I have to admit, although I’ve been
practicing WT for a quite a while, there are those moments where the energy is
not there - breaks, lags, gaps, etc through the years. Obviously the length of
time I’ve been ‘involved’ in wing tsun doesn’t reflect the hours I could’ve
been practicing wing tsun.
There are times in class when I have all
the energy in the world, and other times when it’s just SO difficult, where I
feel drained even before I start training.
This takes its toll on the training itself, the drills are sluggish, my
performance lacks, I get frustrated, and getting hit hurts just a little more
than usual.
It’s interesting to see the types of
students in class.
There are those that absorb wing tsun so
quickly and immerse themselves into the programs, train like crazy, learn
everything and anything..only to leave. They love the art, but I can’t help
think that they’ve burned themselves out and that excitement and drive
eventually dissipates.
Others take a slow and steady approach. Their development is very gradual, but
consistent. It means that it’s less
likely that they’ll burn out from training, but at the same time, they could be
at risk of stalling.
Then others seem to be unphased by
anything. They just keep truckin’, keep training and keep progressing, although
don’t immerse themselves into everything
wing chun. They don’t burn out like the first group, but progress much more
quickly than the second group.
How do you guys keep that passion, that
drive, alive? Wing tsun draws us in by its simplicity, but could that
simplicity also make for a bland and repetitive menu?
Maybe it’s just the way we choose to train
– a matter of perspective, a matter of psyching yourself up.
Or perhaps how we train?
Lately I’ve been toying with the idea of a
coaching approach, rather than the typical Si-Fu, student classroom
approach. For example, teacher sees your
footwork is weak, so over the next 4 weeks, your ‘coach’ has you do a specific
program designed to improve your footwork using a combination of drills,
exercises, chi-sao, etc but all with that one goal in mind. Then after that, move onto a different
weakness, say punching alignment and then coach you through that.
Although not particularly different from
what schools teach already, I’m thinking of a more structured, individualized,
athletic, measurable, goal oriented strategy, which might help provide those’
mini-victories’ that could really motivate someone like myself.
This is an approach I take throughout the
year when it comes to the gym…months 1-4, work on strength, months 5-8,
increase cardio and cut down on body fat, month 9, take break, active rests,
etc.
But back to my original question – how do
you keep your motivation and passion strong? What works for you?
Until then.
