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. 

 

[Ezomatsu]

On 10/28/2024 at 10:03 AM, sensei8 said:

I'm not very sympathetic to any of my students that are losing interest of getting on the floor. That's that student's responsibility to get on the floor so that that student can increase their MA betterment. I can't force a student to get on the floor when they really don't want to; it's their MA journey.

Only exception to that is a student who has some physical and mental limitations!! Those students need the space to manage their physical and mental limitations to the best of their abilities. I'll just stay in contact with that student just to see how they are doing and offer any help that I can. There's an old saying that goes something like this..."You can lead a horse to water, but you can't force the horse to drink the water." Patience goes a long way. If after some time, and the student finally decides to end their MA training due to physical and/or mental limitations, then I'll respect their decision and let them know if they want to just talk or whatever else, please don't hesitate in getting in touch with me.

But if said student just wants to not train and whine about it, I've got nothing for them. You have to want to train. Sure, I'll try to get to the real reasons as to why their feeling that way and try to encourage them. However, I've very little patience and tolerance for those students that don't want to be on the floor. I'd rather that student just go away because I've other students to tend to who want to be on the floor.

Cruel?? Perhaps.

I agree. Adults ought to take ownership over their practice, they shouldn't need to have their hand held, it's up to them to self actuate.

It's also okay to just quit karatedo.

Edited January 22 by Ezomatsu
typo