How to stay commited

[samjames]

“Actually, what I said was more of a future projection for you, rather than a comment on your current outlook. I can see how the phrasing could be read as talking about your current situation, that is not what I had in mind as I wrote.”
Then there must be something wrong with your filter.
“But to the point, you wrote that you often give up after feeling like you have conquered something. My comments were that there is no "conquering" martial arts. So if you (at any tiime at all) feel you have done so, you haven't. And that will be your ego talking, as it evidentally did with your football and skateboarding.”
You are entitled to your opinion. May I remind you that even the wisest person’s opinion, is still an opinion. In your mind there is no conquering martial arts, and therefore it is true to you, and anybody who thinks otherwise is wrong. I don’t disagree with you on this point. But what I am saying is that, in someone’s mind if they have “conquered it” then it is true for them. Similarly, if they are convinced of an opposing viewpoint, and subscribe to it, then whatever perspective they have taken will be true for them as well, because that is what they believe.
“Which is what I was addressing. Oh, and you specifically asked for those "in deep" to answer, and, well, that would be me (amongst others).”
You admitted to coming off in a way other than you intended, so if I were you, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if someone’s interpretation of what I said is something other than the meaning I had in mind. I found your response to be arrogant. Just because you have thousands of posts, and you believe you are so great doesn’t mean I am going to lay down on something that I believe should be stood up for. And if you believe you have so much power to quell, with your diction and syntax of condescending, a person’s beliefs then you are far more arrogant than I think you are.
“Again, son, you've been here for a total of 10 posts. We haven't really had a discourse yet, but to let you know, I'm really not the guy for you to try to educate on any of the above topics. The ego I am refering to is not the sense of self that people have, it's the inflated sense of self that comes with the invincibility and immortality of youth. And that is not stereotyping, it is understanding the psychology of the group in question. And so you know, both your original post, and this reply fit that bill perfectly.”
This is what you really said…
“But you're young. And that usually means a few things, including ego.”
Once again, you failed to express the idea running through your brain. Communication is about being clear.
“ the inflated sense of self that comes with the invincibility and immortality of youth.”
You obviously don’t see this as a stereotype. You see it as an absolute truth, otherwise you would see how much of a stereotype it really is. I take it that you don’t think too much of younger generations than your own. That’s unfortunate. I think you have a lot of good ideas and good intentions in your mind, you just haven’t been exhibiting the communication skills necessary to express them clearly.
The fact that you see my 10 posts on this website as some sort of measure of the validity of the posts themselves, again just goes to show the depth of your insight. And lack of ability to create a good argument.
I hope you are tired and give up old man,
Cheers,
Sam

 

[Flea]

Out of curiosity, Sam, may I ask how old you are?

 

[blindsage]

Out of curiosity, Sam, may I ask how old you are?

I am very grateful that at 22 I've completely fallen in love with yet another physical activity.

Sam, you will get bored. The question I have is how are you comparing your previous experience in physical pursuits to your MA training? What do you find in common between them that makes you concerned that you may want to quit MA eventually? Being a RB in football you have the potential to pursue it to ridiculous ends like Barry Sanders. Skateboarding is the same way like Tony Hawk. Committing yourself to an MA can be different depending on you.

If you are pursuing MA to competitive ends like football or (sponsored) skateboarding, then yes, at some point you may become board and feel like you've 'conquered' the 'sport'. If you are pursuing MA for the personal development, physical and psychological challenge, life skills, and/or pure love of it, you will never feel like you've conquered it.

There is also such depth within styles and such diversity among styles that getting bored would completely be on your shoulders.

P.S. Relax a little in regards to Chris' comments. They were not intended to be condescending, they were intended to give the perspective of experience. IMHO, you're taking them the wrong way. If it's not you, it's not you, but the inflated sense of ego that he is talking about is fairly common in your age group and I (and I'm sure Chris) can attest to personally, very very few are aware of it until years later. He's not trying to be a dick, he's trying to help you have perspective.

 

[GHETTO NINJA]

change things up , simple things , like wear your gi and sometimes dont or train inside and sometimes outside ....

 

[Franc0]

Sam, welcome to MT and to the life of a martial artist. Some people who've trained for a long period of time get what I call "burned out" when it comes to training. When this happens, it usually separates the hobbyist from the true martial artist. The hobbyist will quit alltogether, while the true martial artist will take some time off, then return after a short break. Thats OK IMO, because it's happened to me. I'm going on 40 yrs in the arts, and about 10 yrs ago I felt a little burned out, so I took a break. After about 3 months off, I felt like I was gonna explode, so I contacted some old students who kept training together during my absence, and picked up where I left off.
When it comes to "conquering" an art, that simply won't happen to any true martial artist, so you won't have to worry about that if the MA's are truly for you. I've seen boredom happen mostly to instructors rather than students, but that usually happens when they're forced to teach to pay the bills, which makes it become more of a job than doing something they love. I honestly feel your question on how to stay commited is something you'll need to ask yourself and discover within yourself. Some good advice has been given by others here also, so take to heart what you think will work for you.
Good luck on your journey Sam.

Franco