The One Year Plateau: The First Real Challenge Of The Novice

[ChangWuJi]

"The study of Martial Arts is all about setting and overcoming goals in order to improve and develop. The very first of these goals is the decision one makes to begin study. A lot of people are in the “I would love to but don’t have the time/money/opportunity/etc.” camp. Excuses are always easier than actually embarking upon an endeavour...

 

However, those that really want to become a martial artist will eventually realise that the excuses are no longer valid and they will seek out a school. A process will probably begin where they investigate various forms of martial arts and educate themselves on the possibilities. Eventually they will take that first leap and begin their training. For this they should be highly praised; it’s a big, bold step and one that will set them on a lifelong path of self-discovery and self-development, hopefully leading on to them helping the discoveries and development of others.

 

Then comes the next hurdle – sticking to it. A very large number of people new to the martial arts get something of a rude awakening when they discover the level of hard work and commitment that is required to do well as a martial artist. In my experience, maybe one in ten “new recruits” don’t last the first three months. Of those that do last three months, only a handful will go on to develop into committed martial artists. The path certainly isn’t for everyone, though many of us find that hard to believe!

 

In those first three months a person with no previous training will discover just how unfit they may be, but within three months their fitness levels will increase dramatically. In those first three months a person will discover just how inflexible they are, but those three months will help them to make remarkable gains in their flexibility. The same applies for strength, co-ordination, confidence, understanding, memory. Almost all aspects of our lives are enhanced by dedicated martial arts study.

 

At this point many people are little more than hobbyists, using the martial arts as a fun distraction, an enhancement of health and fitness and a basis for confidence regarding general self defence. This is a great achievement and should certainly be applauded. However, there are also those that realise how much more can be gained and they begin to train hard every day, thinking about every aspect of their training. It gets under their skin and into their mind and everything is thought of in the aspect of martial arts. In some ways this is a kind of obsession, but it’s a healthy obsession and it’s at this point that those people start to become martial artists, rather than people that do martial arts. A seemingly small, but actually enormous difference.

 

For the people that survive this initial three months and find themselves inexorably on that path of being a martial artist that leads so many of us, a whole new vista of possibilities opens up. Incredible gains are made, many new skills are learned and a person slowly develops the depth and unique ‘accent’ of themselves as a martial artist.

 

This leads us on to the titled subject of this article – that one year plateau. When a person is completely inexperienced in something, anything he or she learns is a great gain. From not knowing how to make a fist, to learning the techniques of finger and thumb placement, wrist alignment, and so on, is a large gain in knowledge achieved over a relatively short period of time. From not knowing how to kick to developing your first accurate, powerful front kick is an enormous gain, again learned fairly quickly. Inside the first year of daily hard work and diligent study a person can make quantum leaps, developing a truly impressive ability as a martial artist compared to a person with no training.

 

So at this point, around the first year or eighteen months of training, we come across the first real challenge of a developing martial artist. The battle to overcome the ego begins. A person at this stage is often very pleased and impressed with their progress, as well they should be; they have certainly achieved an awful lot. But the ego is a dangerous thing. A good teacher should be able to recognise in a student this level of self-congratulation. That teacher should encourage the student’s motivation and drive, but they should also attempt to remind the student that the path they are on is endless and that this achievement is very small in the life of a dedicated martial artist. They should be reminded that they have barely scratched the surface.

 

It is important to temper this first burst of ego as, in every walk of life, a great high is usually followed by a great low and this great low is that first plateau in training. The kind of great leaps and bounds of development that a beginner experiences can not, by definition, last much beyond that first year or eighteen months. Once the basics have been covered and developed, the intricacies of fine tuning, repetitive practice and internal development begin to appear. At this stage a student can begin to feel that they are not learning like they were before. They can feel that they are slowing down in their knowledge consumption, and indeed they are. This is the low that grows from that first plateau.

 

At this point a student must realise that the path is long and they have a lot of hard work to do. A teacher should encourage the student to realise that they still have an unbelievable amount to learn and that new skills and abilities will continue to come their way. Just a little slower and with a little less revelation than they did before. But, though rarer, I don’t think the epiphanies ever end!

 

In the same way that a lot of new students leave within the first three months because they don’t become Jet Lee straight away, a lot of students also leave after the first year or so, disillusioned with something that at first seemed like so much fun and so rewarding. A student needs to learn, and should be taught, that their development is more rewarding the longer and harder they work, and that plateaus are going to be a regular feature of their training. They should be seen as a challenge and not as something discouraging. Knowledge that these plateaus will occur is the first step to overcoming them. Of course, it’s then back to the old adage – kung fu. Hard work.

 

The monk Choy Fook said that six years training in the martial arts is a small achievement and that ten years training is a moderate achievement. And he was talking about training full-time. Don’t let that first plateau, or any of the numerous subsequent plateaus, discourage you. Prepare for them, overcome them and move on. That’s kung fu. "

 

 

[owthathurts]

That was awesome!

 

*applause*

[Karateka_latino]

Very Good posting, friend.

[KickChick]

very nice! Couldn't have said it better myself!

 

There are too many demands put upon us nowadays...job (getting ahead), kids (and their social activities), school (studies), family (and whatewver that entails), spouse/sig. other....and just the idea of immediate gratification that people have in their heads these days. If it takes time to see results or to develop a technique then forget it. I want it now! I see alot of what you have written in your post ChangWuJi ....students joining for a number of different reasons and then again quitting because it hasn't fulfilled whatever goal they were shooting for ...or maybe it is too demanding for them.

 

You have to be 'bitten' by the bug! You gotta want it bad!! You gotta work hard to achieve.... you gotta balance it all to make it work for you... are there many of us still out there?

 

 

[Ahazmaksya]

Great Post

 

You are so very right in everything that you have said.

[Bon]

::edit:: Edited September 29, 2002 by Bon

[jakmak52]

Excellent post, thank you.

[SaiFightsMS]

That was thought provoking. Seriously thought provoking.

[dtstiachi]

Excellent post as always ChangWuJi.

I will be hitting the One Year Plateau soon, (Aug. '05) I can't wait.

[Mr. Mike]

HOLY POST RESURRECTION BATMAN!!

J/k

great read though...thanks for bringing this one back