards your physical body.

[06:19] So, for me, the training and the training alone is and has a lot to do with connecting with myself primarily. Having that space, that freedom to explore the movements inside my physical body, and express them through outer movements like a punch, or a kick, or a step, or a different other movement, and not be bound to and by specific sets or ways of performing a kick, or ways of performing a punch, or ways of performing a step, or generally ways of movement, but have that freedom to feel myself inside my body and feel the expression of myself coming through within and as my human physical body. Get to know that feel and find a way to channel that self-sensation, that self-feel into an outer physical movement in the form of a punch, the form of a kick, step, or general other movements.

[07:31] Therefore, I have found for myself that it’s very, very important to make at least three to four times a week the space and the time to be alone and work out alone, and train alone, and have that self-time. Have that time where I can work on my self-analyzing, self-investigation, self-retrospection of myself, my inner movements in myself, my mind and my physical, and have that space of freedom to explore my inner movements and find ways to channel them into the outer movements in forms of punches, kicks, steps and general other ways of movement in and for the martial arts, and not be bound to and limited by specific sets, or ways of punching, ways of kicking, ways of stepping, and ways of moving.

[08:39] Thank you for listening to the Martial Art of Self podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, then please subscribe and leave a review on iTunes. You can also follow this podcast on Twitter and Instagram. For more information about the Martial Art of Self, please visit martialartofself.com