Over the Plateau

[michaelm]

Kihon. You're going to find there's something wrong with your basics that doesn't allow your kendo to support what you are trying to do.

This!

There's a reason kihon are called "foundational". Don't be afraid to break down to a more fundamental level to strengthen and rebuild your foundation. Sometimes you have to cut deep to get at the core of the problem. In doing so, your kendo may seem to get worse in order to get better.

It's hard on the ego, I know. For me, I've been trying to fix a very, very basic thing like my left foot/left hand coordination. This concentration is slowing down my kendo quite a bit and I'm regularly getting clobbered by junior members during regular keiko. That's OK. I am confident that I am working on the correct thing as I see the *shape* of my kendo is getting better little by little even though I am getting hit first ALL the time by EVERYONE.

Regarding plateaus--get used to it. There's a reason the time requirements between each subsequent rank increase. Overcoming this mental barrier is part of your training.

Best of luck.


-Michael

[ArcticBlizzard]

I can't add a lot on what's been said. What helped me when I thought I was on a plateau of when it just didn't feel like I was improving was videotaping myself, visit another dojo and looking at videos of other people. And a (on request) scolding sensei also helped.

[Karaken]

We all hit this. Sometimes due to lack of motivation/training/progress, sometimes it's just funk. One thing I try whenever I hit a block is to do Thousand suburi. It may sound hard to do but it only takes 30 min or less. I do 10-20-30-40......100-90-80-.....10. That's thousand. During this practice, you can vary with big men, small men, sayu men etc and imagine your past opponent, your sensei, video from ZKNR torny etc.. It certainly takes out whatever shortcoming you might have in your MEN waza. If not, it'll get harder. But eventually it gets easier and somehow it excites me to go back to the dojo and try out what I was imagining ( being Seme, new waza variation, posture, timing etc.. ). Hope it helps.

[Scott H]

Someone else mentioned this and I have to agree - go visit another dojo. It takes you out of where you are comfortable and places you in front of new kendoka that you've never done jigeiko with. It really does breathe life back into everything, and is basically, an essential kendo practice.

Of course, follow the protocol needed before visiting another dojo, but give it a try. If it doesn't work, then I'm a monkey's uncle.

[annoraderenart@]

I was told that plateaus are usually caused by a problem in your fundamentals. How to find what to fix? do kirikaeshi. Lots of it and at varying speeds.

[J.S]

This is what I do:

1. Goal: What do I want to achive? Whats my timeframe?
2. Method: How will I reach my goal, what do I have to to?
3. Evaluation: How will I know if I have succeded when the timeframe has ended?

Keep as few and as clear goals as possible, remember the timeframe and realize that evaluation and reflection is the most important step in the process.

As an example current goal is to perform according to my potential at a competition in May.
My method consists of a few, very basic, points to focus on each practice such as improving my footwork and kamae or learning how to execute a proper do-uchi. These points are goals in them selves and also need a clear method and evaluation. I evaluate by taking notes after each practice in a small notebook (that I can bring to practice-camps) and, if nesessary, change my mothod. After the competition I will evaluate my main goal and set a new one.

According to my experience, this will get you through any plateau.

[Charlie]

A lot of great advice in this thread, jj! I echo all of it. Especially...

It is really hard to fix everything simultaneously. Divide and conquer.

I always isolate the things that I think need the most fix, foundational things, and focus as much as possible on them. Often, I find that though they may seem specific, they will in fact will fix other things. For example, I went through a period where I concentrated extensively on men. Then it was concentrating on left handedness, IIRC, then it was concentrating on keeping the chin down, etc. Right now I'm in a stage where I am concentrating on keeping my left leg straight and toe even with the right heel.

All basic stuff, right? And of course there is more, but this is how I articulate it to myself. Every keiko, I repeat my emphasis like a mantra. "Left leg straight. Left leg straight - drive forward with the hips. Left leg straight. Check it. Fix it. Try again." That kind of thing.

As you can see, it's isolating one of several things wrong with me kendo but it gives me a lot more direction and focus. That's why video was such a great suggestion - it will show you those focus areas but quick. Video is a bitch!

Also, have fun. Are you having fun?

Also, remember among the kendo virtues are patience and humility. This is how we get helping heapings of both.

[Charlie]

By the way, I call this "the stanky leg." Haw haw haw!

