Effort in the martial arts

Background: At work today, we were asked to applaud someone for “all the effort they have put in [to making a powerpoint presentation]”, and it got me thinking:

Is effort (separate from achievements/results) worthy of recognition?

Specifically, in the martial arts, should effort, independent of the outcome/skill displayed or learned be acknowledged?

Should, for the sake of argument, someone get a belt level because of the effort they put in, even if their ability falls short of the requirements for that level? Conversely, should someone not get recognition if they can perform at a certain level, but do not appear to have put in sufficient effort to get there?

Is it something that depends on the circumstances of the individual or the task at hand, or the stage of their input in the martial arts?

Personally, I’m a bit conflicted – ultimately, the ability of a martial artist is the important thing in their ability to protect themselves, not how hard they worked to get to that level; but organisationally or taking the view of one facet of martial arts being the journey to get there, then the effort taken in developing as a martial artist may be worthy of at least some recognition. But what form? Should we applaud those who try equally as much as those that can do?

What are your thoughts?

 

Absolutely.

Theres one Lad in the Dojo, He puts in 100%.
He's not the most co-ordinated fellow there, but the input/focus and self determination is outstanding. A couple of others simply do as required with minimal input and focus etc.

Personaly, I know which one of these fellows i would have watch my back, regardless of skill level. Heart and determination win battles, not skill alone. IMO.

Great question, i have pondered this many a time. Welcome to the forum.

 

Good question man, I really like it.

Well first off there is a difference between hard work and smart work.

Hard work is obviously working hard, no matter how inefficient the method that is being used is.

Smart work is using the least effort to make the most improvement in the most efficient and effective manner.

I believe outstanding effort towards a noble purpose should be recognized because it is precious time taken out of one's short life to do something good with their lives.

Personally I do not care much for recognition b/c I know in my heart I did well or I am awesome or something and I do not need others to tell me that but some people do.

Now let's take two people here and talk about them: the genius and the hardworker (Rock Lee and Nenji if you watch Naruto lol).

Everything comes natural to the genius and doesnt need to work as hard as the hardworker who works and works and works until his fists bleed to catch up to the genius.

Essentially the hardworker works hard but he is not always using the correct method and the genius works smart (although genius' can be born with amazing talent).


Now does one of these people deserve more recognition or accolades over the other?

Well that is dependent on what the society you live in values. More factors other than effort and accomplishment come into play.

For example, the genius is brilliant but he is an arrogant a-hole. In this case Atitude is keeping others from liking the genius and (hopefully) keeping him from getting recognition or rewards even though is undeniable.

Another example is the hardworker who means well but is essentially stupid. He bounces while he stretches or has some really faulty/'stupid training methods and ignores others advice (not b/c he is an a-hole but b/c he is ignorant). He is nice, humble and hardworking but he is essentially stupid.

Ignorance could be another factor as well b/c no one told the hardworker the best way to accomplish his goal.

Now I can take this argument and look at it in a few different perspective but I will speak from this one:

The hardworker hits a brick wall to toughen up his fist even though his Sifu told him not too and the smart worker listens to his Sifu and gradually works his way from beans, to rocks, to wood, to brick walls.

Sure the hardworker will gain tougher hands but at a cost from his own stupidity. Should we reward people who drive cars with square wheels?

No, we want a specific result and if you cannot achieve that result then you were not working SMART enough.

In America we reward the 4.0 GPA students not the 2.0 GPA students who try really hard, but never ask for help and never use the smart way to do things.

You will always feel bad for the well intentioned smart workers but at the end of the day they are not producing the desired result and therefore not be recognized.

In the martial arts persepctive we should not recognize someone who tries really hard but at the end of the day cannot protect themselves in a fight.


If you reward good behavior people will likely do it again. The same applies to rewarding bad behavior.

We punish bad behavior by ignoring the student or chastising them or giving them constructive advice.



Please remember my argument is entirely situational.

If you put it in the context of a man who's only purpose was to stack boxes and he has been doing just that for 30 years then recognize and reward him for his consistency.

No talent needed in that situation just pick up the box and move it.

 

Great thread idea.

I recall from a number of interviews of respected karateka from both Classical Fighting Arts and Martial Arts Masters where they stated they would rather have a student who had to put in lots of effort for their success rather than a naturally gifted student who didn't put in the effort. Their reasoning was the average student who is willing to work hard for a long time will be far more likely to stick with training for the long haul rather than just obtaining their black belt before moving on.

 

Rewarding effort is a good way to motivate people. However you need to consider how the effort is rewarded.

If for example your 'belt levels' are used to indicate a degree of expertise, and you then award a belt to someone (lets call them Alice) based on their effort rather than their ability. You may well motivate them, however you may demotivate others!.

Demotivation is not my major concern however. What you really need to think about is safety. If for example 'Alice' is promoted beyond their actual skill level and is therefore wearing a higher belt than they rightly should. If / when they visit another club, or trains with others who don't know her, they will expect a certain level of expertise - which she doesn't have and this could be dangerous for both parties.

