Iam a failure. What can I do?

Question

I have been training for 8 years. I wake up early and train 4 hours a day, and on the weekends even more. Yet, people still say I suck. I condition , train forms, qigong, san shou, fought in kyokushin, but I just dont have that champion streak. I guess I will always be a mediocre martial artists. Surely there is something I can do better than most. The successful failure has spoken, what sould I do. Here is some vids of me youtube.com/randyds5

Answer 1

Well first take your S&C to the next level with the priciples and philosophy at : http://rosstraining.com/. Than maybe study some fast footwork and JKD drills for speed and reaction time.  You need the conditioning to run circles around your opponent and the speed and power to strike hard ,and fast when necessary. You really left a lot to the imagination, how do you train, do you spar, do you just do katas, do you do excessive aerobic work and confine your self to traditional exercises like pushups without expanding your training horizons.  Also really why does it matter to you, is your life based on your martial arts skill? Isn't there anything more to life? Like love for example and providing for your family the best you can. If you are fit and able to defend yourself than your probably fine.

Answer 2

This is what you need to do

1. work on speed, use weights on wrist and ankle's

2.try more kicking, the leg has more reach than the arm

3. work on footwork, shuffle change more it throws off your opponents offence

4.MOST IMPORTANT--USE FAKES--get close spin like your useing spinning side kick and use the back fist to the temple with a really fast snapping motion he will try to block the kick watching where the knee goes and should miss the fist completely

Switch up your fakes, try double kicks, fake kicks with punches and  fake punches with kicks .

5. Get with me at [e-mail] and I'll show you some really great, d@m near unstoppable moves that will make you more confident in your competition sparring and blow your opponents mind "all leagal moves"

Answer 3

Your movement is quite graceful, it shows that you have been training quite a bit, but there is but technical problem from the video observation.

1. A few of your punch, your back foot was off the ground. The power of the punch must be generated from the ground. Foot off the ground means that your punch relies only on body momentum and no power has been generate from the ground at all. Try to push a car with one foot off the ground and you will know what i mean.

2. you are doing your from smoothly, but they lack intensity. Every movement of the form, must simulate as if you are fighting against an invisible opponent

3. No matter how good your skills are, you can not win without speed and power.  That is something that you can build up gradually.

If you are a dedicated student, and things are not working out for you, i suspect there are two possibilities why  things are not going well.

1. Training methods. You may need new training methods. If fighting is the goal, then, all your training should be as close to fighting as possible, high intensity, high sparring.

2. If your teacher does not train you on fighting applications, then, you will not be able to fight. Forms are not good enough.  Fighting applications must be drill over and over again for you to be able to apply in a fight naturally.  Find a new master.

Nothing wrong with your style but, sometimes, it is hard to find a master who is truely a good fighter.

look up 'Praying Mantis Kung Fu - Part 2 of 2' on www.youtube.com

and it will give you an indication of what is expect of your training to be on the way of being a good fighter.

Answer 4

Try getting a personal trainer.

Maybe that will help.

Answer 5

Ryan hit the nail on the head.  As soon as I read that you've been doing the same thing for 8 years, I thought - man, this guy should be cross training in something else.  Try boxing, wrestling, judo, or something more more traditionally sport oriented.  Leave it alone while you cross train and comeback to it after you've tried a different style.  Chances are you might improve by taking a break.

Answer 6

First thing, you are not a failure.

You just never had to use your art in the street. You are learning a deadly art but you are not being taught how to use it.

That is not your fault, it is your "teacher's" fault.

That type of sparring you are doing is b u l l s h i t!!! It develops bad habits, so drop it like one.

You need to mix it up against multiple attackers. That's the only kind of sparring done on my floor... none of this one on one-game of tag c r a p .

Continue with your regimen. Two-Three against one action is what you need. Simultaneous attack. No winners, no losers... only survival.

AND DROP THAT "I'M A FAILURE" B U L L S H I T !!!

Answer 7

Had a quick look at a couple of your vids and your form isn't great when you kick. Your arms are all over the place and most of the time your knee is pointing downwards.

On your sparring you seemed to be doing a lot of circling for no reason, you would circle then stop and set yourself up for an attack that mostly seemed to be a backfist where you first had to bring your arm across your body, and thus telegraphing what you were going to do.

Answer 8

wakai soshite bikkurishita ......... mazushii kodomo : (

Answer 9

hey man you're not bad but here is a couple things you should do with the bag training:

*don't wear shoes(good for conditioning)

*hold the bag for knee kicks(when you knee someone you hold the person, you should do the same with the bag)

Also work on your balance and flexibility because i noticed with your kicks you're not very flexible.

Answer 10

try a different art.  If your not great at striking why don't you try some of the grappling arts?

