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Author Topic: Highs and Lows  (Read 3504 times)

Offline Huw

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Highs and Lows
« on: March 17, 2003, 10:13:58 PM »
Does anyone else experience highs and lows in their (real or perceived) performance in the dojo ? At the moment I feel I'm through a real low point in my karate :-( Can't put my finger on it but nothing 'feels' right at the moment.  :oops:  :oops:

Has anyone out there had similar experiences ?
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Offline Orion

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« Reply #1 on: March 17, 2003, 11:42:54 PM »
Huw, I'd say that is normal, indeed feeling that way every now and again shows you are  pursuing your training seriously and not just half-heatredly.

I have had very similar experiences having learnt to swim over the past 18 months it was a series of achieving things followed by plateaus where my performance stagnated and then another advance either in quality or quantity followed (eventually :roll: ).

In the early stages every little achievment is a goal in its own right and they come thick and fast :D , but then they slow down :( , and that can feel frustrating. You have to think back to where you started at - how even swimming a width was a barrier - or in the dojo standing on one leg without wobbling so much it  was necessary to stand on two again for a moment! Or turning the correct direction in Kihon Kata etc etc.

I guess Ignorence is bliss - but  it doesn't get you anywhere, and the more we learn the more we realise how much we have got to learn
and so we keep setting the standards higher expecting the same rate of return on our efforts as we got in the early stages. However it can be disheartning when it doesn't happen as much.

So  look back every now and again as well as forward
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Offline Moley

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« Reply #2 on: March 18, 2003, 08:41:17 AM »
I know what you mean lads.
I always -hit an all time low after a big event or achievement.
The worst come down is Post Edinburgh course. I look forward all year to attending. Live on Adrenalin for the duration of the course. Come home full of it and train the week after with great enthusiasm. Then the following week !
Bang

Downer !

 :cry:
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Offline Azzy_Stealth

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« Reply #3 on: March 18, 2003, 12:29:51 PM »
I agree Moley.

The first year I went, 2 years ago.
After the last training on the Sunday I felt downhearted. I enjoyed the exercise  :shock:  the company and the regime.

The second time I went last summer.
Lloydie was asking how hard the week would be.  
My answer was...By the end you wont want to leave.
On the sunday I asked Dave what he thought of the Course
The answer was something like..
Bloody Great. I wanna Stay another Week

You go up to Edinburgh on a wednesday, train Thursday, Friday,Saturday and Sunday. go home sunday after 2 arrive back by about 8

And the mad ones go straight back training. Monday 3hrs Wednesday 1hr and Thursday 3hrs.

Thats 16 hrs training in 1 week...
You Gotta Be Mad
 :twisted:  :twisted:  :twisted:  :twisted:  :twisted:  :twisted:  :twisted:  :twisted:  :twisted:  :twisted:

I LOVE IT
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Offline Lloydie

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« Reply #4 on: March 18, 2003, 02:46:50 PM »
Yep, Azzy, the training is fantastic and the following week is great, but as Moley says, eventually you hit this real "low" where you seem unable to move off the plateau.  Is this symptomatic of over-training?
However, I, for one, find it really hard not to take up every opportunity to train with others, even to the extent that I feel this might be counter-productive.  Is this something in the nature of karate itself? Or is it a product of the positive atmosphere of the Seki?


lloydie
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Offline Moley

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« Reply #5 on: March 19, 2003, 12:59:43 PM »
Sport karate I suppose would fit into the system of build up for an event, peaking, performing and then re-couperation.
Unfortunately Spirit karate trains you to treat every technique as if it's real and every fight as your last.
It is this coupled with lunatic mentality and "Ego" that makes us carry on from one "Season" through to another and don't re-couperate till we come down with some sort of illness or injury and have to skip training.
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Offline Lloydie

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« Reply #6 on: March 19, 2003, 02:03:12 PM »
Moley wrote:
Quote
fortunately [my snip]  Spirit karate trains you to treat every technique as if it's real and every fight as your last.  It is this coupled with lunatic mentality and "Ego" that makes us carry on from one "Season" through to another


Yeh...but it's great fun isn't it!  I think that's why we like it so much, because of this "inner battle" to do just that bit more.

lloydie
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Offline Huw

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« Reply #7 on: March 19, 2003, 02:09:21 PM »
Quote from: dave
Yeh...but it's great fun isn't it!  I think that's why we like it so much, because of this "inner battle" to do just that bit more.

lloydie


lol - agreed Dave. Despite the creaking joints and ageing muscles we always come back for more.
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Offline Icy

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« Reply #8 on: March 20, 2003, 09:56:53 PM »
Quote from: Moley
It is this coupled with lunatic mentality and "Ego" that makes us carry on from one "Season" through to another and don't re-couperate till we come down with some sort of illness or injury and have to skip training.


Yep, thats why I have been missing this week - I did my back in on Sunday trying to shovel a couple of tonnes of gravel (where is ErylSan and his JCB when you need him!).  :shock:

But I do agree that the inner fight and ego thing are a big part of why we push ourselves so much in the dojo and why we keep coming back for more even though we are hurting!
After carrying on trainng with my 'sore hand' for two weeks after the Mad Frankie incident, I found out that I had actually broken it (see, I wasn't really being a whimp) :roll:

Anyway, I hope to be back next week, and yes, it will be with a vengeance!
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Offline Lloydie

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« Reply #9 on: March 22, 2003, 10:13:31 PM »
Icy wrote:
Quote
After carrying on training with my 'sore hand' for two weeks after the Mad Frankie incident, I found out that I had actually broken it
 Hey Icy - you broke it?  and you are still coming back to training next week????  You are 1 tough cookie Icy.......respect  8)

Lloydie
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Offline Icy

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« Reply #10 on: March 22, 2003, 10:27:06 PM »
Yes Lloydie, I will be back on Monday, although the main reason I missed training this week was my back (which I put out trying to shovel gravel - but this is now done at last  :) )rather than my hand!. The hand is much better, although still a bit weak  :( , but no doubt it will be back to normal soon. :twisted:
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Offline Lloydie

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« Reply #11 on: March 22, 2003, 10:32:07 PM »
Hmmm.......gravel....hurt hand........AHHH!!!  Admit it Icy!!! You were trying the "Iron Hand" training technique of ramming your hands into hot gravel...go on - admit it!   :twisted:  :twisted:

Lloydie
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Offline Icy

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« Reply #12 on: March 22, 2003, 10:41:20 PM »
Oh darn that Grasshopper man! I have been rumbled :oops:
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Offline h

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« Reply #13 on: March 24, 2003, 10:24:33 PM »
Posting on the "highs and lows" thread as I really enjoyed tonight's training sessions. The kihon instruction was very useful and the kumite was brilliant; I was lucky enough to be paired up with a very senior grade - so was pushed a bit harder and further than I might otherwise have been (or perhaps I just tried harder).
Anyway thanks to all
h
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Offline Paul Roberts

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« Reply #14 on: March 26, 2003, 08:53:12 AM »
I don't think there's anyone who doesn't hit low points in training periodically. I'm sure that some of the time it has a physical cause - as Dave and Moley suggest, if you keep training like a nutter the body will eventually rebel!

A lot of the time though it's just a question of perspective. Ever missed just one session and felt completely rusty at the next? I know I have, but there's no way missing one session should make you feel like you've been away for weeks!

A low point can also coincide with a raising of standards. You become more self-critical, notice faults that you'd been glossing over for a while. It may not be pleasant, but if you keep going you'll probably come out of it with better karate.
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