Solo Training: For the Solo Practitioner

Greetings,

This was going to be a post about finding a local group and what consists of a good group with local contacts in my local area, but I changed my mind. I figured that there is a lot of information out there about how to find a local group for doing Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA) in what ever particular flavour you are looking for. Less, on the other hand, is said about the solo practitioner and how a person is to go it alone. Luckily we have the internet and faster communications which makes things easier, but there are still times when it is necessary to do things solo.

Sometimes a group is not convenient to get to. Sometimes the group does not mesh well with you, or is not studying what you are interested in. There are lots of reasons for going it alone. Sometimes it is just necessary for you to start the research into a particular form on your own to get a handle on it before involving other people. Every one of these is a valid reason for going it alone and you should not be ashamed for any of them.

The first thing that the future solo practitioner should note is that it is a hard road, but it is also rewarding as well. Groups have some support mechanisms which are absent when studying or practicing alone. All of the work falls to you, but in the end so do all of the rewards of that work. You can stand there at the end and say that you did it. Each advance is something that you did on your own and each advancement is an achievement in its own right.

In studying alone or practicing alone there are many choices to make, and all of them are open. There is no one to sway you from one path to another or make any other determinations. In the same way there also equally as many chances to be distracted. This is where you need to keep with what you are doing. ...

The rest of this article can be found in Un-Blogged: A Fencer's Ramblings by Henry Walker, which is available in paperback from:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Blogged-Ramblings-Henry-Leigh-Walker/dp/098764470X
Booktopia: https://www.booktopia.com.au/un-blogged-henry-leigh-walker/book/9780987644701.html
Among other places...

It is also available in electronic format (pdf) from: https://buy.stripe.com/fZecP419c7CB9VKeUV

... or direct from the author.