Rook19 Posted August 8, 2006 Posted August 8, 2006 I've been studying the martial arts for the past 12+ years. For the past 4, I've been studying Kenpo Karate. I really enjoy it and have my Brown II in it. Lately though (past 5-6 months), my motivation hasn't been there. I don't know what it's been. I just don't feel like going. I can't really explain it. I'm kind of in a rut. Has anyone else out there felt this way? If so, what did you do break out of your rut? Any advice would be great. Thanks...
Akaratechick Posted August 9, 2006 Posted August 9, 2006 it seems like we get in ruts or lose our motivation for alot of different reasons, boredom, not enough positive reinforcement, physical or emotional setbacks or even lack of goal setting. If you don't have any goals that you are tracking other than achieving your rank then you will get in a rut. We can always move forward but it's harder than it looks. Ask your instructors about motivation. They are the motivators and sometimes struggle with it themselves. Unmotivated Instructor=Unmotivated student. Ask yourself what attracted you to the art initially? Then try to identify ways to keep that alive. I'm sure it will come back. We all go through this almost at every rank. Good luck!! "All your life you are told the things you cannot do. They will say you're not good enough, strong enough or talented enough; you're the wrong height or the wrong weight or the wrong type to play this or achieve this. THEY WILL TELL YOU NO, a thousand times no, until all the no's become meaningless. ………..…. “AND YOU WILL TELL THEM YES."Nike Ad.
KamasandSais Posted August 9, 2006 Posted August 9, 2006 it seems like we get in ruts or lose our motivation for alot of different reasons, boredom, not enough positive reinforcement, physical or emotional setbacks or even lack of goal setting. If you don't have any goals that you are tracking other than achieving your rank then you will get in a rut. We can always move forward but it's harder than it looks. Ask your instructors about motivation. They are the motivators and sometimes struggle with it themselves. Unmotivated Instructor=Unmotivated student. Ask yourself what attracted you to the art initially? Then try to identify ways to keep that alive. I'm sure it will come back. We all go through this almost at every rank. Good luck!!i agree. my motavation was not getting killed if i ever needed to use it so i got out of my rut about 2 months after i was supposed to test, then i moved the day before testing and then a year later i started agian so it only took me a year and 2 months. DONT make yours that long "Sword-Chucks yo."Yes, thanks a lot guys. Hey, kamasandsais, that was something that you knew that I did not!! <---blackmail hahahahhaha bushido
bushido_man96 Posted August 9, 2006 Posted August 9, 2006 Take a few days off from class. If you start getting the itch, then you will be back on track. https://www.haysgym.comhttp://www.sunyis.com/https://www.aikidoofnorthwestkansas.com
Akaratechick Posted August 9, 2006 Posted August 9, 2006 Take a few days off from class. If you start getting the itch, then you will be back on track.good suggestion!!! "All your life you are told the things you cannot do. They will say you're not good enough, strong enough or talented enough; you're the wrong height or the wrong weight or the wrong type to play this or achieve this. THEY WILL TELL YOU NO, a thousand times no, until all the no's become meaningless. ………..…. “AND YOU WILL TELL THEM YES."Nike Ad.
Jiffy Posted August 10, 2006 Posted August 10, 2006 Some great ideas there.Definately... talk to your instructor!!Other than that, when all else fails, return to basics. Remember that motivation comes through positive enforcement both given and internal. For most of us, lack of motivation comes when we feel we aren't getting there, so it's very common for people to drop out near black belt when it seems they aren't getting anywhere, mainly because the grades are further apart.Re-adjust your goals. If you feel like you're not getting anywhere, make shorter term goals to achieve. Rather than just that black belt or whatever, which seems forever, set a goal to get just one technique right. Then a goal to fix one particular aspect of your training. Then one whole class. Then more and more. Adjust your goals so that you are constantly achieving something and constantly receiving positive self re-enforcement. Then, before you know it, you'll be grading...Good luck The mind is like a parachute, it only works when it's open.
Brandon Fisher Posted August 10, 2006 Posted August 10, 2006 Its pretty common to hit a point and feel like that. I have felt like that for the past 5 years up until Feb. 2006 when I was no longer with my instructor and teaching on my own. I was allowed to train again and teach the way I have taught my black belts and not sugarcoat things. This is what did it for me. But sometimes its not that easy.I agree talk to your instructor and maybe take a week or 2 off and then come back to it. Brandon FisherSeijitsu Shin Do
alsey Posted August 10, 2006 Posted August 10, 2006 talk to your instructor first. i went through a phase like that (at brown 2 actually), i think most people do. i just kept turning up and after a few weeks i got right back into it again. give yourself some short term and long term goals. "Gently return to the simple physical sensation of the breath. Then do it again, and again, and again. Somewhere in this process, you will come face-to-face with the sudden and shocking realization that you are completely crazy. Your mind is a shrieking, gibbering madhouse on wheels." - ven. henepola gunaratana
Shui Tora Posted August 10, 2006 Posted August 10, 2006 When I began Karate, the first couple of lessons I felt like I wasn't learning anything (I was 6 at the time! ) And I didn't want to continue it any further, but my Dad told me to just hang in there, and from the my first grading (2 months later) I got my blue belt and i stuck with it all the way to today.I know what you are going through... In the past I have had the low days, and feeling "un-motivated" to do it. The thing that got me going was seeing myself getting my Black Belt, no matter how long it took, just to see myself with my 1st Dan was what got me thorugh, and I worked myself to this very day... (I've got 2nd Dan in Jnr. Syllabus and Brown I in the Adult Syllabus... So you can say that is was worth it...)Just think of a goal for every week/month to help you... To know the road ahead; ask those coming back... ~ Chinese Proverb" The ultimate aim of Karate lies not in victory or defeat, but in the perfection of the character of its participants. " ~ Master Funakoshi
cathal Posted August 10, 2006 Posted August 10, 2006 Some great ideas there.Definately... talk to your instructor!!Other than that, when all else fails, return to basics. Remember that motivation comes through positive enforcement both given and internal. For most of us, lack of motivation comes when we feel we aren't getting there, so it's very common for people to drop out near black belt when it seems they aren't getting anywhere, mainly because the grades are further apart.Re-adjust your goals. If you feel like you're not getting anywhere, make shorter term goals to achieve. Rather than just that black belt or whatever, which seems forever, set a goal to get just one technique right. Then a goal to fix one particular aspect of your training. Then one whole class. Then more and more. Adjust your goals so that you are constantly achieving something and constantly receiving positive self re-enforcement. Then, before you know it, you'll be grading...Good luckI agree wholeheartedly, you've got it down pat. .The best victory is when the opponent surrendersof its own accord before there are any actualhostilities...It is best to win without fighting.- Sun-tzu
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