Overcoming Plateaus Maintaining Motivation
Overcoming plateaus maintaining motivation. Like any physical activity we take on in real life, staying motivated can be difficult after years of training. We tend to make excuses of why we can’t train such as it’s too hot, too hard, I’m tired or my body is sore. It is vital that we stay consistent in our training in order to achieve our goals, this also stops you becoming unmotivated. Learning in overcoming plateaus maintaining motivation martial will determine your success.
WHY DID YOU BEGIN MARTIAL ARTS?
After years of training, sometimes we can lose our objectives. We could get bored doing basics over and over again or life’s little problems are just getting in the way. It is important to re visit the very reason you began your martial art journey. These could be anything from self-defense, losing weight, fitness, belt ranks, confidence or to getting competitive. My motto is “only when understand your why, can you start to break through the barriers”.
One of things I have always struggled with, is I hate to get comfortable when trying to learn something new. I would at times feel bored consistently having to do the basics. When all I wanted to do was get out my comfort zone by pushing myself harder and continuing to learn more and more techniques. It took awhile to realise that even though martial arts can be become very repetitive and at times it can feel as though you are not moving forward as fast as you would like. Doing basics in this way is very important for muscle memory and building up to more advanced skills in the future.
FOCUSING ON THE PROCESS (overcoming plateaus maintaining motivation )
Whether you start martial arts, going to the gym or even starting a new job. It’s not realistic to expect that you’ll be performing at your best at all times. Martial arts teaches you that you’ll have some good days and some not so good days. On the days that your training isn’t going as well as you planned, cut yourself some slack. Learning martial arts is a process that ends with achieving your lifelong goal. If all your focus in on getting your black belt. It can be easy to become unmotivated because it takes 5 or more years to achieve that goal. By focusing on the smaller goals, it becomes easier to focus on the objective. And it will help you overcoming plateaus maintaining motivation week after week.
Martial arts takes a great deal of commitment, time, and patience to succeed and attain a high skill level. As you progress into the higher belt ranks, it can feel the progress is getting slower. This is because it becomes more about fine tuning your technique, rather then learning new skills. This can be extremely frustrating and demotivating. It is popularly accepted that we are meant to continually progress and constantly reach higher levels of skill. This is simply not true and the key to real progress is a becoming a better version of yourself then you were the day before. It does not matter how long it takes to get to your dreams. The most important things is not giving up on yourself and the process.
TRAINING SHOULD BE FUN
When you have been training for a long period of time and you are no longer enjoying it. There becomes a higher probability of you giving up. But when you enjoy your martial art classes, you’re much more likely to sustain it for the long-term. Realistically, not every aspect of martial arts will be enjoyable.
Sometimes it easier to do this when you are practicing solo at home. You can change up your training, listen to music and get more creative with your combos. It order to become a well rounded martial artist, you need to train in and out of the dojo.
TALK TO YOUR SENSEI
Who better to talk to than your sensei or other black-belts in your dojo. Every martial artist at some point in their has become unmotivated. Because you’re tired of doing basics, or feel like you’re not getting where you want to be.
Your sensei may even help you by changing up your classes, in order to give you more variety. They could give you ideas of how to change your mindset or ways to train at home. I found sometimes just opening up about how and why you feel that way. Clears your mind and makes you feel more at ease.
EMBRACE CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM
During training it is important that your sensei wants you to increase your techniques to reach your goals. They accomplish this by using their knowledge and experience to provide feedback on how you can improve and make progress.
It is important not to take constructive criticism personally and focus on the feedback by tweaking your techniques. This the best chance to ace your next grading. Once you feel like you have stop growing, you’ll find your motivation will probably plateau as well.
