So you want to take a break…

by James Eke

So you want to take a break from training.

Maybe it is an extended vacation. Maybe it is due to the demands of a relationship. Maybe you say you are burnt out. Maybe it is work/life demands. Maybe you are just simply good with making excuses.

I am not going to be nice about this next bit. The real reason you want to take a break is you. You.

It is that couch. 

It is that TV. 

It is those buddies.

It is that whatever.

It is really just you though. 

In this life we make choices. We choose between what is easy and what is hard. Usually, most people choose the easy path. 

Martial arts training is hard.

Being fit is hard.

Being healthy is hard.

Only it isn’t. Saying it is hard is what people do to make themselves feel better about it either for sticking in it for now or for quitting. 

The truth is that being healthy, fit and a martial artist who trains regularly and seriously isn’t tough at all. It is about commitment, creativity and constant application of energy.

What matters to you, what matters the most, well let’s face it, you work at it, stick with it, take care of it, love it, and never let go of it. The things that don’t matter, well we treat them that way. We don’t just turn our backs on what really matters to us. These things are like ghosts that haunt us when we are away from them. We feel their loss. We need that fix. We feel not quite like ourselves without it.

When you find something like this, committing to it and keeping at it all the time is what you live for. 

A day away from something like that and we freak out a little and look forward to getting back to it tomorrow.

When this thing that you love so much is your training, there is nothing quite like it.

Now don’t think that what I’m saying is you need to drink the Kool-aid and cut everything else out of your life. That idea is just ridiculous. We need to work. We need to sleep. We need time to chill. We need friends. We need lots of things. When we fully embrace our martial arts training though we come to see that it is a fire that we need to make sure stays constantly fed. When we don’t the coals grow dim or die out completely.

All that potential we had. All those things we had learned. All the growth we went through. It all just fizzles out.

So what do you do?

You need to keep at it and realize that your training is this living and dynamic thing. It needs to be fed, exercised, used, played with and understood. This takes time and commitment and effort. It takes endless injections of creativity. Most of all though, it takes you.

You are the key thing in your training. You need to realize that you are what you need to make sure shows up to train. You are the only thing that you can control. You are the only thing that you have any control over.

Most people don’t realize their potential. 

Most people don’t realize what their training actually can bring into their lives.

Most people don’t understand that their training will give them super powers.

Most people just don’t get it.

Do you?