by I-mon on Fri May 10, 2019 3:44 pm
I think this is almost two questions, or it could help to answer it for two separate demographics. So, the stated purpose is to help our TJQ, and we're wondering about supplementary activities.
Firstly, since TJQ is a highly specialised physical discipline, does the practitioner already have a good base of all-round physical health and competence? If not (ie if there are any *major* deficiencies in their strength, mobility, coordination, or cardiovascular health) then the best, quickest, and easiest way for them to improve literally every aspect of their entire life including their TJQ, is to put in a small amount of extra time each week to improve those major deficits. 30 minutes two or three times a week of alternating walking-jogging (or swimming, cycling, skipping, whatever, but make it *easy*) at low but slightly raised heart rates, whole-body strength training using weights or bodyweight, is not much, but there is an overwhelming amount of evidence which shows that it will massively improve recovery times, sleep, digestive health, energy levels, functioning of literally every organ system including the brain, etc. So it will 100% make your TJQ better. I agree that *too much* of some of these sorts of training will take precious time away from skill development in your art (in this case TJQ), and also create tension patterns which may be detrimental to your practice, but TJQ or any other highly specialised physical discipline - especially a martial art - should be built upon a good base of physical health and competence, otherwise your development will be far slower than it could be.
Once more, because the point is often lost: if you're not doing just a little bit of the above, then doing just a little bit every week will have huge effects on every aspect of your life and on your ability to practice your art. I wish so badly that I had understood this when I was 20. I think all of us know it by now, but most of us are still in denial.
So that's the easy part. For the second demographic, who already have a good solid base of physical health and competence, whole-body strength, mobility, cardiovascular health (ie the low-hanging fruit have already been picked), the question is I think much trickier. Or maybe much simpler - maintain your base, and then just do your art! I would still suggest that especially for people who are approaching or past middle age, something involving more challenging dynamic footwork patterns and reactive spatial skills or coordination is going to be really helpful, again just a little bit, to keep the brain sharp. Whether that's juggling and learning new patterns or throwing and catching a ball against a wall or skipping with different footwork patterns or casually playing soccer or squash or table tennis, anything where we're dynamic and reactive and our footwork and hand-eye coordination and spatial skills are all challenged.