Writing a Martial Art Novel. Need more inspiration!

[The Greatest Disciple]

So, I am working on a novel that I think would be a great read for any martial artist. The plot is essentially about a young man (early twenties) who travels around to find the greatest masters of the arts to train with. There is a lot more to it than that, but you can see where I'm going.

Right now I'm looking for some ideas. The main character, being loosely based on myself, is fully developed. I'm just having a tough time finding credible obstacles and superhuman feats that he must overcome. I'm also lost on the love interest. My wife and I don't have a romantic story, so it is difficult to base that part on my own life.

Any input would be appreciated. Thanks!

[MasterPain]

A romantic story is not necessarily as good as an honest story, even in fiction. Good fiction is still honest. Romance is, forgive my cynical streak, a bunch of contrived crap and often reads as such. Whatever true love is, it's not some rich weirdo on a white stallion that likes to kiss coma victims, nor does it involve 100 year old glittery pedo-vampires.

[JusticeZero]

The best material for that would probably be all the travel stuff. Honestly, the actual training would be anticlimactic compared to the sort've stuff that the hero had to do to find it in the first place.

[AdamKralic]

Have the main character choose martial arts over a love interest.

Guys don't want to read romance...and girls don't want to read martial arts.

This is of course generalization...but generalization increases your potential readership.

You'd rather hit a demographic 80% correctly than hit two demographics at 20% efficiency for both.

[MasterPain]

Have the main character choose martial arts over a love interest.

Guys don't want to read romance...and girls don't want to read martial arts.

This is of course generalization...but generalization increases your potential readership.

You'd rather hit a demographic 80% correctly than hit two demographics at 20% efficiency for both.

I don't know about that. Furinji Miu and Princess Buttercup were pretty cool, and a lot of girls dig fighters. A good story can transcend demographic. How else are Bronies a thing? Writers like Asimov and Lovecraft had pretty limited target audiences, but were great. If the goal is a work of art and not a bestseller, don't worry too much about these things.

[Wastelander]

Thankfully, this is nothing like the novel I'm planning at the moment . This sounds like a fun book, although I definitely agree with JusticeZero that the traveling aspect will likely be more interesting to read than the training, itself. Training is pretty repetitive and, from a literary perspective, fighting can be hard to describe effectively and make it interesting because if you break it down too far it becomes boring, and if you don't break it down enough it seems pointless.

I think the biggest thing that you need to develop is a primary conflict. If you just have a collection of smaller conflicts (travel issues, challenge matches, injuries, etc.) then you don't have anything really driving the story. Basically, we need to know why the main character is doing what he is doing, and what are the consequences if he doesn't.

[JohnASE]

Regarding the love interest, what if he has to leave his love at home while he goes on his quest? He could gain strength or comfort during times of stress from his memories of her or knowing that he has her to return to.