How long did it take?

Discussion in 'General Martial Arts Discussion' started by Tom1uk, Mar 25, 2014.

  1. Tom1uk

    Tom1uk Valued Member

    Evening all,

    I was curious how long it took for your training to click with you all?

    I have never done much in the way of martial arts, apart from learning go throw a few punches and look after myself when I was a teenager. It has always been something I've wanted to do but I was always drawn to weight lifting due to my previous profession.

    I have recently started Thai boxing after loosing all interest in weights and sitting on the couch eating crap for a few years. I am targeting loosing weight mainly at the moment but I can't help but feel frustrated with myself after some training sessions.

    Sometimes it just doesn't seem to click with me, I consistently screw up combinations or hold the pass the wrong way and find myself completely forgetting the methods I have been taught the week before, so my foot work or hands go to mush. this leaves me disheartened greatly after training sometimes and I was wondering if anyone else had experienced anything simpler?

    As it leaves me often questioning wether I should really be in that gym and if I'm just waisting the instructors time.

    Sorry for the depth of the question but it has been playing on my mind heavily.

    Thanks for any insight or experience your willing to share.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 25, 2014
  2. StooXex

    StooXex Valued Member

    After 6 months I'm finding that some days I pick up what's asked of me pretty quickly.

    Other days it goes in one ear and out of the other.

    I know that I'm not alone on the mats like that, so I just keep on going knowing that every time a little bit more sticks in my brain.
     
  3. Hannibal

    Hannibal Cry HAVOC and let slip the Dogs of War!!! Supporter

    Been involved for over 26 years now...still have "duh" moments. The trick is to keep doing it and reduce the "duh to success" ratio :)
     
  4. YouKnowWho

    YouKnowWho Valued Member

    You have to integrate MA training into your daily life. When I walk my dog, I like to train footwork such as:

    1. move my left back leg to touch behind my right front leg.
    2. advance my right front leg.
    3. step in my left back leg.
    4. use my right leg to draw a half circle.
    5. advance my left leg.
    6. advance my right leg again.

    I will repeat this 6 steps footwork for 3 miles when I walk with my dog.

    When I watch TV, I like to

    - use my right hand to garb my left wrist.
    - My left arm then try to break my right hand grip,
    - My right hand then slide along my left arm to control on top of my left elbow.
    - My left hand then tries to stop my right hand's action. Sometime I would let my right hand win. Other time I would let my left hand win.

    When I do those training, my time is not a total waste even when I walk my dog, or watch TV.

    When you do something like this, you truly don't care about "how long" because you intend to spend the rest of your life to train MA.
     
    Last edited: Mar 25, 2014
  5. Guitar Nado

    Guitar Nado Valued Member

    Good advice (as usual!), but the above part of your post made me think of this:

    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xhzIrCATAs"]evil dead the hand - YouTube[/ame]
     
  6. Simon

    Simon Administrator Admin Supporter MAP 2017 Koyo Award

    Definitely this.

    Even the instructors will tell you some days you think, "I don't know what I'm going to teach tonight" and on other days you can rattle on about one tiny thing for hours.

    Stick with it, you're not wasting the instructor's time.

    Days turn into weeks, weeks into months and soon enough you'll be the one the beginners turn to. I promise you.
     
  7. Ero-Sennin

    Ero-Sennin Well-Known Member Supporter

    How long have you been training?

    Things "clicking" happens in stages, not all at once. One day you'll be throwing punches and kicks on a bag and you'll notice your cross feels real good and clean, then another week a round house will seem spectacular, and then the week after that you realize in sparring your cross and roundhouse are actually pretty good and at that point those moves have "clicked" for you. You don't need to work them as much anymore. Same thing works for footwork and positioning, there comes a point where you just "know."

    In Boxing, it took about three months for me to really start feeling like some of my punches were good. Another three for me to realize I had developed a few different movements for footwork that were really clean/nice for me. Every so often I found a combination or counter move that I was real good at in sparring, and so on. At the end of a year I felt like I had a full package/style to work with and develop further, but things got cut short for me due to a head injury in that area.

    I've also experienced some good "clicking" moments in BJJ. After about 6 months of practicing with people who were far better than me that I could never submit some new guys came to the gym. They were just as athletic/big as me, and I approached rolling with them the same way I did with all the people who were better than me. Then I realized after about a minute, "this guy can't be that dumb leaving himself open like this." At that point I started submitting them with ease, and it clicked that I had a little bit of BJJ skill. :p

    Just keep at it. Like anything, the more you do it the better you get.
     
