Kickboxing London | The martial arts place

We all need pointers for our training no matter what the sport, especially as beginners. It’s important to develop good habits early on – and of course to avoid bad habits!
In the first of his three articles, Sensei Russell Cronk has put together his top training tips to bear in mind before your class starts.

“I recommend these tips for all beginners, although, there are things that everyone should bare in mind – no matter your experience. It’s easy to forget the basics!”

1) Turn up on time for your training or early if you can. Of course, we all run late now and again but there are lots of reasons for making the effort to arrive early and get the most from your class

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• The beginning of the class is very important because it’s when we warm our bodies, get into the training mindset and prepare ourselves for serious training.

• Instructors aren’t impressed by people who regularly turn up late for class. It shows a lack of respect towards the instructor and the class. If you are often late then perhaps this explains why you always get paired-up with the really sweaty guy in class

• You’ve paid for a whole class, so don’t waste your money by turning up ten minutes late and missing out.

Arriving early gives you time to be able to concentrate in your class and absorb everything that you’re being taught. If you’re running late and have to rush straight into the class, you may be flustered and not have the best of classes.

2) Stretch by yourself before the class starts or run through some of your pairs techniques with a partner. Make the most of your time at the Dojo and don’t just sit reading a magazine or staring out into space whilst you wait for your class to start

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3) Bring some water to class and make sure you’ve eaten something that day. That might sound obvious but it’s the number one reason for people feeling unwell during a workout

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4) Bring correct and clean uniform, for beginners this entails bringing your gloves and boots with your traiing top and trousers.  As you become more advanced you’ll also need shin pads, gum shields, chest and groin guards.

Uniform hygiene is important, regular washing of your tops and trousers will keep them smelling as fresh as a daisy and airing out your boots and gloves will help them last longer! As modelled in our photos, Sensei Marco (left) is wearing clean and correct uniform, Sensei Phil (right) is not! Tying your belt neatly and correctly is also important (see photos).

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5) Make sure you have eaten something before coming to train, ideally you should have eaten around 90 minutes before a lesson to allow your body to use this food as fuel.  Skipping meals before training puts you at risk of fainting or at the very least not being able to give 100% during your lesson

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In his next article Sensei Russell will be discussing his top training tips for students DURING their lesson.