Goal Setting for Your Krav Maga Journey

Guest Post By EVKM Student Abby Huot

Social media is overloaded with inspirational quotes about goal-setting and “fitspirations” every day of the week, and you probably see it in your own feed regularly. If you’re looking for mere inspirational entertainment, feel free to look there. If you’re looking for real advice for goal-setting as a seasoned athlete, but someone new to Krav Maga and EVKM, you’re in the right place.

Krav Maga is one of the most physical things I’ve ever done in my life, if not THE most physical activity I’ve been a part of. I’m a former collegiate swimmer, I’ve done a triathlon, 5ks, mud runs, obstacle courses, and fitness competitions galore. I know what it’s like to train. I know what it’s like to be tired and sore. This kind of training is completely different! The key, especially if you’re new to a routine like learning Krav Maga, is showing up.

Like anything else (owning a business, relationships, or parenting), you can’t just show up on the days when you feel like it. If you’re going to take anything seriously and have any sort of success, you have to be willing to show up even on days where you don’t feel like it. Last night, I didn’t feel like going to class. I had a nasty case of the “I don’t wannas” by 3PM in the afternoon.

As the clock ticked closer to when I’d leave for class though, the guilt of knowing that I was short-changing myself began setting in. All the things I was feeling were just excuses, not legitimate reasons, for skipping class. In this case, I knew it wasn’t my body. Yes, my back is sore but I always feel okay once I warm up and foam roll; it’s not an actual injury. Yup, I was tired. But that wasn’t a reason to cut class.

At 5:00, I pulled up to EVKM and began stretching and foam rolling so I could do the 5:30 class. And you know what? I’m really glad I went.

If you want to be successful, you absolutely must hold yourself to a standard that whatever goals that you have are as non-negotiable as showing up to work or going to an important appointment. There’s no ifs, ands, or buts. You can’t just come to class when you’re in a good mood, when you had a decent day at work, when your children are well-behaved, or when your laundry is folded. You have to go. It’s an hour of your day. You HAVE to go.

Here are a few tips to help you along as you start setting up your training routine.

Get Your Greek On (Know Thyself)

The above virtue was scrawled in the Greek Temple of Apollo at Delphi—and it’s relevant to you! The ancient Greeks (any Socrates fans out there?) were talking about the concept of “know thyself” long before any of us were. It’s absolutely vital that you know yourself well and how you “tick.” If you can’t be honest and introspective, you’re going to be doomed from the start.

For instance, I’m naturally the laziest person on the planet. If you see me in class, my hair is in a bun because actually trying to do my hair is a manual labor I generally don’t feel like participating in as a “grown up.” However, I know this about myself and I plan around it.

When I had an office job, I knew this about me too. If I came home after a day from work and sat on the couch, I knew I wasn’t going to leave the house again. If my butt hit that leather sectional, I wasn’t moving. So instead of battling this about myself, I learned to get around myself. Thus began a new nightly routine: packing my gym bag the night before and having it by the door ready to go the next morning. Every morning, I would grab it on the way out and have it in my car. If I had my workout clothes and shoes with me, I’d have no excuse not to go straight from work to train.

If the only time going to EVKM fits into your schedule is mornings, but you’re allergic to mornings (again… I am too), then I have a solution for you. Put some sort of a stimulant or a pre-workout by your bed to have when your alarm goes off in the morning. Watch how quickly you can’t hit snooze anymore after downing that. This was the only way I was able to train my body into waking up at 5:00AM in the past. After a week or so, it’s easier, and it’s finding a solution to a problem before it can even start. Again, navigating around my own wiring.

A little planning can go a LONG WAY if you’re honest with yourself and how you’re wired.

Get Clear on Why You’re Here

Why did you join EVKM? Fitness? Self-defense and confidence?

Think about it for a minute. Okay, so if your answer was for fitness, how fit can you truly get if you only show up when there’s a full moon or when you feel like you got enough sleep? The answer is, you’re probably not going to change your body too much. Again, you don’t get the results if you don’t step your foot in the door to train.

If you joined because you wanted to learn self-defense, how are you ever going to improve your technique if you’re not coming to class? How effective can you be in a real world situation if you come to class twice a month? Once a week? What if you came 3 days a week? 5 days a week? Can you imagine how much better your performance, skill, and stamina would be?

Maybe you’re like me, and you also wanted to make new friends while learning a new activity—you’re not going to get to know too many people if you’re like a ghost that appears and disappears. You won’t get to know the instructors. You won’t be able to develop new relationships if you don’t actually show up. An added addition to making friends in class, by the way: accountability. If that motivates you, we’d better see you in class tomorrow!

Be Steadfast in Your Goals, But Flexible in How You Get There

Your reasons for why you came to learn Krav Maga may be fairly clear, but you also have to be willing to roll with the punches (no pun intended) when it comes to reaching your goals in training.

When I came into EVKM in November, I immediately set a goal to try to earn my first belt before my 36^th birthday in mid-March. At the end of December, the 2018 schedule came out and I discovered the soonest I’d actually be able to test for my belt would be April—well past my birthday. So much for my first 2018 goal!

Bummer? Yes. Enough to make me stop coming to class? No. Just because it wasn’t on the timeline I had in my head did NOT mean I was going to get discouraged and start ditching classes. If anything, it motivated me to get even better so I can take that test with no apprehension in 3 more months. This is what I’m referring to when I say “be flexible.”

Injured? Sidelined? I get it. Do the work to fix your body or whatever is going on in your life and body, but keep your eye on the prize. You cannot be successful without being willing to adjust the sails and your ETA as life transpires in real-life time. If you can’t do that, you’re headed for a self-defeating disaster from the start.

My hope in writing this was to provide clarity and some options to help you remain resolute in your goals, NOT to make you feel bad if your attendance hasn’t been so great. We all need loving reality checks. Sometimes tough love is still love. Love yourself enough to come to class. Trust your instructors enough to depend on the fact they’ll get you where you’re wanting to go; but remember, they can only meet you halfway. It’s up to you to walk through the doors!

Thanks for reading!

This is a post in a series of guest posts by EVKM Student Abby Huot where she chronicles her Krav Maga journey. To see her first post click here "My First Krav Maga Class and The Start of a New Adventure!"