by Jennifer Shipp

Created on: July 13, 2009   Last Updated: July 14, 2009

So, you're making excuses for not doing something that you really want to do. A yoga instructor would call it resistance. Although the study of resistance is not necessarily a part of most martial arts curricula, the study of personal resistance toward accomplishing a desired goal is pertinent when considering the reasons why people put off doing something that would ultimately lead them toward a desired goal.

In our culture, we are used to things coming to us quickly. Americans are impatient people. We are not given many opportunities in our public or private education to develop patience toward achieving physical goals that take time to cultivate. Taking up a martial art is not something that happens overnight, in a week, or in a month. Thus, one of the big obstacles many people face in considering whether or not they are ready to take up a martial art, is the fact that it will take some time and it will not happen quickly. Many people give up before they ever even start, frustrated by the reality that it may take a year or more to even begin to grasp how a martial art works.

Again, the yoga instructor would know what to say to the person who is struggling with this type of resistance. The yoga instructor (a good yoga instructor, that is) would note that impatience is a stumbling block for the person who puts off taking up something that is going to require time to cultivate. Logically, if you know it is going to take time to learn a martial art, you should start now, without delay. But emotionally, there is resistance. And the resistance is actually impatience to reach the goal without paying one's dues. The yoga instructor would be right and the student would need to go home and think about it. One last thought, the yoga instructor would say, Think on the rewards of going up against your own resistance. And the yoga student, who is studying yoga knows that going up against one's own resistance makes one more flexible.

But beyond the fact that there is a necessary time commitment required in order to become proficient and knowledgeable in the martial arts, many people fear the work and the effort involved in training their bodies to do something new. And so, along with time, there is effort required of the one who desires to become a martial artist. Indeed, effort seems to live in some far off place, at high altitude. Effort only comes down from the mountain when motivation and desire are around, otherwise he prefers to go off by himself. It is amazing

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