Hurdles on Your Martial Arts Journey - Boredom

Here's a hurdle you might face somewhere around blue or red belt. You might hear a little voice in your head saying something like this.   "I'm bored! I've done low block. I know these patterns. Why do I have to do this again? What's the point? They're not teaching me anything any more. I'm not learning anything new!"  rnAt this point you have to trust. And trust big.  rnYou chose a good school right? You have a great teacher. You look up to and respect the black belts in your club.  rnYou've come a long, long way since you started training. Your fitness and strength have improved out of sight. You have new friends and new confidence.  rnClearly there's lots of things right about this school and this martial arts process.  rnSo where's the problem? Could it be that your thinking isn't right?  rnCould it be that you can't see the whole picture right now?  rnMaybe you just have to trust that your great instructor is sending you down the right path?  rnThe truth is to get anywhere near any good at a low block you need to do thousands and thousands of low blocks. And to get anywhere near good at your patterns you need to do them thousands of times.  rnAnd it's the process of practicing your basics over and over that grows you as a martial artist and moves you along the path. Another name for this time in your training is the doldrums. It's a really tough time. It's a time where you have to dig very deep to find the strength to keep pushing through when you just don't seem to be getting anywhere.  rnThe truth is you can't connect the dots looking forward.  rnYou can only connect them when you look back.  rnSo trust. And just keep practicing.