Trying to spark my interest in karate again

[aurik]

There are days where training is easy.  There are days where training is hard.  There are also days when training just plain sucks.  Throughout your training you'll have ups and downs.  You'll have days that things just "click", and your understanding of your art jumps to an entirely new level.  The thing is, they rarely happen if you don't train through the suck.

[sensei8]

On 10/31/2024 at 11:40 AM, KorroddyDude said:

I'd say it's cruel.

With children, I understand.  Not all of them are there by choice, and the instructors end up having to deal with that (at least for as long as they choose to).

For adults, it's different.  As I said before... when motivation fails, discipline prevails.  This means that everyone is gonna have those times when motivation is lacking, but discipline is what made them show up and get on the floor that day.  Give them some credit.  Hell, give them more credit than those who only show up when they're motivated (i.e., not enough to maximize the benefits of the training).

Actually, not cruel, just being really honest. After all, it's the student's choice. Train or not train; I really don't care one way or another. My floor is always open whenever the student decides to train but I'll not chase them, nor will I beg them; that's just not me...I don't need any student that bad,

 

 

Edited November 4, 2024 by sensei8

[pandaGIRL]

On 10/31/2024 at 2:40 PM, KorroddyDude said:

I'd say it's cruel.

With children, I understand.  Not all of them are there by choice, and the instructors end up having to deal with that (at least for as long as they choose to).

For adults, it's different.  As I said before... when motivation fails, discipline prevails.  This means that everyone is gonna have those times when motivation is lacking, but discipline is what made them show up and get on the floor that day.  Give them some credit.  Hell, give them more credit than those who only show up when they're motivated (i.e., not enough to maximize the benefits of the training).

I agree. As a former teacher I think it's important to understand why adult students are struggling and make /help them see things they can't see . 

[Nidan Melbourne]

I get where you're at with your training, BUT the difference is that for you; it surrounds your mentality around training and the belt system. AND not the actual training itself. 

For some, training for them feels like it has become stagnant so motivation to go becomes difficult. 

So for me; currently I have some external factors that prohibit me from training, unless I can find a dojo that would permit me to train but also meets my requirements. But first and foremost what is impacting me I need to resolve first before I think about returning. 

Yes, people talking about discipline and motivation when it comes to training. But understanding why a person is finding it difficult to make it into class is a different story. 

I see 3 things happening when a person goes to class without having resolved what is causing their issues: 

1. Low attentiveness = Your not getting much out of the class 

           = Disrespects the time and effort of the Instructors and the other Students there

2. Not focusing on what your doing = Injury

          = You miss even more time 

3. Poor Attitude = disrupts everyone around you

        = Pisses off everyone 

 

I recently spoke to a few students who are continuing to train or who have taken a break from training. To get a better idea of whats going on for them and also how I can improve on what I teach and how I do things. 

So the ones who took time off; some took time off because of their studies, health, personal or financial reasons. 

For others they felt like their training wasn't well defined once they reached a certain point in their training. And for some it their training became "Boring" because they were often doing the same stuff day in day out. 

Yes I can appreciate the importance of training the basics regularly throughout the ranks; BUT in my eyes once you reach a certain rank there should be a certain amount of stuff in your curriculum or things you can add to make classes more difficult or interesting. 

When I look at our Junior Classes; everything is new to them ergo it is difficult. But for say a Shodan or even a Nidan, those requires are now considered "standard" or "easy". But when I see our Black Belt Classes a lot of instructors aren't introducing "new" things to enhance the knowledge of their students. 

SO when I teach our advanced classes; I do teach what they need to know but also introduce new concepts to keep things interesting. Especially when whatever "new" stuff I teach might actually answer some of the questions they may have had in  relation to something they have learnt previously or currently learning.

When I first stepped away for a period of time, I lost my way but when I returned to train I had a renewed interest in what I was doing.