Loss of motivation

[teetsao]

never thought i would ever be saying this,but recently(past 5or 6 months) have lost motivation to train. i still do something daily but not with the ferver or concentration or anticipation i had last year. my job only requires a few hours a night f my attention so i have all day long to do what i need.for 3 years straight i trained at least 3 hr a day,and i think this is what helped me to advance so fast,as i was excited all the time and couldnt wait to train. now i am kinda lazy.
anyone else ever experience this??? if so did you overcome it??? how??

[Wildwoo]

Get beat up. I do not like getting beat up (=motivation) so I train very hard:D

[YouKnowWho]

A short term goal such as a

- tournament
- workshop
- performance
- ...

in 6 months will be helpful. If you don''t want to look like a fool in the public eyes, you will push yourself and train harder.

Another way is trying to develop certain skill in 6 month. A spin hook kick, flying knee, flying side kick, hip throw, leg lifting throw, ... will all be a good choice.

Your life will pass day by day whether you train or not. It's better to have something out of your training than to have nothing.

[sanjuro_ronin]

Yeah, doing 3 hrs a day is a good way to get burnt out Bro.

Quality of quantity brother, that is the way.
Moderation = longevity.

[hskwarrior]

Seriously, i think we all go through this. I'm sure there are a few people, myself included, that have pondered leaving gung fu or stopping your training for a while. You just need to change gears for a minute, maybe pick up something else non martial to do or even learn or focus on a different aspect of your training. sometimes going back to basics helps as well.

If you've been doing gung fu for a long time, you can never just walk away from it. So, give it some time, watch some gung fu movies, look at others train, or whatever. but my sifu would always tell me that would be the best time to train..when you don't really feel up to it. OR, what about a partner? do you have someone to help you train?

[sanjuro_ronin]

Doing stuff OUTSIDE of Kung fu for a bit well help.
I don't see how doing more training when doing too much is the problem, will help.
Honestly, you've done strength training, you know the signs of when it is time to take a break.
Fact is when we NEED to convince ourselves to train, that is a problem and the root of it is usually boredom or over training.

[SPJ]

yes. I usually schedule things for a time frame.

or with some specific goals in mind.

this way, it would be easy to attain a certain goal. the reward and motivation is to get there.

--

but sometimes it is important to have a break or downtime for training, too.

--

I am active, anyway.

--

sports, swim, walking, lifting weight, --

they are not training per se. but keep you fit--

--

:)

[donjitsu2]

never thought i would ever be saying this,but recently(past 5or 6 months) have lost motivation to train. i still do something daily but not with the ferver or concentration or anticipation i had last year. my job only requires a few hours a night f my attention so i have all day long to do what i need.for 3 years straight i trained at least 3 hr a day,and i think this is what helped me to advance so fast,as i was excited all the time and couldnt wait to train. now i am kinda lazy.
anyone else ever experience this??? if so did you overcome it??? how??

I think all of us will experience this some point.

Here's a post I wrote about motivation not too long ago:

Training Motivation (http://www.uncagedfighter.com/2011/03/training-motivation.html)


Hope it helps!:)

[teetsao]

donjitsu really enjoyed the article. i looked around your blog site and it has good info it. we r working on ours over at www.theironlotussociety.com
thanx everyone who replied. you all gave me info that will help me. see this is what this forum is for,help and encouragement.
i think i will go outside and break something,eat 2 double cheesebugers a protein drin and watch "ip man the legend is born"

[Scott R. Brown]

never thought i would ever be saying this,but recently(past 5or 6 months) have lost motivation to train. i still do something daily but not with the ferver or concentration or anticipation i had last year. my job only requires a few hours a night f my attention so i have all day long to do what i need.for 3 years straight i trained at least 3 hr a day,and i think this is what helped me to advance so fast,as i was excited all the time and couldnt wait to train. now i am kinda lazy.
anyone else ever experience this??? if so did you overcome it??? how??

It is very simple and a few here and implied it in their posts:

All you need is a goal to work towards.

- Pick a new skill or level of skill you wish to achieve and formulate a plan to get there.

- Pick more than one. Learn a new skill or martial art.

- Try something different than what you have learned: Judo, Aikido, Aikijujutsu, Escrima, Kendo or Kenjutsu, Kyudo, MMA, etc.

[taai gihk yahn]

Try something different than what you have learned: Judo, Aikido, Aikijujutsu, Escrima, Kendo or Kenjutsu, Kyudo, MMA, etc.
bah - don't be a wus! try crochet, sewing, knitting, macramé - man up!