REFINING YOUR SKILLS (overcoming plateaus maintaining motivation)
When you begin your martial arts journey. You will learn several basic techniques, skills, and drills. As you progress through the ranks, these foundation of skills will not be less important. Instead, they become an area where you will continue to get better and refine your technique. In martial arts, sometimes it’s not about how many techniques you know. But instead, it’s about how well you have listened to feedback and made a conscious effort on improving. By continually refining what you’ve learned, you can stay motivated to continue to get better over time.
BE CONSISTENT WITH YOUR TRAINING
These could be anything from self-defence, losing weight, fitness, belt ranks, confidence or to getting competitive. My motto is “only when understand your why, can you start to break through the barriers”.
One of things I have always struggled with, is I hate to get comfortable when trying to learn something new. I would at times feel bored consistently having to do the basics. When all I wanted to do was get out my comfort zone by pushing myself harder and continuing to learn more and more techniques. It took awhile to realise that even though martial arts can be become very repetitive and at times it can feel as though you are not moving forward as fast as you would like. Doing basics in this way is very important for muscle memory and building up to more advanced skills in the future.
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT
No matter what style of martial arts you train in, when you get consistent with your training it helps building muscle memory. Practicing karate techniques repetitively, will help you throw punches or kicks without needing to think about them consciously. This is essential for any martial artist as your skills become more natural. Essentially keeping you safe if you find yourself in a dangerous situation.
Also, it will help you develop a survival mindset. Everyone needs to develop a strong mindset in order to reach your goals. When you make continuous progress with your training, it helps build resilience and mental toughness needed to push yourself outside of your comfort zone. By training regularly, you will develop habits and discipline that help them push through challenging times and ultimately leading to success.
Training in this way will guarantee success with your training. Being consistent in martial arts requires dedication, focus, and perseverance, which can only be possible through regular classes . Without regular training, martial artists will be able to improve their speed, power, technique, and overall performance. Consistency ensures that your training will remain progressive and effective in order to keep breaking boundaries staying motivated.
POWERING THROUGH
Martial Arts just like the wrong career, can become tedious and you no longer feel like you’re moving ahead. Or feel like you are learning anything new. So why do I feel this way ? Well martial arts is hard on the mind and the body. You may even though you feel good after a tough class, yet still feel the same. It is completely normal to feel this way and feeling guilty about this, only serves to make you feel worse. If this resonates with you, you are not alone.
There are many things I have learned in my martial arts journey, which I hope are going to help you progress and enjoy your Martial Art.
Just imagine you have had a long stressful day at work. It’s time for training and you are lying on the couch relaxing watching your favourite TV show. You begin thinking to yourself, I am just too exhausted. I won’t miss anything so I will catch the next class .” So, you skip training and when it comes time for your next training session, you find another excuse.
I won’t lie, there have been times where I have found myself feeling this way. Even though, I loved training and wanted to always learn more. despite my love for my Martial Art, my ability to progress in it and my need to learn more. What I had to do, was change some of my behaviours and learning how to be consistent. I needed to change how I perceived myself and realise that the only person holding me back was me. As I like to say some of the biggest obstacles in our way, are the ones we put there ourselves.
WHAT SHOULD I DO?
ACCEPT WHERE YOU ARE
First, I had to remember why I started this journey in the beginning. Accepting my strengths and weaknesses in my technical skills. It’s important to fine tune things that you are good at but to be great you must focus your training on areas where you fall short. This, for me, meant lots of stretching, conditioning and core work. What’s amazing about this approach is that you start to see huge improvements in your abilities, and this motivates you to work even harder.
THE JOURNEY IS YOURS ALONE
Don’t expect to reach the same level of competence as the world champions that you see on the internet or more advanced students in your dojo without putting in the necessary effort and time. They have sacrificed blood, sweat and tears to achieve that level of expertise and now it is your turn. Humble yourself. Learn from them and their wisdom. Put in the hours because you get out what you put in.
