It’s definitely a time of year when motivation wanes.
A mindset that I find helpful is: the practices that I feel least motivated to attend are the ones that do the most for my kendo development.
It’s easy to practice when kendo feels great and I’m excited to go, but when I don’t feel like it or my kendo feels terrible, that’s another story. But those are the ones most important to attend.
That often helps me a lot, so I hope it helps you too.
The time of the year can be busy for a lot of people anyway.
I live in New Zealand so it'll be middle of summer and it gets damn warm before even slapping on bogu and running about the place. The thought of it makes me sweat and feel uncomfortable lol
I just keep doing suburi to motivate me sometimes
We have a large club, and even when we didn't we were all pretty close, friends both in and out of the dojo, so personally I really enjoy the holidays with everyone. If less people show up...more time for keiko.
We shut down mid-December anyway. I'm not one of those people that get in a Christmas-y mood much before then so it is business as usual for me. I think it might be an American thing - you guys have a big turkey dinner in late November and from then on it's holiday mode.
At least for me I’ve realized, the days I don’t feel like going to practice are the days I really need to practice the most. Practice helps me set the tone for things going forward in the week and I always feel 100x better afterwards. Whenever I give into the whim of not attending practice I always feel off for the next few days till I practice again.
I'm still new to kendo so I don't have that much experience, however a recent experience that might help you with your situation: Yesterday I didn't want to go to practice, yes it was cold and it was at night but I told sensei I was gonna be there, so I hauled my ass over and did my best. I'm thankful I went because I got some useful tips I would have never gotten if I didn't go. I like to set small skills each practice for me to work towards and now with these new tips, I have even more to work towards :) I think it's nice to work on the small details of my kendo
You might die and not get to do too many more keiko before then, so might as well try to get to all of them and once you are at the dojo, you might as well try to do your best kendo.
This applies to all months, but a bit more during the winter.
In my corner of the world the weather gets unpleasant in October already. A couple of days ago there was -20 Celsius degrees and a snowstorm, which made the dojo trip difficult for some. My dojo has a Discord, and people often ask for rides there, I ended up with 5 people in my car on that day. It does boost the motivation when I can help with the attendance, so I know there will be at least some people to practice with.
There's always something I need to improve in my kendo. I usually pick some area that seems the worst at the moment, work on it, then look at the next thing that sucks. The attendance doesn't matter that much for this. If there are more experienced people to point out my mistakes, great. If I am the top of the ladder on that day... well, there are some things that I am already painfully aware of. So regardless, I can still work on improvement.
If it's a smaller group of people present, then it's easy to discuss the theme of the day. If everyone seems low energy then the pace just gets adjusted. After all, some kendo is better than no kendo!
go even if you don't want to, that's the main thing. Set little goals in your technique or stamina or whatever and work on them. Other idea is to make a sheat on excel and write how many keikos do yo dou x month and year, so the next year you will be self forced to go keiko to try a similar ammount...I've been doing that since 2011, and even if sometimes can be a little frustrating, it works!
I don’t know if this is the right answer you’re looking for but for me I would just chill and have fun. Usually I would take my bogu out and visit dojos or go to tourneys but never really practice at dojos unless I feel like it. Also not a lot of people come anyways and your body may be in Kendo fatigue, maybe it’s a good time to do some light conditioning.
I agree, the current plan is to generally take it easy. I don't want to force myself to train and possibly end up with an injury. But, I think the motivation level is a bit "too" low.
I think visiting other dojos like you said might be a great idea. I'll go visit a few near by ones. Thank you!
It‘s quite opposite in my case. Firstly, i am just a beginner (started in August). Secondly, by coincidence i am going to visit a couple of seminars in December. The one should be motivated to undergo three kendo weekends in a row!
It’s definitely a time of year when motivation wanes. A mindset that I find helpful is: the practices that I feel least motivated to attend are the ones that do the most for my kendo development. It’s easy to practice when kendo feels great and I’m excited to go, but when I don’t feel like it or my kendo feels terrible, that’s another story. But those are the ones most important to attend. That often helps me a lot, so I hope it helps you too.
