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Top Tips to Speed Your Progress in Martial Arts

Writer's picture: Rob PhelpsRob Phelps


  1. Be present in the class - physically and mentally (leave your mental baggage at the door)

  2. Listen - practise - ask - trust (trust the process & your coach)

  3. "Technique before speed" is our motto, so take your time, speed and power come

    later

  4. Make notes - get a notebook and write something of relevance at each class

  5. Train every day, not necessarily in the dojo (training hall), but at home (review your notes)

  6. Follow the process - many quit as they don't see quick improvements or because they hit a lull, anything worth having takes time to acquire, give it time and follow the process!

  7. Look back as well as forward – it’s easy to get disheartened by “everyone being better than you” – but stop every now and then and watch the new starters, only then will you appreciate how far you have come.

  8. Get fitter and stronger - Work on your fitness and muscle tone between classes, if you cannot identify what to work on or how, ask your coach. You’ll need to spend 3 - 5 days per week exercising to make a real difference.

  9. Focus on one Martial Art at a time - you should know in 1-2 sessions whether the coaches, location, pricing, and the art are right for you, after that stick with it.

  10. If things change, then speak with your coaches and discuss your options, you may be surprised to hear that the solution is an easy one.

  11. Train often - Train more than once per week in the dojo (training hall), especially once you reach an intermediate level, this will help with any frustrations you are feeling over a lack of progress.

  12. Help others - don't be presumptuous and a know-it-all and give people a chance to work it out themselves, but then, if a coach is not currently available and you are SURE you know what's wrong, try suggesting "try using your 'other' right arm!"

  13. Join the coaching team - Teaching is a brilliant way to help you internalise the technique - so when offered the chance, get on the coaching programme, and become a Junior Leader or Adult Assistant Club Coach.

  14. Perfect practise - Practise DOES NOT Make Perfect - Practise Makes Permanent.... Perfect Practise Makes Perfect and that requires a coach who knows and understands the art.

  15. Follow your own path – People often start with a friend, but your progress is not linked to theirs, be ready to move forward or even delay, if that is right for you.

  16. Martial arts is about imagination; you must put yourself into the zone or situation

    otherwise you are just “in a padded room in your pyjama’s”.

  17. Train through injuries! – READ IT ALL!! – Injuries will happen during your martial arts

    journey, sometimes unrelated to your training. But it’s very important that you keep

    training, “do what you can whilst working towards being able to do what you want”.

    If you can’t walk hobble, or if it’s your shoulder then walk through the

    techniques. Training whilst injured keeps you “in the game" and keeps that block of

    time allocated to your training, countless students have stopped due to a minor injury

    and the time has been absorbed by life, don’t let that happen to you. However, you

    must also follow a strict regime of rehabilitation, get some expert advice and follow

    that advice, give the injury time to repair and get stronger.


Sensei Rob Phelps 5th Dan. First published March 2022 www.leicesterjujitsu.co.uk

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