Training in Hotels

This week I am staying in a very nice Holiday Inn Express in East Greenbush, NY. I don't consider myself a frequent traveler, but I stay in hotels often enough that I have developed a routine for training while I am away from home. I find it really helps with the stress of whatever has taken me on the road in the first place.

First of all, I always bring specific training clothes with me, to help get me in the right frame of mind. (I find that training in my underwear is not very conducive to hard work.) Usually this consists of an old pair of white uniform pants and a T-shirt from my karate school. I usually show up for breakfast in this, then go to the fitness room for twenty minutes on the stationary bicycle.

Than back up to the hotel room for forms training. This can be tricky if the room is small, and sometimes I end up staying in the fitness room, maneuvering between the treadmill and the elliptical trainer. My current room is pretty big, with an open space about eight feet square by the window, connected to a long narrow corridor between the bed and the dresser. This space is perfect for practicing du mun. Actually I learned du mun in a hotel fitness room last fall right after I received my promotion to Black Belt. It's easy to do in a narrow space, as long as you remember to avoid knocking over the lamp with the opening move.

I didn't bring my wooden practice danto (dagger) with me, so I practiced the danto form with my hairbrush - hey, why not? It has a handle.

Yesterday I was practicing my new form, Chil Sung Sa Rho Hyung. So far I've only learned half the form, with the last few moves being taught during my last class. I got stuck on the last few moves, and I've learned not to plow ahead too aggressively when that happens, or else I may end up inventing something new rather than being faithful to the traditional form. Instead, I called my grandson and he was able to remind me of the correct sequence. Nice having a karate coach right in my own house!

After thirty minutes of forms practice, I stuff my sweaty body into a bathing suit and went to the pool. Hotel pools tend not to be very big, but they don't have to be, for my purposes. As long as the water is about four feet deep I can float around and relax, and then spend some time practicing basic kicks. A hundred roundhouse kicks and fifty side kicks, each leg. Because of the buoyant qualities of water, I can concentrate on refining the form of the kicks without worrying about supporting the whole weight of my leg.

When I finally return to my room to shower and dress, I am ready to face the day.