Learning any Martial Art in Basingstoke, it doesn’t matter whether it’s hard martial art like Karate, Taekwondo, Kung Fu, Ju Jitsu or Judo, is difficult. Many people even say that learning a soft Martial Art such as  Tai Chi, Aikido, Pa-Kua or Hsing is even harder.

There is a typical scenario that happens with practitioners. When they start practicing, they know nothing, so progress can be made rapidly and new things are learnt almost constantly. The beginner tends to feel energised and is generally pleased with their progress.

As they consolidate these skills and hone, things become flatter in terms of the feeling of success and accomplishments. Many students become unhappy or disillusioned with their seeming lack of progress and quit their training. For those that stick through this phase the rewards when they come out of the plateau are great. It’s often like a light switch has been turned on and that persons skills  have been multiplied.

By the time a student gets closer to their coveted Black Belt, their Instructor is by now, pushing them much harder, both physically to perform their techniques and mentally to demonstrate their understanding of the art. Their skills are much greater, speed and power are really starting to come together and their understanding of the art is much greater.  However it’s generally one of the most dangerous phases, because many people lose heart and the will to persevere and give up, when their goal is so close.

All of us who have reached their Black Belt have experienced these plateau in our own training and if we are honest, we still experience them as Black Belts. Personally speaking I’ve had times when I’ve felt like I’ve regressed in terms of skill and ability. When I was a 2nd Dan, I went through 12 months of everyone in the Dojo from Yellow Belt upto Black Belts being faster than me, stronger, more skilful and basically able to beat me every time I fought them, and beat me convincingly. One day at training it all fell into place and the  old me was back. Actually that wasn’t quite true, it was the new highly improved me and I could do it again, only better than before. I reflected long and hard about that experience and my conclusion was that my belief in training had handsomely paid off and the will not to give up had proven itself invaluable.

So next time you go through that feeling that you aren’t getting anywhere. Dig deep and keep training and learn from the experience to make yourself a better Martial Artist.

On the other hand when the going starts to get tougher, you could always just give in to that little voice and give it all up. Just remember though that little voice will years later say “If only I’d………………………..”

You can be a Black Belt or lazy. You can’t be both.