@TheDarceKnight do you have your own martial arts dojo? Also, is it safe to take up and learn martial arts now because of covid?
Hey man! Sorry I'm late replying to this.
I don't have a dojo or a gym right now.
I've been doing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Submission Wrestling since 2007 (
) and I left a desk job in 2019 to open my own spot. I was saving up and looking at leases to sign right when Covid hit. It's really derailed my plans, but I do group classes and teach a lot of private lessons at another person's school, and I travel to teach occasional seminars. I do have a BJJ podcast going that's getting a little traction, I still want to have my own school, but I'm gonna wait a bit longer until we're more clearly in a safer endemic and in less of a pandemic. I know too many people that have lost their places during Covid, and it feels like a bigger risk than I want to take right now.
Is it safe to do martial arts right now? I'd say if you're middle aged or younger, and not terribly out of shape then it's probably okay. Especially if you're doing striking arts like Muay Thai, boxing, Karate, and not doing any grappling based arts like BJJ, Judo, or wrestling. I'd say doing a striking art is probably only slightly more risky with Covid than working out a regular gym lifting weights or doing cardio.
The grappling arts have a lot more close physical contact. I've either dodged Covid or had it without symptoms...but most of the people I train with have had one of the variants by now. And I know a couple people that have had it twice.
I sat out 2020, but Jiu-JItsu is the first thing I think about when I wake up and the last thing before bed, and I'm vaxxed and taking the risk unless a scary variant comes back around. Are you thinking about starting something up? It's super fun! Feel free to let me know if I can do anything to help!
Damn the breaks between these season did not feel long at all.
