Remember that at Stryker Martial Arts, we take a long term perspective on physical conditioning. As far as we are concerned, you have a body and will need to be responsible for it for the rest of your life. Therefore, we MUST take a long term perspective.
What does this mean? It means that we need to constantly vary the stimulus we are placing on your body. It means that we must constantly vary the intensity we have in class. It means that we must also be responsible for recovery and injury prevention. Therefore, the overall intensity of the rotations will vary and it MUST.
What is a "long term" perspective? For us, a minimum is a year. Mostly, we are looking at the process of earning a Black Belt which is 4+ years.
We would invite you to align your time frame with ours. Realize that you have a body and that it needs taking care of for the long haul. There is no rush. While you might want to get in shape NOW! Or you may want a specific result now, I would invite you to consider that you want your body to function optimally for the rest of your life regardless of the 5 or 10 lbs you may want to shed now. This is our focus.
What does this mean for the student? It means that if you take our perspective, you will thoroughly enjoy the program. Some rotations you will love. Others you will hate. And still others will be OK. If you have a short term perspective, and we hit one of those rotations that doesn't match your immediate need, you will quit and try to join the next new craze. Think Zumba or MMA.
If following the new "fitness" trend or martial arts trend is your thing, then by all means go for it. Just be aware that this isn't what we do here.
Also, you must maintain consistent attendance. If you go from a "high intensity rotation" to "high intensity rotation", the recovery time increases along with the chance of injury.
We have all had it... we take a couple of weeks off when we really don't need to... we just start making some excuses or blaming something or someone... when we finally return, we don't know where the rotation is and one of two things happen. Either we return in a high intensity rotation and feel like we are going to die. Or we return in a low intensity rotation and feel like we are bored or not being challenged.
Clearly neither of these work. By staying consistent in attendance, it allows you stay with the ebb and flow of the rotations.
We are looking to take care of you for the long run. After all, you will have a body for the rest of your life. Embrace the Martial Arts lifestyle.
Train Right.
Master Dan
Stryker Martial Arts Inc.
