AikiWeb Aikido Forums - View Single Post

MaylandL · 11-14-2003, 10:29 PM

This is a very interesting thread and somewhat close to home. I've experienced a time when my motivation to train was at its lowest and I took a break of a couple of months.

There have been a number of very interesting comments by Messrs Clark, Hale, Dodkins and Seiser which I wholeheartedly agree with. Infact its given me some insight as to why I continue to train.

I went through a period where I was trainig about 3 times a week (about 6 hours) without much progress. I had hit the wall or the plateau. There were other factors in my life then including increased work commitments - new job, promotion. All of these things create pressures and demands on your time and can contribute to a assessment of personal priorities.

I found that after a couple of months of not training, I missed the interaction with other aikidoka and the joy that I derived from training. Training for the sake of training and the enjoyment of movement. Consequently I went back to training the very next week. All in all I have been training for over 10 years and now train up to 5 times a week (about 10 hours). Ultimately, for me I continue to train because its fun and its a release from the stresses of work. I enjoy the interaction I have with other aikidoka regardless of affiliation and style.

As for continuing training when the initial motivation is self defence. I've been with my main dojo (I train at two dojos) and see various people come and go. The most amount of turnover is from people who learn aikido for purely self defense reasons. The style at our dojo is aikikai and its not a style that is conducive to quick results from a self defence perspective and its not taught with that as its primary purpose.

Some of these people have indicated that they can't see the application in self defence and that is why they left. Unfortunately, I have had to defend my self and it does work as a self defence but that has only come about from over 10 years of training.

IMHO, I don't think that taking on a martial art from purely a self defence perspective is sustainable in the long run. There needs to be a more long term purpose in mind such as personal development and a real passion to learn about and improve yourself, learn about aikido.

Happy training all

11-14-2003, 10:29 PM	#23
MaylandL Location: Western Australia Join Date: Sep 2001 Posts: 241 Offline	This is a very interesting thread and somewhat close to home. I've experienced a time when my motivation to train was at its lowest and I took a break of a couple of months. There have been a number of very interesting comments by Messrs Clark, Hale, Dodkins and Seiser which I wholeheartedly agree with. Infact its given me some insight as to why I continue to train. I went through a period where I was trainig about 3 times a week (about 6 hours) without much progress. I had hit the wall or the plateau. There were other factors in my life then including increased work commitments - new job, promotion. All of these things create pressures and demands on your time and can contribute to a assessment of personal priorities. I found that after a couple of months of not training, I missed the interaction with other aikidoka and the joy that I derived from training. Training for the sake of training and the enjoyment of movement. Consequently I went back to training the very next week. All in all I have been training for over 10 years and now train up to 5 times a week (about 10 hours). Ultimately, for me I continue to train because its fun and its a release from the stresses of work. I enjoy the interaction I have with other aikidoka regardless of affiliation and style. As for continuing training when the initial motivation is self defence. I've been with my main dojo (I train at two dojos) and see various people come and go. The most amount of turnover is from people who learn aikido for purely self defense reasons. The style at our dojo is aikikai and its not a style that is conducive to quick results from a self defence perspective and its not taught with that as its primary purpose. Some of these people have indicated that they can't see the application in self defence and that is why they left. Unfortunately, I have had to defend my self and it does work as a self defence but that has only come about from over 10 years of training. IMHO, I don't think that taking on a martial art from purely a self defence perspective is sustainable in the long run. There needs to be a more long term purpose in mind such as personal development and a real passion to learn about and improve yourself, learn about aikido. Happy training all Last edited by MaylandL : 11-14-2003 at 10:31 PM.
	Mayland