Answer 11

No offence by I am a student of mantis, and my sifu kept telling me that tsing yi is no good.

It's too stiff and short.

Answer 12

start actually fighting people instead of slowing moving your arms with bells on them

Answer 13

What you should do is stop feeling sorry for yourself.

Fight hard, what do you want to hear, that you haven't probably already heard ?

Forget training hard, your already trained, it just seems like you lack courage when your in the ring.

Your hitting your bag with no power, or aggression.

Martial Arts isn't dancing, stop working on this step by step ... 1,2,1,2 bull s h i t, and attack like a wild animal.

Forget your FORM, make a video attacking that d**n punching bag, I don't care if you skin your knuckles.

BE STRONG !!

( ~hahaa, your not competiting for a Karate Kid movie, so react like a wild man on that punching bag, stop trying to look pretty, you punk a s s - ***** )

Answer 14

Well, I already told you that you don't suck. Maybe you should try sparring and fighting more. It's easy to practice techniques in a form but a fight is where they're put to the test.

Answer 15

Just from looking at you train, you seem to have absolutely no faith in anything you do at all.  You go in, you do the movement, but you never believe anything you do will work.  Your problem is not your approach; quite the opposite your training method seems very complete.  Your problem is mental; you may have to get psychological counseling to get to the root of your lack of confidence, in addition to engaging in deep meditation.

You also need to stop trying to prove yourself.

You have to repeat to yourself "have faith."  Not confidence, faith.

Confidence is rooted in evidence, or the opinions of important people.

"Believing in yourself" and that self-esteem bullcrap from grade school doesn't work because even belief requires that you see something.

Faith however, is blind, irrational, and completely and totally devoid of any need for evidence that is why some atheists have argued it is a mental disorder.  With regards to blind faith then, have a mental disorder.

Qigong isn't enough; you will have to do something what Buddhist call Vipasana meditation.  For 10 days straight, no talking, no television, no vide games, no viewing of p**n, no girl watching, nothing that is even remotely "evil" or will cause  you to think evil thoughts.  I know that when I look at a hot chick I think evil thoughts all the time.  Yup; extremely evil.

Okay besides the point; you need more meditation and one more thing......

STOP BEING SUCH A PANSY WHEN YOU TRAIN AND GROW A DAMNED SPINE!!!!  CHRIST!!!!!

Alright though but seriously; you are badly in need of Vipasana meditation, because you do not seem to respect the eastern traditions regarding the role of the mind.  MMA fighters, who are as far removed from the east as any fighters could be, even they respect the role of the mind.  Most certainly don't agree with the training methods of east asian styles, but they DO respect the mind.

Because of its intrinsically spiritual nature, you will need to first pray, ask your pastor, rabbi, imam, whoever, to give you a blessing or something to prevent any evil spirits from bothering you while you meditate.  Buddhists I know, take that danger very seriously; during meditation your body and soul are both vulnerable to attacks from evil spirits.  Another danger, is psychosis.

The nature of a psychological disorder of the extreme as psychosis, is complete removal from reality.  The reason Vipasana is a necessary first step in meditation, is because the only way to prevent "madness," is by turning inward first, and removing anything within your mind that may cause madness in later meditation.

With bathroom, shower, and eating breaks of course, you will need 10 hours of Vipasana meditation over the course of 10 days.  No talking, no T.V., no internet, not viewing of p**n, no girl watching.  You are to be silent, chaste (in every sense of the word meaning, no self violation either), and all in all well, a choir boy for 10 days.

You may not even require all 10 days; one intensive session can remove what you need to remove but if I was you I would go for the 10 days anyway.

Again your problem is psychological; you will need to engage in deep, intensive meditation like I said, for 10 days.  You will have to look deep inside, and remove whatever it is that is preventing you from perfecting your form.  Lastly, for a whole year, you need to remove yourself from competition, and emphasize meditation over training (but don't neglect training).

Let me tell you three stories, regarding the Samurai of Japan.

Once upon a time there was a tea server, who offended a Samurai lord because the tea server, when asked for his opinion regarding a matter, responded in a way that greatly offended the Samurai lord.  See, the Samurai lord stated if it was tactically practical to slaughter women and children to prevent any future generations from taking revenge.  The tea server said, it was not tactically practical, because to engage in such barbarity endangered his domain, as it would make him lose the respect of other Samurai lords.  Not realizing that the tea server had done him a favor with his counsel, the Samurai lord ordered one of his samurai to kill him when the chance came.

