Finding inspiration

From time to time, on this long journey of the martial arts, we find ourselves in ruts and plateaus. Both motivation and progression are low, and the best advice we receive is 'just push through it.' The statement is true, and with a stubborn determination to just keep going we break through stagnation and hit the ground running again. But it is not always so easy to keep faith in repeating 'keep going, keep going!'

I often find that in times where I am lacking motivation, it becomes escalated and perpetuated if I focus on it. If all I do is sit around and think about how much I didn't accomplish I feel worse about it and overlook the small amounts of progress I have actually made. That's why it becomes imperative to the survival of your passion, your martial arts to be able to shift focus on personal improvements during low points in training. Simply put, set small goals that will benefit your martial arts.  Improve your shifting from stance to stance, focus on speed and height of your kicks, make yourself do 10 more push ups each week!!!

The best way of keeping track of both goals and accomplishments is to keep them in a notebook, that way you can look back and see your progression. It also helps in the periods between slumps, where you can write down questions and new found answers that may come into play later on down the road.

Lastly, even though the path of the martial arts is an individual journey, the road is wide enough for company along the way. Get a training partner, someone who can help motivate you through rough patches and celebrate your accomplishments.

So keep going, keep going..... keep going!!!!!