Receiving individual and group instruction in self-defense is obviously a huge benefit to the student.
It can help you develop the techniques you need to defend yourself against a real street attack.
There is no argument that this is the best route to take when looking to master the skills you need for self-protection.
Not everyone, however, has those opportunities.
Maybe you don’t have the time, maybe you don’t have the money, or maybe there’s some other reason you can’t go to your local martial arts school to train each week.
In many cases, the training that you have in your area may not even be something that’s practical enough to save your life in a violent attack.
This leads more and more people to turn to quality DVD instruction in the combat arts, and to take advantage of whatever else they can to train.
Often, this means solo training drills.
But how can you improve your self-defense skills on your own, through solo training drills, to make yourself a better fighter?
What drills can you do that will hone your reflexes, improve your timing and targeting, and keep your power strikes on track to make you a fighting machine?
There are three critical pieces of equipment that can make your solo training drills more effective, even on a tight budget.
Solo Training Drills Equipment: The Heavy Bag
The first item that makes your solo training drills more effective is the heavy bag.
You can get a heavy bag almost anywhere, from your local sporting goods store, to online retailers, to online classifieds (where exercise and fitness equipment is often available very cheaply when it is previously owned).
The heavy bag is really a very versatile tool for solo training drills.
Using a heavy bag in your solo training drills, you can work power and you can work speed.
You can practice both punches and kicks.
You can make it move and strike it as you pass it or as it passes you.
You can take it off its hook and use it on the ground to simulate a ground fighting scenario.
You can also use it on the ground to facilitate training low-line kicking.
Solo Training Drills Equipment: The Mirror
A mirror makes your solo training drills more effective because it gives you vital feedback.
If you do a technique wrong, it will show you.
If you do that technique right, it will show you that, too.
If you want to do a combination, and you don’t have an instructor, you can use a training DVD or a qualified online instructor and them replicate what you see in the mirror.
Solo Training Drills Equipment: Your Imagination
The final solo training drills tool is your imagination.
This one is the most important when training by yourself.
You need to be able to picture that assailant in front of you, in the air, on the bag, on the ground, or wherever you happen to be.
See his attacks. See him blocking you.
See his reaction.
It will take you a little while to get there, but once your imagination is developed, it will be well worth it and it will enhance your solo training drills immensely.
