Why do you train?
Again this is a topic I bring up a lot at classes and when I'm visiting other clubs. This is because I think it is vital to ongoing development to keep on asking this question.
Most people come into a martial arts gym with a strong reason for training – self defence, fitness, stress relief, desire to learn martial arts, aggression control... the list goes on. It is very important that you reassess your motivations for training on a periodic basis.
After six months are your reasons for training the same as they were when you started? If you started training for self defence have you honestly needed those skills to protect yourself or has an increase in confidence brought about better results? Have you noticed that you are getting into training for it's own sake rather than to serve a purpose?
Are you not sure why you train or where you're going with it?
Training is a long-term commitment to personal development. If you stay in the same midset you had when you walked in the door for the first time your training career will be cut short, you'll burn out and get bored. If you let your motivation evolve as your skills, knowledge and understanding do you'll keep finding new reasons to train and new avenues to explore.
Post your original reasons for training and new motivations that you have discovered on the way. Or discuss at the very least. ;)
posted by Phil Wright
16 Comments:
my original reason for training was to have fun, my life was pretty crappy and i was destined for the morgue if i didnt do something about it, so i did.
my reasons for training now are different, i train not for fun (although it is there) i train to spend time with my friends, to meet new ones, to learn more about myself, for stress relief due to high pressure job. most of all i train to push myself.
i want to know what i can do, then go and do more!
*rant over*
5:12 PM
When I started training I expected it to be a once a week work out/ competition i suppose, like i had treated judo at uni. It took me a while to get out of this mind set and i don't think I would still be training if I hadn't. For me grappling has grown to provide everything my degree doesn't - I could quite happily read, talk about and train bjj all week long. I'd always wanted to learn how to play chess... think fate is giving me another option!
10:42 PM
I think originally I wanted to fight, I'd been a big fan of the UFC for a number of years before I started training and thought that fighting would be the coolest thing in the world.
Now I couldn't care less if I ever fought, I'd still train. My main reason to train right now is to push myself I want to see where my limits are and then break them. Most people start training to improve their physical toughness I think I am doing it now to improve my mental toughness.
I also train simply because I enjoy it, like Jim said I could train all day talk about it all night and still not get bored of it.
8:56 AM
My reasons are very much the same as Doug’s'. I had seen the early UFCS a few years ago and thought ‘that would be cool to do’. Not so much fighting, but being part of a family like the Gracies, and the camaraderie that training would bring. I was mainly interested in learning something which I could work on long term and get really good at it. I was always intrigued by those kids you would see on newsround or blue peter. You know the ones, they were really good with a yo-yo or could talk backwards, and I didn’t realise at first why they got so good. But I then found out that you could get somewhere in life with hard work and perseverance. I had played football for years and once that stopped this was the next thing I got into. But, I didn’t really get into it - it got into me. So now I need to feed the addiction which has controlled my life ever since and maybe one day I can be on newsround.
Live the dream.
1:32 AM
no way man, newsround is for hardcore peeps only, lol. but i concur on the addictedpoints, when im tied down in work or ill i feel the pangs of withdrawal symptoms.
7:10 AM
I'm one or two years older than you lads and have been involved in the fight game (in various ways) for most of my life. My earliest motivations were to get tougher and so on.
Yes, I was around before UFC and the like (big fan). And there were groups of fighters out there that played with the development of MMA before it had a name. Not very refined but brutal.
But I soon realised what made me tick was the internal fight. Now, 20 years on I do it for the love of Martial Arts and I found a place that teaches that way.
Cool.
7:55 AM
'Adam this year you've won boht Abu Dhabi and the Mundials, whats next for you?'
'I'm going on Blue Peter!!!'
9:24 AM
bwahahahahahahaha, nearly spat coke over the screen with that one, comedy.
9:35 AM
I originally wanted to say something profound like Chess, which I did actually want to be good at as kid (The next Bobby Fisher but less crazy). But Jim had already said that, and as your all probably familiar to my train of thought (Or not) the search for ideas delved into the deep unknown. I drew deeply from my well educated background and wide reading and came up with 'Blue Peter'.
Love the interview bit Doug. You do know if I ever achieved anything that big, I would say something like that don't you.
12:02 PM
Keep them coming guys.
9:24 AM
...and gals!
12:24 PM
For me, I wanted initially to be able to with mates I would be able to handle myself better and be able to beat them on occasions instead of always being the one to submit.
Now, about five months later, I fingure that it's for several reasons:
1) Improve my physical fitness and flexibility. None of the gym programs that I've had done have stuck as well as working at Revolution.
2) To be able to compete on a level playing field with some of the more experienced grapplers in the club. Submission isn't really the name of the game since it ends up destroying the flow of a roll.
3) To push my own limits, as I'm doing with the standup work that I'm starting to do. I was really worried about starting that but now that I'm doing it I'm really enjoying it.
4) Stress relief - I know that I've had some really bad days since I started training at Revolution and, on more than one of those I've been in a bad mood for a fair amount of the training period. Once I'd finished training though, I felt a lot better.
I also agree with the comments of others in the club that I come down to spend time with friends. Standing around talking after a training session is the norm rather than the exception.
So, from spotting the words on the window one Saturday when heading for Tescos, I can safely say that starting at Revolution has been a Good Decision. Thanks for the welcome guys and thanks for keeping me challenged, plus thanks to Phil for running things so well!
7:12 PM
p.s. I'm probably the exception in that I've not watched UFC or Pride so far! :o)
7:13 PM
I train because I love training and I coach because I enjoy watching other people enjoy the same benefits I have had.
I've gone through many phases in my career, from thinking I was bad ass to realising I knew nothing. The permanent white belt is an iea I'm particularly fond of, those of you who have ever seen me in full-on Maven mode will know that I cherish learning, knowledge and growth of myself and others above almost anything else.
Training for me has been a vehicle for this growth and, more recently, coaching has done the same thing.
Revolution as a community is what I have worked towards for a while. Egoless, fun, technical, cerebral, mellow, challenging, supportive, unorthodox, effective and, most importantly, affective.
Training is about change, embracing the change and seeing where it takes me is why I train.
12:46 PM
Some people think that ideas or memes have a life of their own, and use humans to self replicate. It might have something to do with why we find learning and teaching so satisfying.
9:03 PM
"Revolution as a community is what I have worked towards for a while. Egoless, fun, technical, cerebral, mellow, challenging, supportive, unorthodox, effective and, most importantly, affective.
Training is about change, embracing the change and seeing where it takes me is why I train."
You need to put that absolutely every where you try and sell/explain what we do to other people.
11:53 PM
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