Getting fed up, any experiences of sudden loss of interest?

[TokyoSuitsMe]

I am currently 6th kyu about to take 5th and for the first time since I started training I am beginning to get fed up with it all. I'm finding it so difficult all of a sudden and I feel like I'm never going to 'get it'. I see the black/brown belts and think I'll never be able to do what they do so why am I bothering anymore.

I don't want to feel like this because deep down, karate is very important to me but I'm having to force myself to turn up training and I dread it.

For the past few weeks I've had the odd moment where I've considered quitting altogether. I know I'd regret it but I just feel so unmotivated with it all right now.

Has anyone else ever felt like this and gotten over it?

[JusticeZero]

Frustration with skill of that sort often preceeds a sudden breakthrough in skill. The loss of interest though I can't speak to. The brown belt and black belt people were all 5th kyu and lower once. If it's worth doing, it's worth doing poorly; eventually your idea of doing poorly gets to be quite high. Never gets less annoying though. The better you get to be at anything, the more you realize that you don't know.

[Adam_XKT]

I understand where you're coming from. But for me, it's not that I didn't get it, I just didn't care anymore.

I didn't get this till I was about 2nd or 1st kyu, so at that point I was so close to dan that I just stuck it out and wanted to see what would happen. Basically, I told myself what I was going to do, and I found that I was able to do it with relative ease.

"I see the black/brown belts and think I'll never be able to do what they do so why am I bothering anymore. "

Add a "yet" somewhere in there. Of course you're not able to do what they're doing because you haven't been shown. I look at my instructors and think the exact same thing. But then I remember that I'm still learning and practicing, and hope that somewhere down the road I'll be able to be in their shoes.

Besides, I wouldn't focus on being their clones. Oddly enough, one of the other assistant black belt instructors and I have different things our students accomplish. We don't hold it against each other, and I've even encouraged my students to train with him so they get some variety. Point being that it is good to have differences.

"I don't want to feel like this because deep down, karate is very important to me but I'm having to force myself to turn up training and I dread it."

Then take some time off. Everybody deserves a little time off. Mostly over the last six years, I hadn't gone more than 2 weeks without training. This past summer I took about 6 weeks. I waited about 4 weeks till I got "the itch" to do it again, then waited another 2 weeks to make sure I was ready to make a commitment to myself.

Burnout is natural, for me at least. It can always be overcome, but maybe the timing isn't right for you to be doing this because of other factors going on.

[Kruczek]

Every major "enlightenment" I have had in Karate has come right after a huge loss of interest or annoyance with something. I just needed to take a week off and consider how to overcome this problem or frustration. No one is ever perfect at Karate, it is a lifelong game of improvement - but be sure if you quit you will never get any better.

[KarateGeorge]

In my experience, a lot of people seem to start getting frustrated after those first couple of belts. I know I had those moments as well. You feel like you've been doing things for a while already and yet you're not yet able to successfully pull off some of the more advanced techniques yet. Don't worry you're not alone on that one.

The best advice I can really give you is to not try and compare yourself against the other students. Compare yourself against your own potential. Are you growing and learning, and are you doing the best you can with it? You're still covering the groundwork that all builds up to learning those skills demonstrated by the brown and black belts. For the most part, a lot of those "advanced" moves are nothing more than fancier versions of the "beginner" techniques or just the chaining of multiple techniques together. It comes with time and training, and as you learn the basics and start getting the hang of it, you'll be introduced to new elements and expand on those techniques once you're instructor feels you're ready to step it up to the next level.

Don't worry. You'll get there. Everyone learns at their own pace, and everybody has their own limits. Learning a martial art is a lifelong journey, part of which includes learning how to build on your strengths while learning to minimize or overcome your weaknesses.

Keep at it and let us know how things are going!

[tonydee]

I am currently 6th kyu about to take 5th and for the first time since I started training I am beginning to get fed up with it all. I'm finding it so difficult all of a sudden and I feel like I'm never going to 'get it'. I see the black/brown belts and think I'll never be able to do what they do so why am I bothering anymore.

I don't want to feel like this because deep down, karate is very important to me but I'm having to force myself to turn up training and I dread it.

For the past few weeks I've had the odd moment where I've considered quitting altogether. I know I'd regret it but I just feel so unmotivated with it all right now.

Has anyone else ever felt like this and gotten over it?

I have felt like that with regards certain schools I've attended or styles I've dabbled in - Aikido never clicked for me, nor tai chi - but not about martial arts overall, and thankfully some things do click. I just love it.

I think you need to break down your frustration to specific issues: are you struggling with stamina, flexibility, coordination, speed, reading sparring, generating power, untelegraphed movement, patience for repetition of movements, following instruction in Japanese, etc. etc. etc.. Specific impediments to reaching black belt can be addressed once they're identified. If there's nothing in particular, then you're probably making gradual progress on all fronts - some times the student is too close to it all to perceive the medium-term trend. At least if you're still aspiring to reach the standards of your seniors, it suggests the school itself is capable of delivering good enough instruction to see you there too.

Rough patches come and go, the honing the determination to see yourself through them is as much and useful a product of training as the physical movements themselves, so hang on there as long as you see something you want and/or enjoy in it, however unattainable it might seem in the moment. It's good to be creative though... don't sit back and expect to improve... be hungry for insights, comparing yourself to those you aspire to match on every level - technical, attitudinal... experiment, reason, contrast, critique, use punching bags, pads, sparring, video etc. for feedback.

Regards,

Tony

[white owl]

I have been in your shoes many times. I totally know what you are going through. It can be very frustrating, please do not give up if you really love it. Karate is also mental challenge, as you grow with it and learn harder techniques that you think you can not do or think you'll never get it. You will! With practice and time. Trust me. They words here is TIME and PRACTICE.

[rogue2257]

My primary frustrations with the martial arts have always come during periods of constant repetition in class.... kata for months on end with nothing else, for instance. The class starts feeling stagnant and I get bored.

I've found that the best way to keep myself interested is to learn about and study aspects of the martial arts that we don't get to in class. For me, that has included learning new kata that aren't practiced at my school, weapons, takedown techniques, judo/jiujitsu moves, solo training (weight lifting, running, etc.)

I could never quit karate. It's a part of who I am, but I can definitely relate to where you're coming from. You just have to find a way to keep it fresh for yourself, even if you're doing the same sorts of things in class over and over.

[armanox]

I felt the same way with my Shorin Ryu class back in June (I'm a 1st Kyu there). So, I took some time off. I went back to Aikido class in the middle of July (6th kyu there). Didn't go back to Shorin Ryu till the beginning of September, and then due to my work schedule changing didn't go back again until a couple of weeks ago. And, it felt great to go back (felt great to do Aikido again as well, never learned so much in two months before it feels like).

[mr_obvious]

I share a lot of the sentiment already posted in this thread. Good stuff. Getting bored doing the same routine -- all the time -- is human nature. Maybe a break IS what you need. Besides giving the class a chance to move onto different material; you could return fresher, hungrier. Might just be the thing you need to push through the next level.