I would have no problem issuing additional stripes to a belt, but would draw the line at issuing other belts. Ultimately in a club which is stand-alone then it is not an issue, but in a club which is part of a larger organisation / association then the grade structure has to be consistent across all the clubs.

So maybe what the club instructor needs is an 'effort' award (cup / medal / badge) which is made weekly/monthly/yearly. This is often used in kids clubs, but not so much with adults.

THis is obviously just my take on this and as it's a really good question I'd like to hear what others have to say on the subject.

 

Maybe reward the people that work hard with a grading once they have sufficient skill and actually stop giving out belts to those that don't. Universal balance restored without another set of rewards for something that should be the norm. Guess that would cost too much in lost revenue though

 

I agree with rewarding effort, although using belts to reward effort as said above, sounds as though its a risky idea. Perhaps another way to reward effort?

 

It sort of got me thinking, how does one judge if someone is putting in effort? In most circumstances, an instructor will only see their student during class times and so they can only judge on that. This includes both work on techniques as well as general fitness and conditioning that benefits as well.

Some circumstances to consider in this case that I can think of and or know of
- Students who muck around a bit during class but put in the extra time outside
- Students who seem to progress normally but are slogging it out away from class to keep up.
- Student who attends the maximum class per week but doesn't do any outside work.
- Naturally physically gifted who can just seemingly do everything at the drop of a hat – but can often take it for granted.
- Students who are really awesome at some things but really suck at other components

They are all different circumstances and so it's really hard to judge. That's not even including other things like people who crosstrain in arts with overlapping skillsets.

But yes, I certainly think effort should be acknowledged. Maybe not at times with something as tangible as a belt, but certainly at least with some sort of verbal encouragement to show that the extra effort has not gone unnoticed.

 

You may also have to consider outside factors.

Travel wise there are guys at my club who have to travel by car for a good half hour to make it to sessions, I can jog the route to the gym from my house in 15 minutes.

Is money also an issue? I'm training alot for an up-coming tournament and as a result for the past couple of months I've been able to afford training, toilet roll and food, that's pretty much it! Any luxuries in my life are bought by friends or not at all. On the flip side I know guys who match my training schedule and aren't even remotely close to feeling the pinch.

 

Am I the only one that (taking kids out of the equation) thinks that we now live in a culture that we have to be patted on the head like a good little dog?
You are training for YOU! If you work harder, travel further, spend more, work even harder, did I say work harder? the only person that really benefits from it is YOU.
Whether it be you nail a perfect pattern or sub someone out or spar well because of your hard work and dedication you have already achieved YOUR goal. You've already won!
Now you want a freakin' bow on it?

 

Sure, we previously didn't get a pat on the head, but that's not the point.

It's that people work harder and achieve more when they do, its just a fact of human nature and while its over-done or made meaningless in some cases to discard it entirely is missing out on a very useful motivational tool.

 

Then they need to adust their viewpoint and see the bigger picture. They are working for a variety of reasons but for one person, themselves. Now if they don't value the gains they make by working harder for what they are in their own right then they are being very immature.

 

People work harder when given meaningful positive feedback from others. I'm not certain what part of that you have a problem with..

 

There is no time limit on black belt. For some it might take a short time, some it might take a decade. Some may never get it. The idea of effort is that those that train harder get there faster.

As for the reality of awarding rank... If the head instructor awards a rank, then that rank is valid under that instructor. So if the instructor wants to give a black belt rank to a student simply because of effort... that is his/her decision.

However, this is rank only under that instructor. In a larger organization, there are certain standards and requirements that must be met. So it is possible that someone might have a black belt rank under an instructor but it is honorary rank because the person did not meet the requirements for rank in the system.

To answer the OP, I think if a rank is awarded purely for effort put in, I think that falls under the "honorary" rank. So a person could have two ranks in a system... a honorary rank and their actual rank. The rank certificates should clearly note this, IMHO.

 

Now that's different to actually rewarding them. It shouldn't have to go father than that. Hard work should be the norm, not the exception, shouldn't be rewarded only expected

 

Sometimes in life people pick things up more easily than you, even if they don't seem to be putting in as much effort as you. It really sucks sometimes, but that's life and you need to learn to accept it if you really want to get better at something - anything - in the long term.

 

I'm like this, as is my son. Doesnt matter what it is we both do well from pretty much the onset. Neither of us have the dedication to go the extra mile to become great at anything once left to our own devices. So near yet so far

 

Effort should be rewarded but not with belts. A belt is a symbol of having attained a certain level of skill in an art, not having put in effort. However most of the time if you put in effort you become more skillful.

Of couse there is always the occasional person who just has no ability no matter how hard they apply themselves. Maybe reward them in another way but not with belts.

Not that it matters now because in nearly all martial arts anyone who has enough money regardless of effort and skill can get a black belt, so the whole system of belts is completely undermined and meaningless.

 

Whats your standard for Hard work?

 

Oh I'm a slave master. If people don't want to work hard then that's ok too, they pay the rent but if you want to compete or really get good then I'd expect two to three hours of lesson time maybe four or five days a week, at least 2 weights sessions, probably three, another similar time with cardio.
I'd expect more on the run up to a fight and I'd want that fitting into a six day week.