[jjcruiser]

Thanks all. There has been almost too much good advice. I appreciate all of it. Last couple classes have been more encouraging. I decided to focus on hikitsuke. I feel like that's one of my--if not the--most foundational issues. I don't think it's better but I'm at least focusing on it now.

[Gideon]

JJ - thanks for the thread. I've been thinking about your post for quite some time as I feel these plateaus pretty acutely. My entire kendo career, relatively short as it is, has been defined by them in fact. Those that know me and my kendo will tell me my kendo is improving/maturing. I In spite of this, I have felt like significant periods of my career were spent smack in the middle of a plateau of suck/non-improvement/regression. In fact, my entire time as a nidan was abysmal in this regard. I felt like I was repeating all of my standard mistakes and picking up new ones besides for over 2 years. And then, inexplicably, one day, it changed. I can't attribute it to anything other than the passage of time. For me, I wonder if this is another case of western thinking meeting eastern practice - particularly the whole, expecting that the effort I put into something to translate directly into tangible, measurable improvement - and improvement I expect in the timing I feel it should take.

At the end of the day, what helped me most was taking myself out of the moment and my expectations, remembering that kendo is something I plan on doing for a very long time, and just go and practice sincerely and honestly. If big, slow and straight works for technique, why not apply it to the mental side as well? But then again, I am very prone to overthinking things. Regardless, good luck and thanks for the thread.

[Neil Gendzwill]

My sensei says if you hit a plateau, that means you are learning. Ponder that paradox for a bit.

[jjcruiser]

...expecting that the effort I put into something to translate directly into tangible, measurable improvement - and improvement I expect in the timing I feel it should take.

Interesting and good point. This is at the essence of the frustration. I want to feel like I improve. I don't have any specific sort of goal like "I will have 'made it' when I acheive yondan" or "win a tournament." I just like to feel like I am improving. And I haven't been feeling that way.

But I am pondering Gendzwill sensei's paradox (above). And wondering if you can learn without improving.

[enkorat]

Hi jjcruiser,

I agree with everything everyone has said on this thread. I'm sort of trying to push through my own plateau and these are the things I've tried to do to overcome these things:

1. Video - very important, video doesn't lie, try to get different angles, different opponents and regular recordings (once every several months)

2. Seek out advice and instruction from as many people as you can. This also means cultivating relationships with seniors and senseis. Often times it takes a few different comments from different people for the totality of the problem and solution to appear. Once you have relationships, you can sometimes discretely ask once in a while after practice "I'm trying to work on ***, do you have some advice?" Try to be engaged in your training, and not be passively "absorbing" instruction without a dialogue. This means not just "showing up" practicing, and going home, but actively trying to improve every day with the goals you set yourself.

3. Keep a journal - I have a small notebook where I can write down notes from comments from senseis, particularly if I don't see them often. There is something about adrenaline and memory encoding that (at least for me) tends to prevent me from remembering after a while the comments told to me after a hard practice. Keeping a record helps keep things clear. Also tells me if I'm not fixing a problem if the notes start sounding the same over a period of months.

4. Pay attention to your general fitness and health - one plateau can come from poor general fitness and things like increasing your general exercise routine, losing weight, and changing your lifestyle/nutrition can come into play.

5. Accept that technical issues are relatively easy to resolve and require a shorter time frame (months to a year), while issues related to your mental capacity as a fighter (zanshin, confidence, bravery, overcoming doubt, fighting above emotion) take much longer to resolve and are not as easy to fix.

6. Choose one technical issue and one mental issue to work on every practice independent of the topic covered in the class. I remind myself of the technical issue at the beginning of kihon practice, and the mental issue just before I sonkyo for gigeiko. I try to distill the issue either to a phrase or a word that I say outloud to myself just before things start. It sounds kinda new-agey and hokie, but it helps me focus.

Hope that helps!

[MikeW]

But I am pondering Gendzwill sensei's paradox (above). And wondering if you can learn without improving.

I believe the paradox Neil's sensei refers to here is similar to physics and transitions between states of matter such as melting ice. As the ice melts it is being 'heated' and energy is being expended but the actual temperature isn't really going up until after all the ice is melted and is now water that is being heated.

So to complete this line of thought, it isn't until after something has been truly learned and incorporated that you see significant improvement.

[verissimus]

I believe the paradox Neil's sensei refers to here is similar to physics and transitions between states of matter such as melting ice. As the ice melts it is being 'heated' and energy is being expended but the actual temperature isn't really going up until after all the ice is melted and is now water that is being heated.

Thought I'd add a relevant link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latent_heat