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Old 11-27-2013, 09:38 AM   #1
Peter Boylan
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Do you push yourself when you train, or just coast along?

I've seen lots of people who come to practice but don't improve. They just seem to cost along doing what they are already able to do. They never leave their comfort zone. So I wrote this.

http://budobum.blogspot.com/2013/11/...fort-zone.html

Last edited by Peter Boylan : 11-27-2013 at 09:40 AM. Reason: Wrong link

Peter Boylan
Mugendo Budogu LLC
Budo Books, Videos, Equipment from Japan
http://www.budogu.com
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Old 11-27-2013, 09:58 AM   #2
lbb
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Re: Do you push yourself when you train, or just coast along?

"Expect when we aren’t actually getting most of these benefits." Typo?

Good essay. I'll remember it every time I get called up to take ukemi from Sensei and think, "No effin' way."
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Old 11-27-2013, 10:20 AM   #3
SeiserL
 
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Re: Do you push yourself when you train, or just coast along?

Always pushing, always refining.

Doing my best to always improve.

Lynn Seiser PhD
Yondan Aikido & FMA/JKD
We do not rise to the level of our expectations, but fall to the level of our training. Train well. KWATZ!
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Old 11-27-2013, 10:56 AM   #4
sakumeikan
Dojo: Sakumeikan N.E. Aikkai .Newcastle upon Tyne.
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Re: Do you push yourself when you train, or just coast along?

Quote:
Lynn Seiser wrote: View Post
Always pushing, always refining.

Doing my best to always improve.
Dear Lynn,
In view of you al;ways pushing, always refining, do you feel that you are improving in relation to the amount of energy /mental effort ex[ended?For me its not a matter of expending energy /time or effort.For me its taking things calmly and making sure I [hopefully ] do things in a manner which enables me to improve , even if my improvement is slow.As long as I feel that the process is a steady process, no need to rush . Cheers, Joe,
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Old 11-27-2013, 11:23 AM   #5
Cliff Judge
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Re: Do you push yourself when you train, or just coast along?

One of my teachers says "Keiko should always involve a feeling of uncomfortable intensity or you are not developing." The mat should never be a comfort zone!
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Old 11-27-2013, 11:43 AM   #6
Janet Rosen
 
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Re: Do you push yourself when you train, or just coast along?

I do periods of pushing and not....in line with the idea of grinding and polishing...there is time and place it is also appropriate to work on slow refinement of what you have gained, really integrating it....THEN find a new barrier to push past.

Janet Rosen
http://www.zanshinart.com
"peace will enter when hate is gone"--percy mayfield
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Old 11-27-2013, 12:19 PM   #7
Cliff Judge
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Re: Do you push yourself when you train, or just coast along?

Quote:
Janet Rosen wrote: View Post
I do periods of pushing and not....in line with the idea of grinding and polishing...there is time and place it is also appropriate to work on slow refinement of what you have gained, really integrating it....THEN find a new barrier to push past.
Yes, it seems like the best way to stay stuck on a plateau is to try extra hard to get off of it.

I think a good way to think of "pushing" oneself is more about being inquisitive and willing to change.
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Old 11-27-2013, 04:44 PM   #8
sakumeikan
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Re: Do you push yourself when you train, or just coast along?

Quote:
Cliff Judge wrote: View Post
Yes, it seems like the best way to stay stuck on a plateau is to try extra hard to get off of it.

I think a good way to think of "pushing" oneself is more about being inquisitive and willing to change.
Dear Cliff,
In any field of endeavour you always at some point reach a plateau, or the learning curve tapers off.You might in some case even get worse than you were before.This is imo a natural process.Rather than try and force or push yourself to get out of the plateau my view is this, just train diligently and you will exit the plateau in due course.Ups , downs and standing still is all part of life.
Even in a bad situation one can get some good out of it.Its just how you perceive things.
Cheers, Joe.
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Old 11-27-2013, 07:32 PM   #9
lbb
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Re: Do you push yourself when you train, or just coast along?

Quote:
Joe Curran wrote: View Post
In any field of endeavour you always at some point reach a plateau, or the learning curve tapers off.You might in some case even get worse than you were before.This is imo a natural process.Rather than try and force or push yourself to get out of the plateau my view is this, just train diligently and you will exit the plateau in due course.Ups , downs and standing still is all part of life.
Maybe we mean different things by "pushing yourself". The metaphor has connotations of motion and strain...but sometimes the hardest, most uncomfortable thing to do is just staying still, staying present, not trying to change something/go somewhere/move something, but just to remain present until you...well. I don't know. Until things come clear? Until you become...whatever? I don't know. Maybe it's different every time.
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Old 11-28-2013, 05:40 AM   #10
Demetrio Cereijo
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Re: Do you push yourself when you train, or just coast along?

Sometimes improvement comes when you stop training so you can see things from outside the box training had put you into.
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Old 11-28-2013, 06:03 AM   #11
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Re: Do you push yourself when you train, or just coast along?

Quote:
Joe Curran wrote: View Post
In view of you al;ways pushing, always refining, do you feel that you are improving in relation to the amount of energy /mental effort ex[ended?
I am the turtle.
Never fast and never pretty.
I am the turtle.

(Actually, the slower and more mindful - tai chi speed - the better chance that neuroplasticity wires in the changes.)

Lynn Seiser PhD
Yondan Aikido & FMA/JKD
We do not rise to the level of our expectations, but fall to the level of our training. Train well. KWATZ!
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Old 11-28-2013, 06:06 AM   #12
SeiserL
 
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Re: Do you push yourself when you train, or just coast along?

Quote:
Cliff Judge wrote: View Post
Yes, it seems like the best way to stay stuck on a plateau is to try extra hard to get off of it.
There was an old book by George Leonard (Aikido and Human Potential) call Mastery that proposes steady training at the plateau level wires it as the new base line and the next learning goes up from there.

Lynn Seiser PhD
Yondan Aikido & FMA/JKD
We do not rise to the level of our expectations, but fall to the level of our training. Train well. KWATZ!
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Old 11-28-2013, 06:08 AM   #13
SeiserL
 
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Re: Do you push yourself when you train, or just coast along?

Quote:
Cliff Judge wrote: View Post
One of my teachers says "Keiko should always involve a feeling of uncomfortable intensity or you are not developing." The mat should never be a comfort zone!
Perhaps if you are comfortable with it, you already know it and are not learning something new?

Lynn Seiser PhD
Yondan Aikido & FMA/JKD
We do not rise to the level of our expectations, but fall to the level of our training. Train well. KWATZ!
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Old 11-28-2013, 07:17 AM   #14
Mary Eastland
 
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Re: Do you push yourself when you train, or just coast along?

Coasting in diligent training is not possible. Everyday the class is different and the person is different. I show-up, I put on the gi and I get on the mat....no need to make things happen....they will happen because I am there. Aikido can't be learned fast. The process chips off the sharp corners. We become and then we show up, put on the gi and get on the mat and become again.

Mary Eastland

Dare to Tenkan
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