Not liking karate or weapon training anymore!!??

[chrisw08]

I was realy into karate and my dream was to run my own school once a got about 3rd degree black and spent 5 years workin on it found a school that i did good with got green halfway to black and havent been back in like 2 years. Lived on my own in extreme poverty and still dabbled with weapon training a little and was into the weapons alot. Now I just randomly stopped liking karate all together and im not really into the weapons anymore. I guess now that im working it feels like a waste of time but if I had a school and made money compared to working hard for my money like I do now it might make me into it. Has this happened to anyone or anyone else feel the same? I started when i was 17-18 then again 18 for about 3 months then from 21-22 then stopped now im 24

[snowturtle]

Martial Arts training is different for all practitioners. It has been my experience that orange belt can be a difficult level to get past. You have some knowledge, but the training becomes more difficult and the gains take longer to notice. Ultimately, it comes down to love of the art and balancing priorities.

My humble suggestion is to not look at trying to make money from it - that is a long way away and won't hold your interest if that is the only reason you are training. Instead, go back to class for at least a month and see if your interest and passion is sparked again. If finances are an issue, perhaps you could make a deal with the sensei to do work around the dojo in exchange for payment.

Best wishes in your journey, where ever that takes you.

[mazzybear]

I guess now that im working it feels like a waste of time but if I had a school and made money compared to working hard for my money like I do now it might make me into it.

I think if you ask most instructors, they don't do it for money, they do it for the love of the art. I know that's certainly the case with my instructor, once he's paid for the upkeep of the equipment and the rent of the hall, he has very little profit. Maybe if you concentrate on where you are now instead of 10 years down the line when you MIGHT be Sandan, you might pick up the love for it again. If you feel it's "waste of time" right now then you're not going to like the constant hard work and dedication it's going to take to get to Sandan. It sounds to me like your focus is all wrong in looking to Karate as a way to make money, you should be looking at it as a tool you can incorporate into other aspects of life and maybe things will change.

Just my opinion though. Hope you figure it out.

M.

[chrisw08]

I'm not meaning to sound selfish about the money but what I mean is im working two job 11pm-7am and 2:30pm-6:00pm so I get very little sleep and hate my second part time job. What I mean is I have no time and am tired all the time so it seems pointless to try but if I could replace my income from my secondary job it would be really nice. Even if I could quit the other job and make a couple of hundred extra from karate. not meaning to sound like one of those money grubbing instructors. I just started working hard like this and would love to get rid of my other job and make at least a little bit of money down the road. and as far as the orange belt thing I got to green in like 3 months and would of got my black in a year or two. Its just I tried hard at another school for 2 years to get to the second belt (Abusive instructor) I waited a while and found one I really liked got my green belt and just lost interest.

[sensei8]

To achieve anything takes hard work. Be it material, spiritual, or whatever, it will require one being proactive with a purpose. To earn Sandan, if that's one's goal, dedicated training is going to have to push everything aside; excuses only get in the way of positive training. Being honest with oneself isn't always that easy, neither is any MA training. That's good; MA isn't suppose to be easy.

Besides being proactive, one will need that unrelenting drive and desire to want to achieve varying goals. How bad does one want "it"? Find that love, desire, and drive because if the MA is the bane of ones existence, than the MA is nothing more than a lonely and short lived journey. It doesn't have to be.

Burnout's happen along any MA journey. I've experienced my share along the way, I'm in my 50th year this October of my MA journey, and whenever it was darn hard, I pushed through and eventually conquered that which was trying to rob me of my MA joy. Don't allow ANYBODY to take what's not theirs. No family, no friends, no associates, and no MA instructor.

If the learning environment isn't enjoyable, then the learning curve is stagnant is such a way that goals aren't capable, no matter how small or large. Leave said instructor and seek out that instructor that increases the enjoyable learning atmosphere. Ones MA betterment is ones responsibility; therefore, be proactive at all times and don't allow others dictate your MA journey.