-----

teetsao: sometimes you need to back off to get some perspective; one thing to ask yourself, is what is your underlying motivation for practicing? is it the experience in general, or some sort of specific goal? perhaps your original motivation for studying no longer is relevant to you as the person you are now, and so you may need to explore that, in order to understand what about practice is satisfying to you;

the other thing, is that maybe there is something going on in your life outside of your practice that is contributing to your lack of motivation? for example, you mention your job - is it satisfying? it sounds like it's not very challenging / engaging for you (maybe I am wrong); perhaps your dissatisfaction w your job / career is manifesting in lack of motivation in general - of course, i could be way off base, but just an example of how considering the big picture may help you understand this change...

[Lucas]

my program to fix anything that sucks.

step 1: find some hot tail

step 2: seduce hot tail

step 3: bang hot tail

step 4: repeat as neccessary

step 5: feel invigorated

:D

[YouKnowWho]

have lost motivation to train ...

If you have people constantly knock on your door and challenge you, you will never have the feeling that you have. Trying not to be beaten up by a 20 years old will be enough motivation for you to train for the rest of your life.

Old Chinese saying said, "If you don't train for 3 days, your hands and legs will no longer be yours". You just can't afford to "lose motivation to train".

[Scott R. Brown]

bah - don't be a wus! try crochet, sewing, knitting, macramé - man up!

I did all that when I was kid, well not sewing, but my grandmother taught me all the other stuff!

It is old lady Qigong!

[ginosifu]

Rod,
Hang in there ! Everyone that has been in kung fu for many years will share that at certain points we all go thru slumps. Watch some shaw bros, whatever get your self something that gets you thinking about training agian. It will come back to you in time. Don't worry it happens to alot of peeps.

ginosifu

[Lee Chiang Po]

Burnout plain and simple. You have to stop and think about what you have been doing for so long. Training should not be hard. If you are training hard you will not train well. Or do you refer to training hard as in physical training? Training hard to build endurance and strength will end in burn out too. No need to train like that for anything. Train reasonably and you will still learn and gain skill without wearing yourself down and burning out. You might just need to take a short break and come back with renewed interest.

[SteveLau]

We all have experienced such phenomenon in doing this and that. We are just humans. That is why we sometimes take some time off, and take vacation. Or else, one might likely find himself burnt out physically, mentally and emotionally. To develop good skill in any art, one needs to have passion in it. Try varies your training curriculum. Set objectives to achieve from time to time. Participate in full contact sparring tournament or so. Even maintain our skill level is an objective, and a good one too.



Regards,

KC
Hong Kong

[Blacktiger]

Yeah, doing 3 hrs a day is a good way to get burnt out Bro.

Quality of quantity brother, that is the way.
Moderation = longevity.

Correct - just cut back to an hour a day - see what happens.

All you have to do is turn up - dont worry about anything else :D

[Iron_Eagle_76]

Anytime you have done something for a long time it has times of monontony. Cutting back your training time or even taking a leave of training for a while is not the end of the world, and can make you regain your passion and fire for it. All true martial artists who train for several years and attain the skills they do are rare exceptions, because it takes a certain type of person to endure the training and make it an integral part of their life. But if you train in this way, you will always return to it.:)

[Ray Pina]

It happens.

The hardest part about training is going. Getting in the car. Once you're there you click into the swing of things and afterwards, on the ride home, you feel great.


Knowing that sometimes aint enough. My advice: go train something different. Even for a little while. Try BJJ or boxing. Wrestling. Even take two months for guitar or golf lessons. Turn yourself on.

[Ray Pina]

Thinking about this, I realize I had this issue more when training Kung Fu. In jiu jitsu, you're put to the test every class. There's always free rolling.... this is a great motivated for two reasons...... 1) you want to get back for revenge from last class or to try something new. 2) Can't afford to miss class because everyone learns a trick they can use on you and you don't know..... that's the best way to make it work.

[MightyB]

Man - I tell you it can be hard to motivate sometimes. I'm just now feeling like going back to practice and it's been two months. No injury or defeat or anything dramatic... just a loss in the general desire to go to practice. I'll probably start back up on Monday.

I think my main motivation anymore is I don't want to end up being a fat old guy and martial arts is more fun than golf.

[YouKnowWho]

martial arts is more fun than golf.
TCMA training is for fun which is different from the western thinking, "No pain, no gain". My teacher always told me that only work out up to 80% of my capacity. I still want to work out some more but I force myself to stop. This way, I will always look forward to my next training session.

When I was young, I tried to do my running with certain speed (6 minutes a mile). Today, I don't pay attention on my watch any more. I just enjoy the scenery and beautiful girls passing by.