With the spread of the Coronavirus most of us in the US, on the west coast at least, are unable to go to class and train in groups due to various levels of lockdown measures. Jiujitsu is unlike most arts such as most striking and weapons arts. It requires a partner to train and drill. So what do we do? Jujitsu takes up a large part of our life and when we cant train we have a void. But, life goes on. Yet we can still sharpen the weapon, so to speak. Because there’s so many workouts online though I’m not going to layout a work out plan.
Rather, this is a list of general ideas and principles of things to work on while you’re unable to train due to the Coronavirus lockdown.
Mobility And Flexibility
There are drills which can be dedicated to improving in specific skill sets based around certain principles. For instance, John Danaher recently released a free DVD of solo drills, specifically to help BJJ athletes deal with the Coronavirus lockdown. Do you have a heavy bag? Work some movement drills on it for top and side control. Don’t have a heavy bag? You can always make a grappling dummy of your own using a few things lying around the house. Also focus on those muscular areas where things are always tight. Stretch. A lot. Several times a day if possible.
Power
Well crap. We can’t go to the gym because its closed, and not all of us have heavy bags and battle ropes, but do you have a tree in the yard? Push against it. Gable grip it and try to uproot it. Static or isometric training is very good, if not one of the best ways to develop functional strength. There’s a ton of bodyweight exercises that can be used with absolutely no training equipment beyond a stool or bench.
Explosiveness
A lot of us BJJ athletes aren’t able to shoot a solid double leg, or get the good position out of a scramble when we need to because were a bit more sluggish than we should be. Why not use this free time to fix that? If you have a heavy bag, work some boxing type stamina drills to grow the tank. If not, maybe try to run some hill sprints.
Stamina And Endurance
A lot of us might get winded or fatigued quickly. We shoot in or stuff a shoot and after a short fight we find ourselves gulping air hoping our partner is worse off than us. If we work the stamina idea in with our explosive power, well find they work together to bring huge overall benefits. You get one with the other. But an often overlooked area is breathing control. When we focus on our breathing and how to best improve air and blood flow, the body responds. Not everyone responds to the training the same way however. This forced rest period is the best time to research this aspect and experiment if this strategy is something that can work for you.
Nutrition And Hydration
I’m not going to talk at length about food and water. It’s fairly obvious anyway and there’s so many resources that can explain it far more in depth than I can. A good start would just be not to eat and drink shit. It takes a little time and some conscious effort to sort out your diet, so why not start now when you’ve got nothing better to do?
Enjoy The Time With Loved Ones
Stop freaking out and worrying about Jiujitsu. Spend time with your kids. Teach them things. Laugh at the things they do. Hang out with your parents. Spend time with your spouse. Let them tell you what they want you to be more like, and accept it. Grow. Become a better person. Martial arts don’t make us better, we make us better. Do good deeds for the older or vulnerable people in your life and neighborhood. This is a hard time. Deal with it.
We were fortunate enough to get an insider’s perspective on what it’s like to be training in the midst of the Coronavirus outbreak, click here to find out more.
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