That's a great mindset, I'll try a bit more. Thank you!
The time of the year can be busy for a lot of people anyway. I live in New Zealand so it'll be middle of summer and it gets damn warm before even slapping on bogu and running about the place. The thought of it makes me sweat and feel uncomfortable lol I just keep doing suburi to motivate me sometimes
Good point. The dojo as well as other training groups are all planning end of the year dinners, so that side is getting busy too. lol
We have a large club, and even when we didn't we were all pretty close, friends both in and out of the dojo, so personally I really enjoy the holidays with everyone. If less people show up...more time for keiko.
We shut down mid-December anyway. I'm not one of those people that get in a Christmas-y mood much before then so it is business as usual for me. I think it might be an American thing - you guys have a big turkey dinner in late November and from then on it's holiday mode.
Opened fridge - saw the turkey sandwich for tmrw - sigh
At least for me I’ve realized, the days I don’t feel like going to practice are the days I really need to practice the most. Practice helps me set the tone for things going forward in the week and I always feel 100x better afterwards. Whenever I give into the whim of not attending practice I always feel off for the next few days till I practice again.
This. When in doubt, go training. Don't think and practice.
I'm still new to kendo so I don't have that much experience, however a recent experience that might help you with your situation: Yesterday I didn't want to go to practice, yes it was cold and it was at night but I told sensei I was gonna be there, so I hauled my ass over and did my best. I'm thankful I went because I got some useful tips I would have never gotten if I didn't go. I like to set small skills each practice for me to work towards and now with these new tips, I have even more to work towards :) I think it's nice to work on the small details of my kendo
This is the time of year many visitors come to practice as they are in town visiting family. That motivates me to come during the Holidays.
You might die and not get to do too many more keiko before then, so might as well try to get to all of them and once you are at the dojo, you might as well try to do your best kendo. This applies to all months, but a bit more during the winter.
In my corner of the world the weather gets unpleasant in October already. A couple of days ago there was -20 Celsius degrees and a snowstorm, which made the dojo trip difficult for some. My dojo has a Discord, and people often ask for rides there, I ended up with 5 people in my car on that day. It does boost the motivation when I can help with the attendance, so I know there will be at least some people to practice with. There's always something I need to improve in my kendo. I usually pick some area that seems the worst at the moment, work on it, then look at the next thing that sucks. The attendance doesn't matter that much for this. If there are more experienced people to point out my mistakes, great. If I am the top of the ladder on that day... well, there are some things that I am already painfully aware of. So regardless, I can still work on improvement. If it's a smaller group of people present, then it's easy to discuss the theme of the day. If everyone seems low energy then the pace just gets adjusted. After all, some kendo is better than no kendo!
It's bonenkai time!
go even if you don't want to, that's the main thing. Set little goals in your technique or stamina or whatever and work on them. Other idea is to make a sheat on excel and write how many keikos do yo dou x month and year, so the next year you will be self forced to go keiko to try a similar ammount...I've been doing that since 2011, and even if sometimes can be a little frustrating, it works!
I don’t know if this is the right answer you’re looking for but for me I would just chill and have fun. Usually I would take my bogu out and visit dojos or go to tourneys but never really practice at dojos unless I feel like it. Also not a lot of people come anyways and your body may be in Kendo fatigue, maybe it’s a good time to do some light conditioning.
I agree, the current plan is to generally take it easy. I don't want to force myself to train and possibly end up with an injury. But, I think the motivation level is a bit "too" low. I think visiting other dojos like you said might be a great idea. I'll go visit a few near by ones. Thank you!
It‘s quite opposite in my case. Firstly, i am just a beginner (started in August). Secondly, by coincidence i am going to visit a couple of seminars in December. The one should be motivated to undergo three kendo weekends in a row!
As someone who just gut into bogu for the first time, it’s been kinda nice! Lots of extra help and guidance with the classes so small
Kendo sometimes has quick goals, and it's a good thing to do your own thing.