Lost my mojo

[andyb28]

Hi Guys,

Since getting my black belt, I am struggling with Karate, its as if I have lost interest in it.
Did anyone else suffer with this? How long until it comes back :(

I have been working on my swimming and running, so at least I am not losing my fitness.

Andy

[WadoAJ]

Hi Guys,

Since getting my black belt, I am struggling with Karate, its as if I have lost interest in it.
Did anyone else suffer with this? How long until it comes back :(

I have been working on my swimming and running, so at least I am not losing my fitness.

Andy

Hi Andy,

I have never lost my interest. Perhaps you should try to look below the surface. Did you tell your sensei? Perhaps he can point you in a "new" direction.
For example, I recently mentioned a concept/principle to my students. Then we went through all five Pinan. I told them to look for the principle in each Pinan. They realised that if you take another step forward, that you have to start "all over again" if you know what I mean. There is so much out there..

What I'm trying to say is that I think you need to find a new challenge.

AJ

[wadoka]

After my 2nd and 3rd dan gradings my focus also dropped off for a couple of months.

Don't worry about it, it is just the wax and wane of life. But don't stop!

[Tim49]

Through the kyu grades there is a phenomena where students reach particularly sticky parts. The early kyu grades tend to be a very steep learning curve; achievement piles on top of achievement in rapid progression, but get to the point of say 3rd kyu 2nd kyu and students can hit what I call the brown belt blues. The demands in terms of skill and dedication to practice become more extreme and the payback can seem quite minimal.

Then comes the whole Dan grade thing….

Students have this golden goal set up before them, something to aim for, the symbol of black belt becomes an objective in itself. To paraphrase George Bernard Shaw, there are two tragedies in a man’s life, one is to want his heart’s desire, the other is to gain it. But it is a false God.

The other fallacy is that students on their way up through the kyu grades are tacitly lead to believe that the hallmark of achievement is how much stuff you know, e.g. ‘I know all the kata up to Niseishi, so this must mean I’m an expert!’. This of course is complete rubbish.

I think one of the things that brings the senior Dan grades back in to the Dojo time after time, week in week out, is that they know that within Wado there is always so much to work on, so much so that one lifetime is not enough. Personally every year I learn something new, some fresh revelation which always tends to slap me down and make me realise how little I know, tip of the iceberg stuff.

Tim

[oneya]

... and the problems would be manifold if your instructor doesn't recognise and understand this stage is imminent before you do, especially in wado ryu.

oneya

[claas]

Hi,

Depending slightly on the grading syllabus the black belt usually is the point when you know pretty much all the kihon kumites and 9 katas superficially. Up to that point you have collected and tried to learn the very basics to the level that you can collect more. Then the focus changes to improving instead of collecting. That can be quite a shock but the fun part is that once you get it going, you know that you train for yourself and the training is truly training.

Participating on seminars and training camps is a good way to get the motivation back. Most of the times the level is higher than at the clubs and the instructors tend to be better too on average. Getting the feeling that "I suck but here's how I can become better" is what one must constantly seek. The fact that one suck is easily forgotten if one doesn't challenge himself enough but enjoys the way of the ego more.

All this is of course even more difficult if the stuff is not correctly learned.