What is your motivation?

[ManchesterChris]

This is a question I have been asking myself of late, and I've not fully arrived at an answer yet.

So, I was wondering...
What is your motivation to train?
What is your motivation to fight?
If you really look at yourself, how much does fear (of anything) have to do with it?
Is it to do with personal ambition?

Just interested to see what people think and feel.

[C.K.A.Martial Arts]

for me it was the age of Traditional Full Contact Karate, it was a way of being around guys that wanted to be better then the street thugs, discipline was every thing so you trained because it was like a duty.

My first fight ~ I nealry shitted in my gi but after a spinning back fist and knocking the guy out sorted that issue out.

I have trained and taught for over 25 years and it was simply a case of being in my blood ~ yes i could sit and watch the telly or go on the piss but looking back at all my friends that have done that I was so glad that i didnt ~ not only do I have the pleasure of some of the greatest Martial Artists the country has produced but I feel I have given something back through teaching kids.

I have given up Martial Arts ~ not through personal choice ~ but I know I can say I have been their and done it.

any job gets boring so training is no different but being in the best shape and top of your game means that when you look at these wasters you know how much better you are and when your old like me and cant do it any longer you can pass that knowledge on and have stories to tell your kids and kids kids and help them be motivated to make something better of their lifes and not just stand around the streets being a waste of space.

thats the motivation to train

[ManchesterChris]

Thanks mate. That was a good answer.

[C.K.A.Martial Arts]

hope this helps mate ~ life is a journey and when your at the end of that journey you need to be able to look back and say " I did that " - a person is remebered by their actions not them selfs.

when I go I will be happy knowing that I made a difference to some young persons life or to a fighters motivation and thats more than a reward for any Martial Artist.

[DanCrase]

My entire motivation for pretty much everything I do is ego. Plain and simple.

[jose969]

Motivation to train: Looked like fun, turns out I am really shit but I am so stubborn that I wont let that stop me

What is your motivation to fight: Not had a fight, might never, so who knows. I would have thought that the idea was to prove I can really do it to myself rather than everyone else.

Fear: Honestly nothing, I am big enough and ugly enough to not be worried about walking about on my own. ( also helps that I live in quite a nice area lol)

Personal ambition: keeps me out of the pub and off the sofa, No ideas of being the next heavy weight champion of the world, so I will keep training as long as I keep finding it fun and interesting.

[BenA]

Wanting peoples thoughts on this theory and its kinda related so i'm gonna put it in.

There are 3 types of people who train mma (plus people who don't fit into these categories)
Posers
Fighters
and Competitors.

Posers do it just to tell people about it eg. oh yeah i'm a cage fighter, or post facebook status' saying off to train cage fighting. (basically anyone who mentions they're a cage fighter at any possible oportunity, everyone knows one)

Fighters just do it to punch people in the face. People who just enjoy fighting and want to do it without getting put in prison. (usually compete just to make it real, dont mind about the result as long as they have fun)

Competitors who do it to test themselves or prove they can do it. Realise it is the ultimate form of competition and want to excel (take fights really seriously and have to win, dont care how just a W)

Might only make sense in my head but have seen at least one from each category from my gym and nicely explains (sort of) why people do it. Obviously there is a lot of room for changing the theory and lots of people dont fit neatly in, but its a start.

[C.K.A.Martial Arts]

could not of put it better mate ~ do you remember the guy in Ultimate Fighter 3 who was on Tito's Team and was going on about how many people he had knocked out blah blah - then he gets beat and comes of the cage shouting " now I am a Ultimate Fighter " and even tito said he was a knob.

[ManchesterChris]

Thank you, Ben. You paint a great picture and I guess that you're probably correct.

I try to stay grounded. We all dream but reality can be quite different.

I'd like to get fit and just push myself as far as I can go. I'd only be proving something to myself, whatever I decide to do with this.

I really appreciate your input.

[Barracuda187]

If you appreciate that Life is difficult and that anything that comes easy is worth nothing you realise that the more you test yourself, the more challenges you put yourself through, the more you appreciate and know yourself and in that the closer you come to the realisation of why you are here on this planet.

Everyone has the ability to shine, and eveyone who has a passion/sport or lifestyle interest that works along side natural laws can feel enlightened and use that as a meduim to understanding.

Keep training hard y'all!