I'm in a different training groove at the moment. Previously, I had been trying to balance mornings and lunchtimes between my Wing Chun training and working on my websites. What I had been doing was alternating mornings (when I have a full hour and a half to work with) between "doing Wing Chun" and "doing websites", and whichever activity I did in the morning, I would do the other one at lunch.

So I had something like this:

This was good for Wing Chun, as I got 3 mornings devoted to training, and I could spend an hour and a half (less travelling/changing time) doing it. The problem was that I have a sedentary job that involves me being stuck in front of a computer from 9 to 5:30. Lunchtimes are ideal for getting a real break from sitting down staring at a computer monitor. Having a break halfway through the day where you do some physical exercise is a great way to relieve stress and stop you from going mad.

On the other hand, sitting in front of a computer at lunchtime doing more computer work, when I've already done half a day of the same, is a great way to build up stress levels and go stir crazy.

So, I've decided to sacrifice my huge morning Wing Chun sessions for working on my websites and I'm now doing my Wing Chun training every lunchtime. In real terms, this reduces my WC training time from one hour to half an hour. That might sound like a big cut, but one of the benefits is that I keep my sanity. Doing an extra hour and a half of computer work before I start my real job and having a physical break at lunchtime feels much better than having the physical break in the morning and then working all the way through.

As for Wing Chun training, 30 minutes every day is not as much as I'd like but it's more than nothing, and more than a lot of people put in. And it's consistent, regular training time.

This is turning into a pep talk.

I also work on my dummy on Monday nights, Tuesday nights, alternate Thursday nights and Fridays nights too. These little sessions are maybe 20 minutes to 30 minutes long. Add on to that my Saturday class and I'm looking a little less lazy.

I think "little and often" summarises my training plan at the moment. But there's a lot to be said for doing a little bit of Wing Chun every day. I think also that the way you train makes a big difference. I'm focusing more than I used too (take, for example, my new method of training Tsum Kiu). I've got 5 half hour slots every week. If I decide to practice one different thing in each session, that's half an hour for each one. I don't know about you, but 30 minutes of punching practise is enough for me. 30 minutes of leg training is also adequate. So you can actually get a lot done in those 5 slots.

As always, it's all about structuring your training to get the best use of time. Train smart etc.