What INSPIRES you?

[jasonbrinn]

I am working on a project and I am curious what types of things inspire people in the martial arts today?

 

[sfs982000]

What inspires me mostly is the simple love of training. I'm not big on tournaments and competition, but getting out there learning something new and improving what I already know keeps me going.

 

[Dan Hobson]

The sense of capability you get when you learn a new technique.
The feeling of reward and achievement when you earn a new belt.

 

[pgsmith]

My own ineptitude inspires me to train harder to improve.

 

[Noah_Legel]

I'm inspired by my love of training and fascination with kata/bunkai, as well as my instructor's level of skill, which I would love to someday achieve and surpass but doubt I will because he is both a natural talent at karate AND has a great passion for it.

 

[Supra Vijai]

As mentioned by Pgsmith, my own (self) perceived failings and ineptitude inspire me to try harder and keep trying harder.
As mentioned by Never_A_Reflection, the dedication and skill level of my own instructor inspires me to aim to attain that level just as I know he is to this day inspired by his own instructors and so forth.

Mostly though, my inspiration is a desire to take who I am and mould or expand myself into a better person all around, not just in the Dojo. That said, it is a great feeling to be able to take a junior student through a technique and give them tips or advice; to work with a senior student and be objectively told where I myself have improved or need corrections; and to have the chance to train with fellow students, many of whom have become close friends, and enjoy a shared passion with both intellectual and physical stimulus

 

[Black Belt Jedi]

What inspires me is all about building character and expand my talents in the Martial Arts in everything, in my training both physical and mental, my improvements in teaching all audiences, competiting into some tournaments. Those are the things that make me into a great role model.

 

[MLA9741]

The love of martial arts, challenging myself both mentally and physically, and passing on my knowledge to my students.

 

[Kenlee25]

What inspires me is my pursuit of difference. Not only do martial arts give you a different kind of training, but it is a different type of hobby. One that involves sharpness of the mind, body, and spirit! It's a life journey and an every day accomplishment all in one. You can do it young or old, male or female, and every day you learn something new about yourself. It's rigid, yet loose. Structured yet free. It's essentially what you make of it, and it makes you different. When you tell people you are a martial artists, very few can say the same.

 

[Buka]

Nothing inspires me any more.

Now, before you go and get all "that poor man" on me, take this into consideration. If you teach long enough, you don't care about what inspires you. You care about what inspires them.

 

[ks - learning to fly]

3 things: my goal of being at least 1% better each training day than I was the time before, my instructor, and my mom

 

[Carol]

I am working on a project and I am curious what types of things inspire people in the martial arts today?

What sort of project are you working on and how will the information be used?

 

[jasonbrinn]

What sort of project are you working on and how will the information be used?

Thank you first to everyone that responded!

@Carol - I will putting together a website of nothing but inspirational "media" having some link direct or otherwise to martial arts and martial artists. The website will have interviews, pics, stories, videos, you name it and the main goal is just simply to INSPIRE martial artists! The content on the site will be like an AP for inspiring martial arts stories (or stories that inspire with martial artists as the star).

Thanks to everyone again. As soon as the site goes live I will be sure to post a link here.

 

[Kenlee25]

Sounds like an interesting project, but just make sure you consult people before you publish their words onto your website. I'm sure most of us here wouldn't care, but if you are pulling information from elsewhere as well, it make be the right course of action.

 

[Carol]

The content on MartialTalk.com is protected by copyright and cannot be used elsewhere without permission.

 

[WCman1976]

What inspires me is that I can relate what I learn in martial arts to other aspects of life. Also, I like the fact that this is one art form I am into that, once Sifu gives me permission, I will actually be able to teach people. It is different from other forms of artistic expression I engage in...namely writing and music. In my opinion, it is hard to teach people guitar without knowing music theory, which I don't. Writing is hard to teach because people often don't want to put the effort into it that it takes to get better. So teaching wing chun is something where I will be able to SEE and GAUGE the results.