You love martial arts. You want to practice. But fitting practice time into your schedule isn’t always easy.
Or is it?
Let me ask you a question…
Are you too busy to go to the bathroom? Probably not.
So, what if you practiced your martial arts every time you visited the bathroom?
Stop laughing—I’m trying to help!
Desperate times call for desperate measures. And remember what we talked about in The World Is Your Dojo… you don’t have to be wearing a uniform or standing in a dojo to practice karate. You can train anywhere and everywhere you go.
And that includes the bathroom. Think about it…
- You’re alone.
- No one is watching.
- There’s no time limit.
Well, unless you’re in a crowded Starbucks. But let the caffeine zombies pound on the door and moan all they want. You’re on a martial arts mission!
When you’re standing in the bathroom, perhaps like no other place on earth, you are free to do as you wish. Which means if you truly want to add more practice time to your day—
Do your business and then get down to business!
Here’s the plan…
How many times a day do you go to the bathroom? Let’s say five times: in the morning, at lunch, in the afternoon, around dinner, and before bed.
Now, add three minutes of practice time to each visit.
Just three minutes? Hey—go ahead and add as much time as you want. I’m just getting you started.
Now, let’s do some math.
(3 minutes of practice time) X (5 trips to the bathroom) = 15 minutes per day
(15 minutes a day) X (7 days a week) = 105 minutes per week
You just made over an hour and a half of extra practice time!
But wait! We’re not done yet.
I don’t know about you, but when I was in my 20’s, I slept straight through the night. In my 30’s, I started getting up once a night to use the bathroom. Now, in my 40’s, I sometimes get up twice! (Too much information?)
But for now, let’s just say you get up once a night. That adds three more minutes of practice time per day, which gives you another 21 minutes per week. And that means—
You just found over two hours of extra practice time per week!
And it gets even better!
If you keep this going for an entire year—and why wouldn’t you?—you’ll wind up with a grand total of 6,552 minutes!
That’s 109 hours of practice time you never had before!
Which leads us to a new question…
With all of this extra practice time on your hands, what are you going to do with it? How about…
- Squats and stances?
- Grip training?
- Punching?
- Balancing on one foot?
- Shadow boxing?
- Kata?
- Visualization?
It doesn’t really matter what you do so long as you do something!
For me, turning bathroom time into practice time has really been a life-changer. Instead of being upset when I can’t leave work or escape a lame dinner party to go train, I simply smile and excuse myself to visit the local “dojo”. A few reps later and I feel like a new man!
Just be careful not to KIAI while training in the bathroom or someone will call the fire department and break down the door.
You also don’t want to return to an office meeting with sweat dripping off your forehead. Your co-workers will presume you have contracted the Ebola virus and run screaming.
But seriously, if you want to be the best you can be, fitting practice time into your schedule is a must. And since you already have five or six sessions of private time set aside for yourself every day, why not use them for something more?
Plus, from a lifestyle and self-defense perspective, consider this—
If you want karate to be with you all the time, you have to practice all the time.
Showing up to class a couple times a week gives your training a chance to fade away. But by giving yourself a few purposeful minutes of practice throughout the day, every day, you will keep your martial arts alive.
So, try this dirty secret to make more practice time and start taking class five times a day.
What? A bathroom workout? Hysterical but brilliant!
I’m on it….oooooo…not the toilet….the workout!!!!! 🙂
Ha! Hope it works out. I recommend trying all types of exercise… except deep breathing! 🙂
Funny! Only you would think of this option! Thanks, friend, for thinking of…well….everything!
Oh, I’m thinking all right… not necessarily GOOD thinking, but thinking! Thanks for stopping by, Andrea!
Ossu! [bow]
OK, if I can stop laughing long enough I’ll give it a try 🙂 Just not at a dinner party if I’m wearing a dress…
I prefer the garage (my Sensei’s idea). If you have space for a car, you have space for kata.
[bow]
Osu and Bow to you, KarateMama!
Hey–if you want to be able to defend yourself in a dress, you better practice in a dress! 🙂
Ossu! [bow]
You’re right. I guess if the Suffragettes learned jiu-jitsu in dresses, I can learn to do karate in a dress. Bloomers! That’s what I need to preserve my modesty!!!
[bow]
Hmm… bloomers. I’ll give that a try!
OMG! You know I think you’re brilliant but you may have officially gone over the edge! HAHAHA!
Ha! Over the edge is better than down the tubes… in a swirl! 🙂
Although if we are going to go there… I have been practicing squats for years in the “rest” room so perhaps I am a martial arts geek after all!
Now THAT was over the edge! :O
Ossu! [bow]
Thanks for the laughs!!! Y’all are a riot!
[bow]
Hilarious, probably the funniest martial arts blog I’ve read, but a sound idea at the same time.
Thanks for saying so, Andre! Sometimes the crazy things are the best things! 🙂
Man,this is brilliant.
Thank you
My pleasure, sir! Happy training! 🙂
Way ahead of you Ando! We have a spacious disabled toilet at work where im constantly practicing my kicks, footwork and doing stretches. 🙂 Been doing that for a couple of years now.
Hey Andrew!
YES! The addition of wheelchair accessible bathrooms created thousands of new dojos! Just make sure you bow before you leave! 😉 Keep up the GOOD work!
Gichin Funakhoshi reccomends on his aoutobiography to practice making a fist when youre washing youre hands and they have got soap (close the water meanwhiles), closing and opening the fist as fast as possible. Another masters who used of this new/old dojo. These are pretty convenient ideas 8D When you dont have time or place, you have to be creative : )
Thanks for the tip! It’s truly amazing how adding one or two little training habits into your life can add up into a real skill. Looks like I’ve got a new bathroom habit! 🙂
I hint/suggest this to my students and they’ve looked at me like they want to laugh but don’t want to insult me…
Ha! I completely understand. Hopefully, at least one of them will listen! 🙂
Thanks for the comment, sir!
In my case, it’s the other way around.
I kill myself on the cardio machines every day. Bathroom time means an extra 5 minutes to … meditate!!!! Or, better said, to rest before getting back in the saddle!
Whatever works for you, Ingrid! Keep meditating! 😀
Taekwon sensei, am motivated and feel inspired, triaining in the bathroom is cool,in the morning before bath i do train, i will do some liitle footwork,basic kicks and punches. As in it so cool.
Excellent! I’m glad I’m not the only crazy person training in the bathroom! Keep kicking, sir! 🙂
Hi Sensei,
Your « dirty » secret doesn’t look so crazy to me, maybe because I am as crazy! Any visit to the bathroom is accompanied by a review of a series of tai elbows, defensive and/or offensive kickboxing combinations and footwork, or a simple jab cross hook combination.
Thank you Sir.
Well done, sir! Keep fighting… in the bathroom and out! 😀
I like the advice but in my case I prefer to go first to the bathroom and then start my training routine safely, not being interrupted by an urgent need to go to the emergency (bath)room.
I took a nice 25 minute walk today, well prepared: glasses and a hat to protect me against the famous L.A. sun.
Ingrid! Very funny… and smart! 😀
Also smart to defend yourself against the harmful effects of the sun. Statistically, that’s a bigger threat than a knife attack! Keep fighting, my friend!