The Cost of Consistency in Martial Arts

There are a million things you probably need to do right now.

• Yard work.

• Clean the house.

• Food shopping.

• Get the kids to their events.

​

And there are probably a million things you want to do right now too.

• Read a book.

• Watch a new show on Netflix.

• Go for a walk.

• Actually take a moment for yourself.

• ​

If you are a student at 603 Karate, there is probably no shortage of reasons not to show up for class today either.

• You are exhausted from work or school. (Some people are doing both.)

• Your list of responsibilities feels endless.

• Friends want to hang out.

• You simply do not feel like training today.

​

I understand all of that.

​

Believe me.

​

Even Instructors Do Not Always Feel Like Training

To tell the truth, I do not always feel like it myself.

​

I am certainly not immune to life’s duties and challenges. There are days when I would rather do other things too.

​

But there is a cost to everything.

​

Over the years, I have watched many people choose the cost of being consistent at the dojo.

​

And in return, I have watched their lives change.

​

What Consistency Can Create

One student has been consistent since the very first day the dojo opened.

​

He still has not gone away.

​

Another student went from being a kid afraid to step onto the mats to running for class president.

​

Another went from being the clumsiest student I had ever seen to dominating adults three times their age during sparring and Kumite.

​

Others have experienced transformations that reached far beyond martial arts training itself.

I have watched students:

• develop the confidence to earn promotions at work,

• find the mental toughness to face intimidating medical issues,

• discover a culture where they could truly be themselves,

• and lose over 75 pounds through consistent training and lifestyle changes.

• ​

None of those changes happened overnight.

​

And none of them happened accidentally.

​

Consistency Has a Cost

The people who experience those kinds of changes paid a price for them.

That cost included:

• time away from home,

• effort on days when they felt they had nothing left to give,

• physical exhaustion,

• and the financial commitment of ongoing training.

• ​

None of those are small sacrifices.

​

But I would bet that very few of those students regret making them.

I do not think they would trade:

• their confidence,

• their progress,

• their friendships,

• their discipline,

• or the strength they developed through training.

• ​

And I certainly do not think they would choose to go backward.

​

The Cost of Not Training

Yes, there is a cost to joining a dojo.

​

There is a cost to attending class consistently.

​

And there is a cost to continuing when motivation fades.

​

But there is also a cost to not doing those things.

• A cost to remaining stuck.

• A cost to staying isolated.

• A cost to letting fear, poor health, low confidence, or lack of discipline slowly take over your life.

• ​

Most long-term martial artists eventually realize something important:

The cost of training is usually far smaller than the cost of never challenging yourself at all.

​

Final Thoughts

You do not have to take my word for any of this.

​

Just ask the people at the dojo who have stayed consistent over the years.

​

I suspect most of them will tell you the same thing:

The effort was worth it.