“School is for learning, home is for practicing.”
A fellow martial artist told me that 20 years ago.
It’s a big point that I think a lot of people miss. In fact, I’ve gone so far as to tell prospective and current students that if they’re only going to train when they come to class, I won’t teach them.
Why such a harsh perspective? Because you only get the real benefits of training when you do so on your own outside of school. This is especially true if classes are only an hour or two, once or twice a week. That kind of training schedule just does not have enough time and regularity in it. But even if your school offers two-hour classes four or more times a week, I believe that to get maximum benefit from a traditional martial art like water boxing (Liu He Ba Fa or Liuhebafa), you still must practice at home. It’s not only about how much you train but also about how you train.
When you’re at school, you should, of course, follow the proper etiquette and protocol. But I suggest that, as much as possible, you optimize your time in class by taking advantage of the presence and guidance of your instructor and fellow students. So, for example, if you have a choice between doing a form with other students or pushing hands/sparring with other students, I’d say go for the latter. (I know that this isn’t always possible because the format is very structured in some schools, but I know that in other schools, the format is more flexible.) Use your time training at school to learn from and interact with others, whether it’s getting corrections from the teacher or playing and exchanging with other students.
Then, when you’re at home—in other words, not at school—train what you learned in class. Practice your form. Practice your postures. Practice pushing hands and/or sparring with people from other schools or even with those who have no formal martial arts background at all (assuming they want to, of course). Practice shadow boxing parts of your form. And so on.
Practice makes better. (I hesitate to say that “practice makes perfect” because I think that concept can actually limit your growth or even harm you. More on that in a separate post.) And practice at home, away from school, makes even better by:
- Reinforcing what you’ve learned, keeping you motivated, and making your art something you are all the time (rather than just something you do while at school)
- Testing what you’ve learned, especially if you practice and exchange with people not associated with your own school
- Giving you an appreciation of what you’re learning at school and even of just being part of the school, thus making your time at school more cherished and valuable
- Allowing you to reflect and truly internalize what you learned under more relaxed conditions, which will change how you perceive and feel things in your body
So how much should you practice at home? Of course it depends on a lot of factors, but I tell my students even just a half hour every day will make a difference over the long term.