Getting back on the horse

Everyone of us experience downtime, time of inactivity, a loss or defeat, sickness, injury. Though we believe in good health and not in sickness, there are times when we do not control the elements. In training, when you push yourself too much, you reach a point where you eventually breakdown. How do you get back from a slump? How do you get back that drive and be motivated enough to get back on the same stupid horse from which you just fell from?


Here are some simple tips for the everyday Joe:

1) Get proper nutrition
Doing this doesn't require eating gourmet meals with expensive ingredients all the time. Your food may be simple, may not taste great, but very good for your body. Our forefathers just picked fruits and vegetables from trees and on the ground, washed them and shoved them in their mouths to survive. They sometimes even ate animals which were not fully cooked. Just like fighting, you need to get down and dirty sometimes.

2) Get enough sleep
Your body should be able to recuperate well in order for it to be loaded with heavy work again. Without the proper rest, even if you are that skilled, you would not be able to reach your full potential. Rest builds strength more than working out. It is when you rest that you get stronger.

3) Meditate
Think about how you got into your slump in the first place. What events triggered this. Reflect on it, set it aside, and put it away. It is day 1 again and you will be building a new you. The sun is up, the birds are chirping, time for some action!

4) Leave your ego at the door
You maybe good before, but what good is having a full cup and still wanting to be served more? You might not be as good as you once were. There will always be someone better, stronger, faster, more good looking and who has a better personality than you. Accept it. You are doing these things for a higher purpose.

5) Find your motivation
It can be a bully in school, a rumor monger, an annoying coworker, the government, a thorn on your side, or just simply food stuck between your teeth. Find a way to get mad and channel your energy towards training.

6) Train slowly but surely
During your first few days of getting back, your movements should not be executed fast at once. Your body is still recovering from being sedentary and may not respond like it used to. Start slow, get the proper form into movement. Execute it once then repeat it. Keep repeating until the movement is memorized by your body. Once you nail the form down, add a little speed. Execute it with proper precision and accuracy. Repeat til you get tired. Add a little power. Power follows speed. A bullet maybe small but with speed, it is powerful. Repeat until tired.

7) Get a training partner
Training by yourself can be boring at times. You have to be extra crazy to be training by yourself for a long time without having a third eye checking your movements. Training with a partner enhances your sensitivity and trains your timing in execution. You can get a lot of useful feedback from a knowledgeable training partner.

8) Train with intent
Going through the motions may be fun, but if it is not purposeful, you are just wasting time. Visualize. You need a very vivid imagination especially if you are training by yourself. What good is a movement or routine if you keep going at it at 50% all the time. Come crunch time, you might still deliver it at 50%. Train like you fight and fight like you train. Enough of the fancy work, kill the enemy already!

We all forget about the basics all the time: we need to have them repeated to us our entire lives. These are just a few sure fire tips that I have and still put into practice. I hope these have helped you too. If you’ve been away for a while and are intimidated about coming back in, do it anyway. Do it today even if you get frustrated at yourself for not doing it correctly. Do it anyway. Get yourself back in the game. Think about the saying, “The slowest person in class is still lapping everyone who’s home on the couch.” Now get out and hit that tire!