2018 Martial Arts Year in Review

2018 was my third full year practicing martial arts, since my return in January 2016. About a year ago I posted my 2017 Martial Arts Year in Review, reporting some statistics on my training and how I spent that time.

Krav Maga

In 2018 I began my third year of training at First Defense Krav Maga in Herndon, VA. I started the year as a P4.

Prior to my P5 test in March, I participated in 29 formal Krav Maga classes. (I had trained 58 hours since my P4 test.)

Between my P5 test and my G1 test in December, I participated in 91 Krav Maga classes.

After my G1 test and through the end of December, I participated in 3 Krav Maga classes.

That is a total of roughly 123 hours of regular Krav Maga classes, down from 130 in 2017 and 144 in 2016.

In addition to regular classes, in July I attended a seminar with Master Eyal Yanilov on countering active shooters.

That is a total of roughly 3 hours of special events, down from 93 in 2017 and 73 in 2016. Combined with my formal classes, I spent 126 hours training Krav Maga in 2018, down from 223 in 2017 and 217 in 2016.

I removed myself from the Krav Maga instructor's program in late 2017 and I did not teach any classes in 2018.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

I continued studying Jiu-Jitsu in 2018 but stopped training mid-year due to changes at work and in my ability to study and prepare for tests in two different systems. I spent 35 hours in formal classes plus 15 hours in weekend test preparation workshops and 1 hour in a private class.

I also trained outside of formal classes.

In February I spent 3 hours with Rigan Machido at his seminar in Woodbridge, VA.

In February I also spent 2 hours with Relson Gracie at his seminar in Leesburg, VA.

In May I spent 1 1/2 hours at the Pedro Sauer spring camp in Herndon, VA.

In June I spent 2 hours with Ryron Gracie at his seminar in Leesburg, VA.

Adding these 8 1/2 hours to my 51 class hours, I spent just under 60 hours as a student in Jiu-Jitsu in 2018, half of the 120 I spent in 2017.

I did not test for my blue belt in 2018. That was one of my goals at the beginning the of the year, but I abandoned it mid-year.

Other Martial Arts

I did not train any other arts in 2018. In 2017 I spent 16 hours in other arts.

Other Training

In September 2017 I began practicing Yoga at East Meets West Yoga Center. I continued in 2018, attending 24 hours of practice. In 2017, I attended 14 hours of yoga.

Summary

Adding up all of the time I spent in formal training in 2018, the total was approximately 210 hours, down from 463 hours in 2017 (376 hours without instruction), and 300 hours in 2016.

Only looking at training hours, about 60% involved Krav Maga (the same as 2017) and 29% involved Jiu-Jitsu (32% in 2017). The last 11% involved yoga.

Looking Forward

I am considering a visit to a nearby Jiu-Jitsu school to see if that fits with my current schedule, interests, and physical condition. Looking back briefly, I can see that I missed chunks of training time due to various injuries. I am not sure how much I can commit to training outside of Krav Maga, which I consider my core art at the moment.

At some point I may have to shift more time to yoga, as that activity has the least negative impact on my joints. I do not want to sacrifice the cardio exercise I get with KMG, however.

I am not sure about my testing plan for KMG this year. If I do test, I think it will only be for G2, no earlier than June and possibly as late as December. Now that I have passed G1, I have met my KMG rank goal.

How did you spend your training time in 2018? Stay informed of new blog posts by following me on Twitter @martialvitality.