motivation problem; lost of interest

[karatekid1975]

Hey all. I looked for a topic like this. I saw a few, but it wasn't what I was looking for.

Anyways, I have a confession to make. Since my test (in July), I haven't been training much. I was going twice a week at the most (I used to go 3-4 times a week). These past few weeks, I think I have trained twice. I just lost the motivation to go/practice.

I thought starting another martial art would spark my interest again, which it did, but not for TKD.

There's a lot going through my head right now as I'm writing this. For instance, why? I've trained 5 years, why am I not interested anymore/or motivated like I used to be? It's to a point that if I do go, I have to force myself. I thought about it long and hard, and I can't answer these questions.

Can you guys help me or give some advice, please? It makes me sad that I just don't train anymore, but I still don't know why.

[h2whoa]

Maybe you realise that martial art is not for you! I find visualising yourself performing perfect forms and kicks and strikes is a good motivator to overcome laziness (I think we all get lazy sometimes)!!

If not take a complete break, after a while you will feel like you will absolutely die, if you dont get back into the training hall!!

Tell me how it works out for you!

[Eric_]

Well, you've been taking classes 3-4 times a week for five years, so of course you're gonna lose motivation. You're just burned out. Take a break from MA for a while. Don't just stop going and hope to just suddenly have your old passion flare up, though, because it might be too hard to get back into the routine. Pick a date, maybe a few weeks from now, as the date you plan to start training again. Don't practise until then, but DO NOT let yourself skip class that day. You probably need a breather, but don't let yourself just stop training alltogether.

[White Warlock]

I've experienced this on many an occasion in my ma history, especially after having received a debilitating injury or having experienced yet another disturbing scene at a school. The thing is, it's in me... whether i practice or not. It is something i do, or did... it's part of who i am, like writing or drawing. It is an expression of me.

All that silliness out of the way, your lack of interest is common and it will come and go as you study. Mostly it hits because you feel you've reached a plateau, but it can sometimes hit merely because the actions become a chore rather than a pleasure. It has become a task, something that must be done rather than something you enjoy doing.

I encountered a similar problem when i started writing for money. I loved to write, but when it came down to working as a journalist i had a spurt and then a lull. I found my love became a chore and i lost motivation. I simply stopped working as a journalist. But, i didn't stop writing... and that's the real point of it all.

I suspect that if you stop going to your class for awhile, you'll find a lot of the bugs in your head will cease and you'll have the opportunity to reflect on what it is that is causing you to lose interest. I don't suspect it is merely the arts. It may very well be the environment, the macho games being played by others that force you to play along, or simply the monotony of the routine.

Whatever the reason, you've studied for quite a long time and there's absolutely no reason for you to feel 'obligated' to continue your studies. Life 'should' be about what you 'want' to do, not what others make you feel you 'should' do. Yes, that's a contradiction, but so is this.

Seriously though, it is... how can you hate to practice what you love to do? Burn out is sometimes the case, but sometimes you need more stimuli in your life, or it could very well be that the arts are interfering with other goals and aspirations. It may be cutting out too much time for a relationship, or it may be that the relationship is demanding more time of you and causing you to undermine your own interests in the arts... just to keep the peace.

In all things, the root of the answers is within you. I recommend cutting it out completely from what you do for now. If after a time if it becomes a thing of the past, so be it. If, on the other hand, it starts nagging you... or you find yourself bitter at your spouse, your job, or your little dog Toto... then realize that these other things in your life actually 'encouraged' you to throw something out because they were demanding it. Also realize that such things create resentment, and to recover and heal from such circumstances, you must set boundaries.

Good luck in your endeavors. We are not as simple as we wish ourselves to be.

[Steve_K]

White Warlock gives some good advice. However I feel that if you still love the martial arts, then you should not allow yourself to cease practice and involvement completely, but if you find yourself not loving it anymore, as opposed to just being bored, then maybe you should.