LEARN TECHNIQUE FIRST THEN POWER
I have seen many students fall into the trap of trying to exert too much power at the expense of technique early on in their training journey. This comes with many disadvantages:
- You are more susceptible to injuries
- Your execution looks sloppy
- You tire quickly by expending too much energy too quickly –
Martial Arts is like a steaming cup of coffee, best sipped and enjoyed. If you drink it too quickly, you burn your throat! - You limit yourself in how effective you can be
Easy way in overcoming plateaus maintaining motivation. Trust me!
RELAX
It is instinctive to tense up during training, fighting or when exerting force. A lot about exerting force in Martial Arts is about transitioning quickly between relaxed and tense body states. This means executing your technique from a relaxed state and tensing up at the moment of impact. It is a lot harder to do than you think and requires a lot of training. Let your movements be deliberate but relaxed. You should flow rather than move rigidly and your movements will become graceful and powerful. Focus on relaxing, breathing and only tensing up at the point you hit your target.
BREATHE
I cannot emphasise how important this one is. We tend to stop breathing altogether when we tense up our bodies to exert force. This is not sustainable. The human body needs oxygen. So, learn to breathe as you exert force. Pro tip: breathing is linked to relaxation.
MAINTAIN FLEXIBILITY
Stretching is important for Martial Arts and your overall health. If you don’t dedicate at least a few minutes to stretching each day, you will lose the suppleness required. Add stretching into your daily routine and you will learn to love it.
WARRIOR SPIRIT (overcoming plateaus maintaining motivation)
I have written about the mindset of a warrior and it’s a great headspace to get into when committing to rigorous training. I always like to repeat the following phrases to myself when training gets particularly tough:
- “No pain, no gain”
- “When the going gets tough, the tough gets going”
These are great ways to remind yourself why you are putting yourself through the torture of rigorous training.
YOUR BODY IS YOUR TEMPLE
There is a plethora of information available out there, but the general idea is:
- Swap out those late nights of heavy drinking for more hours of quality sleep
- Eat nutrient-dense food and stay away from junk food
- Magnesium supplements that have proven to assist with muscle fatigue and recovery. Please consult your doctor prior to consuming these.
- Give your body ample time to recover from rigorous training and engage in active recovery techniques such as a leisurely stroll, massage or foam rolling, light stretching or an ice-bath.
EXPAND YOUR KNOWLEDGE
Tap into your curiosity. Dig deeper into the nuances of what you are learning. It will make the execution of your techniques more effective. This is key to keeping Martial Arts training interesting. By being curious, I don’t mean interrupting the lesson to ask questions. Rather, do some introspective thinking about how a technique might be used in a self-defence situation. Share these thoughts with blackbelts or your sensei after class and you may be surprised at how close you get to how the technique should be applied.
MAKE IT FUN
Now, before you go off and start creating pure and utter chaos in your next Martial Arts class, let me stop you there! Internalise your playfulness and stick to the rules and format of your classes. Enjoy what you are doing in the moment and don’t take yourself too seriously. We all attend class to learn and you can’t possibly be perfect at everything. Play during sparring. Experiment with different techniques and combinations. See what works for you and what doesn’t.
FINAL THOUGHTS ON OVERCOMING PLATEAUS MAINTAINING MOTIVATION
In conclusion, martial artists must strive to maintain regular training and consistency to reach their full potential. Developing mental resilience, muscle memory, and progressing in techniques requires dedication and consistency. Identify a martial arts or program that suits your training needs, stay accountable, and set goals to continuously track your progress. Ultimately, the more you train, the more you are likely to improve – in or out of the dojo.
We tend to put a lot of pressure on ourselves and often become impatient when we don’t achieve the results we were expecting. This turns whatever we are doing into a source of stress and we therefore lose the enjoyment and love for it. I hope the advice above opens you up to taking a different approach to studying martial arts or whatever else you have set out to do.
Take the pressure off yourself and let it be replaced by enjoyment and curiosity. You will find the skill in overcoming plateaus maintaining motivation. Now you can start to progress faster, stay motivated and enjoy the journey.
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