Learning challenges

• “I tried …” – some things are easier to learn than others. Until you can truly see, feel and understand, you are just trying to imitate something external. If you feel stuck, don’t just discount it, ask, change it up, sometimes you find the truth by disproving the opposite.
• “Over thinking”, “Negative thinking” or “not thinking” – Negative thinking defines your destiny. Thinking too much suffocates natural flow, not being able to channel the flight/fight response properly. “Not-thinking” is dangerous, but there are times when you have to let the body take over. It is not a matter of one versus the other, it is a matter of when do you do what.
• “I know this already…” – having the patience to put in the time and effort on the most basic moves allow good things to happen. Sometimes you win by having the slightest edge over your opponent.
• “I don’t think this is useful” – when you are trying to learn something new, don’t judge it base on just your past experience. There are times when you just have to give a different approach a committed try.
• “I don’t see the results” – certain changes doesn’t happen until a specific threshold is reached. For example, the change of state of water or metal. To a certain extent, training is the same, a punch is nothing more than a regular punch until you reach a certain level of proficiency and understanding.
• “I don’t think I am improving” – how did you measure your progress? There is a difference between setting goals versus having a dream. Are you comparing yourself against a moving target?
• “This is hard…” – yes, that is why you are coming to class and not learning from books.
• “This hurts…” – with sport science, we understand more and more about good hurts and bad hurts. Pain is a protective mechanism, you have to know when it is normal and expected and when you must listen to your body.
• “I am too tired / busy…” – there are many ways to train, from being physical as in strength/flexibility/speed training, neural training as in sensory/thoughts/understanding/visualization/motor, managing your body tension, breathing patterns and thinking processes or even playing games with your kids, etc.. It is up to you to make a seemingly unrelated activity relevant.
• “I understand but my body just won’t do it” – Understanding what you need to do is not equivalent to knowing how to do it. It is important to know the “What”s, there are multiple ways getting to that end target. This is where a good instructor or a good partner can make a difference. Be realistic, you cannot change your many years of habits and responses overnight.

Exercise
This is not a totally new topic. We have discussed it in more than one way. Everyone have different challenges.

• What has been your biggest challenge? Has any of your learning habits improve in the last year? What are you planning to overcome in the coming year?
• Please elaborate on any point or your random thoughts that really hit home.