If you are just bored, you may, as you already pointed out, want to explore other martial arts and expand your horizons. After attaining my black belt I found myself losing interest in my own personal practice, but then I discovered something else I loved doing, which was teaching martial arts to others. For a year after reaching black belt, I taught the other students at my school and I loved it. In that time I felt my skills were preserved but were not growing. However after teaching for a while, I realized that there was more room for my skills to grow than there was for them to diminish, so once I went away to college, I began my training anew, and started to develope my own specific principals, which have turned out to work very well by the way.

My point is, (I am assuming your test was for black belt) that you are no longer a blind student who needs to be shown where you need to go, but yet your training is not over. You now have the means to forge your own way, and cultivate your skills on your own, be it by teaching someone else, or realizing, truly how much room your abilities have to improve, but if that is not your desire, then it may in fact be time to put it behind you, it's your choice.

[giang_hu]

I agree with White Warlock. There is never a day I live without thinking about Wing Chun in some way or thinking about how to train something or how I would react in a certain situation. This is how I know Wing Chun is something I love and it's the style for me. I have a lot of work to do during the school year so this prevents me from training formally with my sifu. I believe that your motivation is not just merely going to formal training sessions with your teacher. Maybe you are indeed burned out or you found yourself busy with more important things (for most people, there ARE more important things than martial arts).

[Jay]

i remember i have quit for one and a half years and then i found out one of my mates who carried on (there where three of us from age 7 now theres only me ) was now the same belt as me (i got 2 ahead somewhere) that gave me the motivation to come back and i have been going since.

I find that i get bored the monotonous moves really get boring but theen i realise if i quite i will miss the hell out of it i have done martial arts all my life. I am determined to get to black belt one day(hopefull beyond) and theres not anything that is gonna stop me. So i just practice,practice and eventually i can do it better even though i find it boring and that gives me satisfaction

The way i cope is that i live for competition i want to be the best at everything that i do and i wont stop till i am

to me life is a competetition one which i will win (survival of the fitest)

[Sauzin]

Were I you I would sit down and think long and hard about why I started in the first place. Did you start because you wanted to be a martial artist like what is on TV only to be disillusioned by the reality of fighting? Did you start because you wanted a black belt or any other trophy accomplishment to be proud of and now that you have it, it no longer inspires you in the same way? Did you start because because it was fun and now it isn't as fun? Did you start to improve yourself in a certain way and now you no longer feel that need? Or did you start because you wanted a different life and now you don't?

These are the questions I would be asking myself. I would look for the reason I was practicing and why that reason is no longer as relevant as it once was. Then it is up to you to either find another reason or rediscover the relevancy of the reason you started. That or move on.

[orion82698]

I agree with what everyone here is saying. Figure out why you started, and what has made you stay for so long. We all do things that we really don't want to do (work, visit inlaws ) but you work to get money. Make sure your in this for the right reason. Self defense, stay inshape. In the end, after you have broken all your boards, and hung up your black belt, what really matters is that you have learned an art, passed down from generations (hopefully), and that you know how to defend yourself.

Perhaps, you just need to try a different MA. I know that you're already in JJ, maybe you should concentrate on that for a little while. A chance in style might be what you need to fire things back up!

Good luck KK!

[karatekid1975]

I had many talks with Heidi (ninjanurse) on different subjects having to do with my training. She knows most of it (and can probably explain it better than me LOL).

I posted on another forum about something similar. One person said that the reason may be because I am so close to BB, and I'm subconsciously "scared" or mentally not ready. Consciously, I am trying to do my best (I'm even getting my Jujitsu instructor involved with helping with the self defense portion of the test .... actually it was his choice to help).

Don't get me wrong, my lack of modivation doesn't mean I don't like MA anymore. Because I do.

White Warlock, good post. You gave me a lot to think about. It may be "the environment" that is interfering with my training or the other way around. I haven't thought of it like that.

Sauzin, to answer one of your questions, I started for self defense. But I continued for the "character building" that I recieved. Which both are still present in my training.

Steve_K, no I tested for senior red (high red, 1st gup/kyu). You also brought up some good points.

Thanks to all of you for your advice and stories. Anyone else have advice?