brick wall

mr roper

training 3 years never missed many classes,looked forward to training every week but latley finding it hard to go,cant fault club or instructor,maybe its iam nearly 40 ha ha,looking for advice did many of you ever hit the brick wall in training?

Dave Joyce

Maybe try cross training in another system that can complement what you're already doing (not replace it especially if you're happy with what you're doing) eg try some grappling if you're in a striking art or vice versa. Or try a weapons system if you're already doing striking and grapling.

Zen65

If you're approaching the "big-four-oh" and you've only been doing MA for 3 years then not surprisingly your body will start to tell you that it's running out of steam and enthusiasm. The problem is that with any MA the learning curve starts to level off after 3 years, but in your case the problem may be exaggerated by limbs and lungs that want to slow things down. If you were "in your prime" you would now be taking the time to establish a deeper learning of the art, but this requires more effort from your core muscles, more concentration of mind etc and you have real life issues to deal with, so that's a very demanding ask.

Is your wall caused by this internal conflict, or are there practical family issues & responsibilities at play also? Do you have goals set for yourself in your MA?

If you simply change MA, then the wall will hit you again after a shorter time, so the previous poster's advice is good... rather than change your MA you could look to support it by doing training in something different. For me, this did not work very well and I went back to my core karate after experimenting with other stuff. What did help me was to join another club doing the same MA, so I train now in a number of clubs apart from my main club. As long as the clubs don't see this as being disloyal in any way, which they shouldn't. Each club has its own strengths and weaknesses, so each has a different way of inspiring you to perform.

Keep the faith,

Z

104494431

Take a week off entirely.

Take a week off from training MA and train something else.

Take a week off from training MA and just go for a long walk some days.

Just suggestions that have worked for me.

arybvtcw0eolkf

When you say you've hit a wall, in what way?

ie are you finding it physically tougher and tougher to make grades or is it taking you longer and longer to recover after competitions etc?.

Or is it just a lack of motivation?.

Have you set yourself goals which you haven't reached? (could be unrealistic goals) or maybe you've reached them and need to set new goals.

What style are you training in?.. Maybe someone here might be able to point you towards a good book on the style, or a book wrote by a well known and respected practioner of that style?.

There's so much more we might be able to help with if we knew what your aiming for.

Are you chasing a particular grade, are you fighting/competing?. Are you letting outside factors interfer with your training - we're all under a lot of stress with the recession right now and its hard to leave this at the Dojo door.

Btw, did you begin with a beginners class?.. Some clubs take in beginners classes and you'll find at first there's a big drop off in numbers which slowly decline. From experience I find that three year mark is when we have to either 'up our game and set your sights on your dan grade - this stage of your training takes on a whole different impetus and you can't just slaunter through like we do during our first few years of training - maybe you've reached this point - make or break, 'make a decision' time?.

Sorry for the long reply but maybe throw a bit more info out?.

.

mr roper

its a wado ryu club i train in,with starting training so late my only goal i gave myself was give every session 100%,i am a blue belt but over the last few weeks havent got the motiveation i had at the start,thanks for the advice and have it in my head to climb the brick wall and keep training,no point sitting at home complaning about it.

smacl

It's been a couple of decades since I did Wado Ryu, but for books I'd strongly recommend Shiomitsu's 'Dynamic kicking techniques' and Oghami's 'Katas of Wado Ryo'. Reading a book by someone as accomplished as either of these gents does tend to inspire.

As you get a bit older, IMO it is wiser to train smarter rather than harder. i.e. sweeps and low kicks are going to serve you better than jumping side kicks; let you opponent work a bit harder while you conserve a bit of energy. Wado Ryu actually emphasizes this, being softer in many respects that styles such as Shotokan.

Lastly, try to look forward to you classes, and if you aren't enjoying them, maybe it's time to change. I did a couple of years of Wado Ryu in my twenties and then about ten years of tai chi with a lot of san shou, shuai jiao and weapons after that. I loved Wado Ryu at the time, but probably seriously enjoyed the other stuff much more. Even doing Wado Ryu, our instructor used to organise occasional kendo, tai chi, and aikido classes to mix things up. You should probably try a few of these, as you could be missing something you would really enjoy.