Burn Out

First off, don’t fret.  Burn out happens to pretty much anyone that trains in anything.  It happens to us at work, so why should the recreation we love the most be any different.  Recently, a really close friend has hinted about being burnt out.  It has been quite a while since I got this dreaded feeling about the art, or at least the overwhelming feeling.  I believe I get a ‘tad’ burnt out more frequently but the big burn outs have only happened for me once or twice in my thirty some odd years in budo.

Realize that everyone gets burnt out to varying degrees.  You can’t tell me Taika never did.  I know for a fact he quite frequently got frustrated at a myriad of things from student failure to just the repetitive grind of life.  So knowing that you are by no means alone in your feelings can help.  Everyone knows Taika started training just after WWII and trained till he died in 2012.  But not everyone knows that he quit teaching out of a dojo for a while and was a small engine mechanic during that time.  I’m not saying he quit training, but he did quit teaching. 

Next, try to identify if there is a particular thing that is burning you out?  Or a stack of them?  See what you can do to decrease those things.  Is it the grind of kata?  As a new student, sometimes we start studying things like kata and it doesn’t feel realistic and becomes a grind.  I can remember getting bored with things I was shown and being too afraid to ask the instructor about it.  ‘Ask questions freely…..’ is part of our principles of training but we sometimes put the teachers up on such a pedestal that we can’t say anything to them.  I try to give my students a few little bits of bunkai or reality related to each kata the second we get them all the way through it.  That way they have a little glimmer of hope at the end of the tunnel.

Is it the negative people around you?  Is it the negative stories?  There are a myriad of things that can contribute to this common problem.  Those last two are there because, since Taika’s passing, we saw his predictions come true.  There have been a host of disrespectful actions, ego flare ups, and negativity spill out all over the place.  Maybe it’s time to unplug those facebook friends, whose timelines are pissing you off.

Try shifting gears.  If you have had one or two primary weapons you train with for a few years, pick something new.  Go into it with a mindset that you don’t have to master this thing; you are just looking for some variety.  I was myself rather burnt out on bo, my favorite weapon, many years ago.  We were not learning anything new with the weapon, and I wasn’t getting any tutelage, fixups or corrections.  Out of nowhere Taika began training me on some amazing tanbo changes that lit a fire under my gi. 

How about a book?  There are tons of aspects of the arts that most students completely neglect.  Stay in the art by reading some cultural books like Customs and Culture of Okinawa by Gladys Zabilka.  It is out of print now, but you can find numerous used copies on Powells.com, Amazon.com and BarnsandNoble.com.  I found that reading books about Okinawan culture, religion and even the language gave me a greater insight into Taika’s world.  I know for a fact that this opened up several doorways with him for me as I would engage in conversations with him while driving him places that he was at first shocked about.  He didn’t think us American’s understood some things about the islands he came from.  This knowledge caused him to open up and tell me stories about Kita Daito where he grew up.  They gave me a different perspective and helped me through my minor burnt sessions.  You can search for online books on Okinawa, Ryukyu, and other key words and find a ton of topics to read that can be a temporary placeholder for the monotony in your training. 

If nothing seems to work and you are still seriously thinking of taking a Burn Out Hiatus, set a distinct goal.  Make it one month, two months, or something like that.  Place your return date on your calendar and have your friends in the art hold you accountable.  Ensure they understand that during your hiatus, you want their friendship but no mention of any drama or other reasons that may have drove you to your hiatus.  One of the biggest problems with taking a vacation from the arts is that 95% of the people that do (highly unproven non statistic based guess from decades in the arts) don’t ever come back.  Many people just get out of the habit and can’t get back, others feel embarrassed as their peers have continued on.  During your hiatus you may lose skills and not keep up with the pack.  It is quite likely that with your new, fresh boost in morale and energy given to you by your hiatus, that you will catch back up quickly upon your return.

Nintai