I participated in a 5 hour martial arts workshop today. As always, I know that I learned a lot – but it was so mentally overwhelming that I won’t realize the true value of the techniques for at least a couple of days, maybe even a week or two. I have been to several of these in the last year, and I always leave feeling like my mind is tired, but my body is still fresh. I wish that the seminars were shorter, with less technique and more repetition so I could get a workout and learn new technique at the same time. I am starting to understand that people in the martial arts are very focused on technique, and not on fitness. Perhaps they are not alone . . .
As in all sports or physical activities, martial arts is only fun in so far as one can comfortably endure the physical work that it takes to perform the activity. In other words, it stops being fun when you are tired. The sooner the fatigue occurs, the less time the student (player) can spend having fun while learning. The only way to have more fun (and develop skill) is to be more fit. There are many ways to become more fit, but they all involve a lot of repetition. Most people do not like repetition because it is not exciting or interesting enough to hold their attention (maybe that’s why most people are not fit?).
At one point during the seminar, the person I was working with says to me “I am running out of options.” And I replied “You don’t need more options, you just need to have a few that you can get every time.” His reply was “Where’s the fun in that?”
We can see the student’s distaste for repetition by way of this comment. This attitude is all too common among martial arts students, and is the reason that most people do not stick with their training. It also the reason people do not stick with their workout regimens.
There are a few interesting contradictions in this way of thinking which i would paraphrase: “It has to be fun for me to want to work hard at it.”
- First of all, the reason he ran out of options was that I was larger, stronger and more fit than him, so he could not rely on intimidation or brute strength. The contradiction here is that the student does not take responsibility for his own success or failure when training gets mundane, but is happy to claim bragging rights when everything is going his way.
- Secondly, the true talent of elite athletes in any sport is their ability to flawlessly repeat the basic movements of their sport or art with effortless grace and precision – NOT to re-invent the event in every moment. Basics are basics, and a person’s concept of fun can either include them or not, but they are still the foundation of success. No one likes lunges or push-ups, but they will always be effective. The people who look beyond their desire to be entertained by exercise programs, and actually do the work, will have more fun working in the long term because they will continue to get results.
- Third and finally, repetition is not fun. I agree – it is less fun to take the same technique and do it 1,000 times than it is to change techniques every 10 minutes or so; unfortunately, that is how you become proficient. When we strive to increase our level of fitness, we should be focused on results. Loosing weight and finally getting new clothes that you feel confident wearing is fun – so who cares if we have to do a few “boring” things to get there – isn’t it worth it? If not, then you don’t get to whine when someone who has done the work shows you up.
The training process does not always have to be fun to be rewarding. In fact, training is often difficult, humiliating and painful, but the skills (fitness) that we develop help us have fun as we progress.
