Update 4/9/2020
I am closing this post to add individual posts on “How to” rather than “Why” train in isolation.
Update 4/3/2020
I hate running! I haven’t really run since high school track and cross country. The weather hasn’t been particularly favorable but work-at-home affords the opportunity to take more breaks with the confined kids. Training has migrated to cardio and trying some basic wrestling tie-ups as I cheat but still get slammed by my teenager as I try posting up. Getting shikaku is not particularly useful in basketball…
Jogging in my sidewalkless neighborhood means navigating the autos, bikes, and other people. Social distancing means anticipating vectors and approach speeds: maai. My wife admonishes me as I approach a blind corner, but I am listening and watching the shadows on the ground to tell me what I cannot directly see. Training reminder: Use every available environmental cue, not just the obvious!
When we pass others, we are the ones who move aside to give distance. “Why are we always the ones who move?” my wife asks. For her, it’s about etiquette and power. For me, it’s about initiative—dictating the terms of the encounter. Yet these small interactions reveal something deeper: social distancing has begun to reshape instinct. We are rehearsing new heuristics—heightened mistrust of strangers, moralizing over proximity, and the quiet policing of each other’s behavior. Righteousness requires certainty, and certainty is the death of intelligent discourse.
Update 3/30/2020
And so a question to ask yourself: have you been training at all? Without external structure have you allowed yourself to simply do nothing? Discipline is difficult. Excellence is a habit. Keep training!
Update 3/28/2020
Social distancing and home confinement may keep us physically separated for some time. Time to refine those attack skills – close the gap!
Update 3/24/2020
Practice at the grocery store: maai (engagement distance). Aikido is a long-range art and now is the perfect time to refine your visual recognition of proper maai. Recommended social distancing is 6′ which you should all recognize as the starting maai for most kumitachi before the weapons engage. As a tactical exercise, scan the isles and envision how you can navigate with the least amount of proximity. I look at it like a room clearing exercise. Slice the pie!
ORIGINAL POST – March 14, 2020
The coincidence of a late (for Portland) snow and the spread of Covid 19 certainly fosters a bunker mentality.
Although I always keep a stock of supplies in case of an earthquake, this was an impetus to buy even more perishables and comfort food reserves. The cold also provided extra natural refrigeration. So fully provisioned, the next challenge is staying physically and mentally active.
The children are home and are preemptively experiencing cabin fever, ironically wanting to go out and visit with friends more than they would if it were just a normal spring break. Knowing that there is a preclusion on doing what you do normally makes it more attractive?
So, does enforced deprivation make the urge to train grow?
I have several articles on solo training because this is a challenge I have had to think about over the years. How to train an energetic art when partners are not readily available? Aikido doesn’t have kata but you can certainly replicate the movements without a partner. This is an opportunity to visualize and refine your mental models. Importantly, use the time to train weapon forms: learn to do a perfect cut with a bokken and thrust with the jo. Just don’t stagnate!
I am sure that once this Covid-induced shock passes, that most of the planet will blithely return to normalcy – the inevitable regression to the mean. But I hope that you fellow warriors are learning from this.
First: governmental actions will not save you. You are your first responsibility. By taking care of you, you can take care of those closest to you and who depend on you. You have a moral obligation to remain healthy so you can be part of the solution and not exacerbate the problem.
Second: recognize the threat. This is not an emotional response – warriors plan and prepare so that you can act. Execute the plan.
Third: train the plan. Are you running about stocking up on supplies, or did you already have adequate reserves?
Recognize that this particular outbreak is neither unique nor will it be the last. And recognize that the mortality rate (still being calculated) is statistically low but needs an appropriate response plan.[1] An ounce of prevention… And that is the entire reason you should be training. Remain vigilant!
Virtūs et Honos
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[1] We are watching an echo ripple across the globe. With the latency of symptom onset, we are looking two-weeks back with every reported case. Normally my skeptical nature would muse about an Illuminati conspiracy, using a pandemic as a global scare-campaign to see it they could assert control over the planet, but I have family on the front lines and they report colleagues (not in the high risk category) already in the ICU outside of Chicago area weeks ahead of the mandated closures.
Protective Arts 