Not all black belts can teach and not all black belts should teach!!

My happiest times are when I'm on the floor, and my saddest times is when I'm not on the floor.

Good luck! Taste and see that the MA is STILL good!!

[wildbourgman]

Chris I was in the same boat, your story reminds me of myself except I was 16. I just started driving, dating, got a job, started playing in a band, and my father had gotten laid off from his job and we really didn't need to pay for karate dues.

Over the years I could have restarted my karate training but I didn't, I had a lot of hobbies and excuses.

So I moved away from my home town and then decided to start training again except the style that I was in was nowhere near my new home. I found the closest style I could find with a real good Sensei and now I'm trying to also train in my old style once a month with an old classmate of mine that has a club three hours from my new home. I also now have severe neck and back problems and no cardio.

I work a 14 day on and off schedule and I'm in my old hometown for about 10 hours prior to flying to work and that's when I train in my old style. I also own a small working ranch and have a wife and kids.

So I went 25 years when I could have easily got back into training, I had time, health, and proximity but I had too many excuses and many were legit.

Now I'm older, overweight, working a full time job, own a ranch and don't live close to my original style of choice. I don't miss a single class.

So that was a long way to say push through it now if you can and you'll be glad you did.

[SteyrAUG]

I was realy into karate and my dream was to run my own school once a got about 3rd degree black and spent 5 years workin on it found a school that i did good with got green halfway to black and havent been back in like 2 years. Lived on my own in extreme poverty and still dabbled with weapon training a little and was into the weapons alot. Now I just randomly stopped liking karate all together and im not really into the weapons anymore. I guess now that im working it feels like a waste of time but if I had a school and made money compared to working hard for my money like I do now it might make me into it. Has this happened to anyone or anyone else feel the same? I started when i was 17-18 then again 18 for about 3 months then from 21-22 then stopped now im 24

I have identified a fatal flaw in your master plan.

Teaching martial arts for a living is probably harder than training in martial arts for a living. Three classes a day plus your own training schedule is a lot harder than just your own training schedule. I won't even get into the demands of operating an actual school as a business.

And if you don't think you will work hard for your money then you are kidding yourself. Want to know what you have at a regular job that you don't have with owning a school? A paycheck. You have to make every single dollar you earn magically appear from somewhere. It is actually a third job in addition to teaching students and operating a business.

Just because you have a school doesn't mean students magically appear. Nobody has any intentions of joining any school, especially in the current economy. If you aren't doing something every day to make them decide to join your school they never will. And even then it won't be easy.

And then there is the financial strategy that you will need to master. If you think renting studio space and getting a yellow pages ad for your karate school is a winning lottery ticket of some kind you might as well take every dime you have to Vegas. You'll have a lot more fun losing all your money there then you will with a karate school.

Generally, if you are very talented and lucky, it will take you three years of successful operation to finally climb out of the red ink and break even. From THAT POINT forward, if you continue to be both talented and lucky you will actually be making money.

And I hope you'll forgive me for saying, personally you don't sound like a good candidate for operating a martial arts school. If you don't even enjoy the practice of martial arts you have absolutely no business presuming to become an instructor.

My advice is to try and find what you like and then do that. You might not get rich, but at least you won't hate what you do.

[SteyrAUG]

found one I really liked got my green belt and just lost interest.

That sounds like everything you need to know.

I can't imagine not practicing the martial arts. For decades I have taught students for free on my own time.

[mazzybear]

For decades I have taught students for free on my own time.

I think that's great. A proper way to give back what you have gotten out of your love for the martial arts. One day I hope to do the same.

M.

[Zaine]

Find a few people who want to learn and train with them while teaching for free again. It really helps to find a couple of people who are passionate about training and learning and spending time with those people. If that rekindles your love for MA then awesome! If it doesn't then maybe you're a little burned out and need a break, it happens to the best of us.