The 5 Minutes Per Day Practice Regimen

Rhythm is the most important thing to cultivate on the path to mastery. Not intensity, not duration - rhythm.

A Little, Everyday, Becomes a Lot

Many practitioners intend to practice but struggle to follow through. They leave class motivated, but life intervenes. Days pass. When they return to class, the instruction must be repeated.

This creates a discouraging cycle. Progress stalls. Motivation fades.

The solution is simpler than you think: commit to five minutes of daily practice.

Why Five Minutes Works

This minimal time requirement makes practice accessible. It fits into any schedule. Going to bed at 12:30 or 12:35 is really an irrelevant difference.

But that five minutes maintains your connection to the material. It keeps techniques fresh in your body. It preserves the gains you made in class.

Five minutes daily is better than an hour once a week.

Don’t Make Ambition a Barrier

Why do ambitious practice goals often fail?

Many practitioners set unrealistic targets - 30 minutes to one hour daily. They sustain it for a few days, maybe a week. Then they miss a day. And another. Soon they’ve abandoned the commitment entirely.

“I’ll do it tomorrow when I have more time.” Tomorrow never comes.

The five-minute commitment survives these pressures. Miss yesterday? Today’s five minutes is easy to fit in. No elaborate preparation needed. No blocked-out schedule required.

The Real Benefits

Five minutes doesn’t prevent doing more. It overcomes inertia.

Many days, you’ll find that once you’ve started your five minutes, you continue for ten or twenty. The hardest part is starting.

But even on days when five minutes is all you have, that five minutes:

• Maintains mental connection during gaps in intensive practice
• Honors your commitment through consistent action rather than good intentions
• Deserves celebration, regardless of apparent smallness

Start Today

Don’t wait for the perfect moment. Don’t plan an elaborate regimen.

Pick up your sword. Set a timer for five minutes. Practice anything.

Then do it again tomorrow.

That’s it. That’s the whole secret.