I Feel Lile Im Not Improving!

[Ben Martin]

Ive been kickboxing for 2 years this june. the first year was great my first grading was after 8 lessons and i passed that easily and then my second was 6 months later where i did so well i got a grade and a half and then i graded about 4 months later and got a full grade. i haven't graded since last april due to injuries at the worst time. but recently i feel like im not improving much. i know now its harder and i am learning all the advanced kicks so it will take me longer to improve but at the same time it feels like im staying at the same level. i hate boxing and i personally thing im crap with my hands on their own(thats why ive just started doing boxing once a week) i like to mix it up bt i feel like im getting picked off more then i used to. other people in my class who don't train half as hard as me seem to be getting better. my friend at the class i used to think i was alot better then him but now i feel like that were on the same level and that some how he is getting better then me.

 

Has anyone else ever felt like this?

[Straight Blast]

You can never realize how good or how much you improved,mainly because....your you.

 

Are you worried that your friend is a fast learner? or that your just staying the same?

 

You may train much more than the other students,but the only way to improve in sparring is BY sparring.Kicking and punching a heavy bag would just improve your finese and stamina compared to the others.

 

When you spar..veryone gets hit...thats just life...so what if he hit you more? hes was probably having a good day and you wernt

[kle1n]

Ive been doing Wing Chun for two years this June aswell. I really have the feeling that my coordination with only using my hands is not my talent. I think that I would be much better at Grappling. But I have trained for two years now and did loads of expensive grade test. But I just feel that Wing Chun is not for me. I really would like to have some more intense training like muay thai mixed with Grappling.

[Treebranch]

When you go to class the teacher has a lesson for you. When you go home you practice. Also your taking a MA that relies alot on strength and speed. Relax your body, be loose, but keep your mind alert. Maybe read Miyamoto Musashi's Five Rings or The Unfettered Mind. Maybe this stuff is in your head. Your head may be getting in the way.

[kle1n]

I just now got the book Five Rings. I hope it helps.

[taikyoku_forever]

Aww! *hugs Ben* I saw the title of your post and can totally sympathise! Sometimes it really feels like you've hit a glass wall and just can't get any farther. But if you view it as one big learning experience, and keep your spirits up, you'll break that "plateau" in no time w00t! lol

[taikyoku_forever]

(then again, you might want to ignore my advice... My rank's still pretty low and I do karate, not kickboxing, hehe)

[ravenzoom]

All very good posts everyone, but I've got something to add. Sometimes it's just better to face facts and admit that some are more talented than you in a certain thing and learn more quickly. This being said, you should concentrate not on how the others are catching you up and getting better, but focus on how YOU can get better. Don't compare so much with others, this will demoralize you and you might quit because of that. Just work hard, and enjoy what you are doing - you will improve.

[Venrix]

Ii feel like im getting picked off more then i used to. other people in my class who don't train half as hard as me seem to be getting better. my friend at the class i used to think i was alot better then him but now i feel like that were on the same level and that some how he is getting better then me.

 

Has anyone else ever felt like this?

 

Hi Mate,

 

This really is a standard part of the learning curve. I went throught the exact same process in Freefight (MMA). Basically, I began with 'instinct and natural reactions' and was fairly 'untouchable'. Then - as training progresses - one begins to think a lot more about one's movements. All this 'thinking' slows our reactions.

 

The effect is standard: "More techniques available but a delayed reaction time". This is simply a result of 'trying to use techniques' instead of 'just plain fighting'. One should never give up on the 'trying to use techniques' element. That's why it's called 'training' (a learning process) and not 'fighting in a Gym'.

 

As time goes by, these 'new' techniques become integrated into our 'natural' set of abilities. The result - we stop thinking quite so much and our reaction times return to 'normal' but with a far larger arsenal of technique at our diposal.

 

There's an old Karate saying: "A white belt aims for a black belt, and a black belt eventually returns to being a white belt".

 

That saying is partly because the belt itself tends to go white/grey after time. But, there is also the 'coming out the other side' where 'all the thinking has stopped'.

 

Believe me - if you are thinking about what you are doing - this is a GREAT THING. Many 'naturals' (and certainly it sounds as though this 'type' fits you) make the mistake of 'refusing to learn' purely because of the process you are going through right now. They feel that their 'natural ability' is being diminished and give up on the training with comments like: "I was better before I started learning all this stuff".

 

It's likely that your friends still seem 'good' because they are not thinking quite so much. If you are training a lot - you are thinking a lot. That's NOT a bad thing. It's perfect. Become a chess player with a body of stone - not a brain of stone with the body of a chess player!

 

Just remember the future that lies ahead: "You will possess all the abilties and talents of a 'natural' and you will be 'armed' with an arsenal that most naturals do not have the patience to aquire".

 

To me - you sound like a guy who is certainly on the right track. Don't let it get you down...

 

-V-

 

[[Edited because I'm severely dyslexic and I just spotted about 7,000,000 mistakes. There are probably more but things are still a little more readable now. ]]

Edited March 18, 2005 by Venrix

[cathal]

Everyone goes through plateaus. Its part of the process I think. I'd hate to be constantly improving, I wouldn't get a chance to stop and enjoy it.