The day came, and as the tea server was serving the Samurai lord tea once more, the Samurai waited in another room to strike.  However, he did not strike and his reason?  Even through the door (remember; Japanese doors are made of bamboo and rice paper) the Samurai could not find an opening to run the tea server through.  The tea server was so focused on what he was doing, and had mastered his art to such an extent, no matter how hard he tried, the Samurai could not find that crucial opening, as he was aware that the tea server was aware he was in danger.  Not trusting his own vassal the Samurai lord also, was poised ready to strike, however, he could not find an opening to attack the tea server either.

Recognizing the tea server as a great master of his art, the Samurai lord apologized, and went to a Buddhist temple to purify his spirit and make ammends for his previous evil acts.  The Samurai sent to kill the tea server begged the tea server to take him as a student, and ever since then in Kenjutsu and Aikido, the tea ceremony has been an integral part of the training.

Here is another story, this one involves womanizer and swordsman Sasaki Kojiro.

Sasaki Kojiro, was a gynophile; he was, as well as a swordsman, the Japanese Cassanova, and reputedly he was with over 1,000 women, of all shapes, sizes, and ages.  In fact rumor has it because many of them were married, its the whole reason he took up the art of the sword in the first place, to defend himself against jealous husbands.  However because he was a good swordsman, and it was a period of war in Japan, despite the danger that the man would seduce their wives, many Samurai tolerated Kojiro because most of those marriages were not love marriages in the first place, and jealousy stemmed more from Kojiro "violating property," than genuine heartbreak as women were not considered people by the Samurai of that time, just breeding machines.

Kojiro's justification for his womanizing and adultery was "come on; you don't even love her anyway...."  Also, another thing that is known, is that as different as he was from Musashi, he was also similar.  See, Sasaki Kojiro was Miyamoto Musashi's defacto rival and "foil."  You've seen animes right?  Samurai Champloo?  The relationship between Mugen and Jin, is based on the real life historical relationship between Musashi and Kojiro.  Musashi was course, gruff, and a bit of a ruffian, whereas Kojiro was a perfect, refined Japanese gentleman with "charming manners."  Musashi was handsome in a tough kind of way, whereas Kojiro was handsome in a pretty boy kind of way, which is the way Japanese girls like it, hence his success with them but anyway...

One day, Kojiro was invited to view a fan dancer girl.  No, its nothing lewd; its just how it sounds.  A woman in a kimono, dancing with a fan.  I know in Japanese there is a specific name for it but I forgot.  Whatever the case, the woman was so intensely focused on what she was doing, the swordsman Kojiro could not find an opening to attack her.  See, when a person is obsessed with martial arts, truly obsessed, the way Kojiro was, they "size up" everyone they meet.  Sometimes its not even intentional.  When he sized up this fan dancer, she was more focused than any swordsman he had encountered on the battle field and tried as he did, he could not see or find even so much as a split second lapse of focus which would give him an opening to strike.  Needless to say he fell obsessively in love with her.

More out of pity than desire, yeah, he managed to bed her, but she did not love him.  Kojiro's tale is a tragic one, in that he could have any woman, but not the one he wanted.  This led to a crippling suicidal despair and in fact, according to the story, Kojiro killed the most swordsmen after he met this fan dancer girl as he was feeling suicidal.  Eventually he heard of Musashi, and issued a duel, sure of the fact that if anyone could end his miserable, sad existence, it was Musashi.

Eventually the two met in battle, and while reportedly Kojiro managed to cut Musashi's forehead (few more inches and he would have killed him), in the end Musashi won, but after the duel Musashi was never the same again.  If someone had used me to commit "suicide by cop" or in this case "suicide by swordsman" I personally wouldn't be the same either.  It was in fact, I believe, after that duel in which Musashi gave up the sword and opted to become a painter.

Here is the third story (bear with me I know I talk a lot); it involves Miyamoto Musashi.

Musashi was born, to a father from a minor Samurai clan, and a mother whose family had ties to the emperor himself.  So, how was it that a minor clan Samurai managed to score for himself a royal chick?  How else?  Prowess in battle, reportedly he saved that major clan leader's life, so in gratitude he gave him his daughter.

Eventually the marriage produced a son, who was I believe named "Akihiso," but he would grow up, out of hatred for his father, to change his name to Musashi but the story isn't there yet.

When Musashi was a boy, what both folklore and real history agree on, is that Musashi's father was abusive in his training methods, even by the more brutal standards of Feudal Era Japan.  He was so brutal, his methods were shocking even to the Samuria of that era.  One time he beat the boy so severely, that fearing for his life, when her husband was away at war, Musashi's mother sent the boy away to live with her brother.  Musashi's father could not protest, because his wi

Answer 16

do you actually like doing martial arts?

if you dont actually like it then you will never get any better.

what other people think shouldnt really mater unless they are your instructor or have been training for longer than you. stop listening to people who put you down they obviously arnt your friends and just strat having fun when you are training.