Question 112: Relax

Many people hate their jobs and want to change, but once they have been with a company for a few years and have built up seniority, like the boss, and feel a part of the company and its people, they are hesitant to leave. The same is true for a martial art, the longer you train in an art, the more difficult it is to change to a different art. For most arts, no matter your previous rank in another art, you must start at white belt level with them, so the higher a person’s rank, the more the person is reluctant to change arts. You are at a point in your training where you need to commit; either stay with TKD or try another art. It may be good to try some trial classes in some other arts to see if one better suits you. To get better at TKD, you must commit to it and train daily; not necessarily in class, you may also train at home. The trick is to train everyday; it does not have to be a lot, ten minutes here and there will add up. I work at my computer all day every day. Most days I don’t feel like a long work out, so I have developed a routine where, every time get up to urinate, which is often at my age, on the way back to the desk I do at least ten minutes of sparring on the bag. It relaxes me and, over the span of a day, it adds up to a lot of training.

Another secret is that, when not performing a skill, think about performing the skill; how you would move around, the proper movements involved in performing a kick, etc. Performing a skill is best but research has shown that thinking about performing a skill increases the skill level more than not thinking about the skill or not performing the skill.