Big time. For someone who can’t sit still and focus on one thing for more than 30 seconds, solo training has always been an uphill struggle.
In the world of JKD and Kali, variety was my greatest ally. If kickboxing wasn’t holding my attention or motivation I’d move to the dummy, if that wasn’t floating my boat I’d work some weaponry, or hit the mat.....you get the idea.
My life at present is monopolised by Boxing, which in one sense is good because of the focus, but in another sense the variety has been lost. Run, skip, shadowbox, hit the bag, conditioning. That’s pretty much your lot, over and over again, day in day out. What personally keeps me motivated and focussed is knowing that there is going to be a guy in the ring waiting to take my head off. Fear is a great motivator, and what gets me through my solo training is my imagination. I try to go through every motion, scenario, and emotion of the fight. Its not just a run, its not just skipping, I’m not just hitting the air or a bag, and its not just sit ups – its all me against him.
If you don’t fight, or maybe even spar in your art or gym, there are still other ways to get this emotion. We all have our demons, we all have our stresses and pressures, we all have our buttons that can be pushed. It can always be you vs whatever is inside you.
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