If you was me and I needed to be really motivated to be at class every night how would you motivate me to do this? Lets say I am going on my 6 month of training and I am a yellow belt.
Looking for insight
- Thread starter terryl965
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Well, first, I'd want to know what was driving a potential lack of motivation. Perhaps an honest convo to start with.
Not knowing that, perhaps giving a special "assignment" that would require the person coming to class ot present research or ot work on "special" techniques. Basically, make th eperson feel special and then give them something ot do that proves their specialness. Maybe they can help teach a special class.
What will work really depends on what's going on with the student in question though.
Peace,
Erik
Not knowing that, perhaps giving a special "assignment" that would require the person coming to class ot present research or ot work on "special" techniques. Basically, make th eperson feel special and then give them something ot do that proves their specialness. Maybe they can help teach a special class.
What will work really depends on what's going on with the student in question though.
Peace,
Erik
OP
- Thread Starter
- #3
He is just tired all the time and it is hard to come here after getting home and relaxing.
How old is this person? Do they work, or are they in school? How out of or in shape are they? Taking on a new thing (exercise) may be hard to do for them.
Talk to student, find out why s/he signed up in the first place, and work forward from there.
A sad reality of instructing: students quit. It hurts when students quit. There's not much one can do about it except continue to teach the students who don't quit.
A sad reality of instructing: students quit. It hurts when students quit. There's not much one can do about it except continue to teach the students who don't quit.
Deaf Smith
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I'd tell him this little story.
Long time ago I was a yellow belt just like you, son. I also found it hard to go in the evening. Once I got home I just didn't want to get back up. That TV was just so nice to watch all of what was happening in the world. Each night I could follow the worlds events. I could follow the saga on the sit-coms. I could just sit in that world and watch.
But the thing is, all I did was watch my life go by. Every day was one less day in my life I could not get back. One less day to really live instead of just watching. I'd look in the mirror just waiting to see the lines form in my face as I got older. I'd dream of how I was fit and buff and skilled. But it was all a dream. All I could do was watch. What a waste!
Stick with it son. What looks difficult is not, what looks easy isn't.
You won't find everything in life here at the dojo, but I promis you, you will learn to live some if you stick with it. You will experience many highs and lows. You will be scared at times, tired sometimes, and as you grow more confident you will relish the time you have to workout here with friends. You will learn to say 'yes sir' and 'no sir' and understand why you say that. You will appreciate others and learn what self-respect really means. It grows on you in ways it's really hard to explain. But you have to stick with it.
It may be hard now for you to come, but in time it will be hard instead for you to leave. So stick with it.
I did.
Deaf
jim777
Master Black Belt
The "Kung Fu" pilot, with David Carradine, Master Po, and Master Chang. :asian: Way back in the day, that's what did it for me. The serenity, the power, the self confidence and the good will towards those that would do me harm.
Come on though, if you need external motivation to keep coming at yellow belt, then maybe you should take piano lessons or something. Not everyone is cut out for martial arts, certainly not everyone wants to break the occasional rib sparring or get callouses on their knuckles from push ups. Doesn't make you a bad person
We need more jazz guitarists!
Come on though, if you need external motivation to keep coming at yellow belt, then maybe you should take piano lessons or something. Not everyone is cut out for martial arts, certainly not everyone wants to break the occasional rib sparring or get callouses on their knuckles from push ups. Doesn't make you a bad person
We need more jazz guitarists!I know this probably doesn't help but I felt very unmotivated at one time. The self defense was the same thing everytime and I needed something more. This is why I started to look up the sport part of tkd. I became very interested in it right away and I started to become competitive, wanting to be better than the rest. I went from being just another student to a very dedicated and hard working one. I take my workout seriously and I practice my combos and forms often.
kaizasosei
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BE FUNNY! What have you got to lose?
at the end of the day, even a youngster will have to choose his path...be it martial arts or football, trouble or opposite sex ....noone can steer a youngster by force-especially not the wild ones. i think people generally seek recognition and completely honest friendship.
j
at the end of the day, even a youngster will have to choose his path...be it martial arts or football, trouble or opposite sex ....noone can steer a youngster by force-especially not the wild ones. i think people generally seek recognition and completely honest friendship.
j
Sylo
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I'll tell you what I did.
Coming from a person who had the same issue.
I motivated myself by finding a goal to reach. For me its teaching. If I don't go to class every night, I can't teach. To help with that, (this sounds corny but it worked) I downloaded all my favorite soundtrack scores from various 80s martial arts movies that I grew up watching as a kid. The stuff that made me visualize myself in those movies. Listening to this gets me pumped up, no matter how tired I am. So far, its worked well in keeping me from saying "You know what, I'll just skip today".
They need to ask themselves why they are training? Once they figure that out, then motivation should come from wanting to accomplish that goal.
DojangMom
Yellow Belt
Well, depending on his particular situation, I might suggest a visit to the doctor. My husband was really tired all the time a while back. He finally went to see the doctor after months of feeling like he was dragging his feet everywhere he went. Turned out he had colon cancer and was slowly bleeding to death. He's fine now, but that was a very minor symptom for a very major disease!
I love that!
Talk with him> why did he sign up in the first place, are there issues that prevent him from coming, dose he really want to study, etc. Then find ways to encourage him to attend.
punisher73
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Motivation must come from within. People either have an "away from" strategy or a "towards". You need to find out what motivates the student and how they use self strategies in their life on goals they did accomplish. Then you need to craft strategies and priorities that take into account these factors.
It also helps when you reframe the idea. Put it in pleasure/pain principles and reassign weight to each. For example, if you focus on the short term aspect you will assign value to the RIGHT NOW and watching tv or relaxing will seem like a really good thing. You need to reframe that value and put more value on the long term positive of the benefits of training. Another way is going to train is painful and tiring, that puts value on the negative and seems better to avoid for the short term, by putting it in the long term reassign the value of getting our butt kicked by someone and focus on avoiding the long term pain.
It also helps when you reframe the idea. Put it in pleasure/pain principles and reassign weight to each. For example, if you focus on the short term aspect you will assign value to the RIGHT NOW and watching tv or relaxing will seem like a really good thing. You need to reframe that value and put more value on the long term positive of the benefits of training. Another way is going to train is painful and tiring, that puts value on the negative and seems better to avoid for the short term, by putting it in the long term reassign the value of getting our butt kicked by someone and focus on avoiding the long term pain.
To everyone who has said to talk with the guy/gal, I would like to add my voice on that one. If the student's motivation is enough of an issue that the instructor wants to address it specifically, then it is a big issue for him or her.
To that I add sitting the student down in front of Enter the Dragon. Like a finger.... pointing to the moon.
Daniel
To that I add sitting the student down in front of Enter the Dragon. Like a finger.... pointing to the moon.
Daniel