  8. matveimediaarts

    matveimediaarts Underappreciated genius

    This^^ When I started karate, I was terrible with kata and various forms. After ~6 months and a belt stripe, I am now regularly assigned to help junior students...and still make enough mistakes to require numerous corrections each class on the stuff I'm learning for my next test.

    Physical exercises like MA and dance require more effort than academic exercises like memorizing the multiplication table. Your teachers really do understand your pain. They've been the same place you are.
     
  9. Southpaw535

    Southpaw535 Well-Known Member Moderator Supporter

    2 years for bjj. In my case what I needed to do was calm down, stop trying to make things up as I went along, and spent a lot of time training with others outside of class times going over small things one by one. Practically over a month I went from getting tapped out 7 times a round to being one of the better people in the class.
     
  10. daggers

    daggers Valued Member

    When it clicks it's time to stop :)
     
  11. matveimediaarts

    matveimediaarts Underappreciated genius

    :D I know that one well. My sensei still forbids me to practice sword forms outside of class because I tend to learn it wrong and look like I'm making up my own ryu.
     
  12. Mitch

    Mitch Lord Mitch of MAP Admin

    Just to comment from an Instructor's point of view, teaching is great.

    Teaching talented people is good, they pick things up, move on quickly, have excellent body control etc.

    But teaching people who just stick at stuff till it works, people who don't give up, people who just slog until it "clicks" is the most satisfying, because that moment when the click happens is something special.

    And the truth is that we're all both kinds of person over different things at different times.

    What instructors generally respect most is the student who trains hard week in, week out.

    Stick with it Tom :)

    MItch
     
  13. matveimediaarts

    matveimediaarts Underappreciated genius

    Though I'm just an assistant teacher when the instructors are busy or not present, this has been my experience as well. :)

    Cheers.
     
  14. hatsie

    hatsie Active Member Supporter

    I know for me at least I seem to go through 'cycles' where for a time I've got to left feet and can't remember what hand I'm meant to write with! :D then this will eventually pass and before I know it I'm 'on my game' find it easy and fun, remembering everything and basically nailing it.
    Trick I've learned is not too get to depressed or demotivated during the wonky times, nor too 'full of my self when I'm going well :D. I just keep going, and at least it seems to be an upward spiral of cycles lol.
    If find this also applies to other areas of life, work sport etc.

    Hole this little rant made same sense, chin up old boy :D
     
  15. Fujian Animal

    Fujian Animal Banned Banned

    I was first introduced to martial art when I was six years old. Didn't like it then. Nothing against TKD, just didn't like the teacher at that time. My next introduction to martial art wouldn't be again until I was a teenager. By that time, I was walking in Bruce Lee's footsteps, but had not yet figured out how to walk on my own. Today, fifteen years later, I am still learning.
     
  16. Dan93

    Dan93 Valued Member

    Started when I was 14 and as said before can't remember my first Eureka moment but then a few years down the line I see it more in depth and it starts all over again.

    When you make your technique a habit and constantly refine your movement mechanically and under pressure it will become second nature.

    I have different emphasis for my training now than I did 20 years ago but critically the passion is still there, I see it like a marriage you need to have that love and work on it or it will die.

    Keep at it and it will all fall in place but you need to have a passion behind it as well.

    Good Luck.

    Dan
     
  17. Infesticon #1

    Infesticon #1 Majesticon

    I'll let you know when (if) it happens.
     
  18. raaeoh

    raaeoh never tell me the odds

    I have the click 3 times with the round house. 1st was when I could throw it correctly. 2nd was when I could throw it low medium and high effectively. 3rd was when I learned to throw it angled down. my guess is I will have another click moment on the round house in the future.

    one of my instructors who has been doing MA for over 30 years has a wtf moment at least one a class.
     
  19. Tom1uk

    Tom1uk Valued Member

    Thanks for all the great freedback, I read some earlier this week and went in and had a great session. I even got paired up with the guy who was holding the pads for me last time I had a shocking session. This felt good as I got to show that I wasn't just a muppet lol.

    It's really good to know it's not just me that finds the hard times, I've found that I seem to need to make some slight adjustments to my stance etc, as since doing that today I had a much better session. Everything was much more fluid & strong.
     
  20. Tom1uk

    Tom1uk Valued Member

    This situation hasn't improved much if I'm honest. I spar every week, and each week I leave feeling like a complete tool. I forget everything and most of the time turn into a brawler once again looking for that massive right of mine. I was hoping to start noticing some good bits by now and be able to go that's comfortable that. It's hard to explain
     

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