The Importance of Perseverance!

Perseverance has long been an established tenet of the martial arts and is one of the core life skills taught at Kowkabany’s Family Martial Arts. It’s so important, it is even included in the student oath that we recite at the end of every class.

This key attribute is a character strength that allows individuals to find success in all areas of life, from sports, academics, work and even personal relationships. However, developing this strength at an early age usually requires help from those around us… parents, instructors and friends.

Key Benefits of Perseverance

Perseverance is necessary to achieve any worthwhile goal, and for many people this starts with successfully passing on to the next grade in school. For martial artists, it is reaching the next step through the ranks. Success requires continuous and sustained effort, even when things become more challenging.

Perseverance teaches you to be resilient, to develop grit, and to stand strong when it comes to meeting the harder challenges of life head on. Ask any top athlete or a professional who leads in their field, and they will tell you that reaching that level wasn’t easy. If it were easy, everyone would do it. These individuals pushed forward when things became tough and refused to quit when it took more work.

Perseverance helps to develop confidence. Too many people have great goals and dreams, but when they run into an obstacle, they want to walk away. For those that persevere, they know they have achieved something that many won’t, and that builds confidence to take on new challenges in life. Unfortunately, for those who quit, that can also become a habit and lead to a continual fear of trying new things due to a fear of failure.

Tips on Developing Perseverance

The first part to persevering is knowing why you want to achieve something. What are the results or the benefits that you want to achieve as a result of your had work? If that goal or vision was important enough for you to start, use that vision as fuel for why you should continue.

Break down your long-term goals into short-term ones, as these short-term achievements provide consistent motivation. Try to figure out in advance what obstacles you can expect on your path, and then what are ways to break through them.

Seek advice or a pep talk! Getting advice from those who have already achieved this goal (whether through a book or in person) is one option, and getting support from those who want to see you succeed (parents, instructors, mentors) is always helpful. Feelings are like the weather, they frequently change based on how we feel mentally and physically. Having someone else provide us with encouragement can go a long way in keeping our motivation up, and can keep us focused on our long-term goals.

Self-discipline is another life skill that is a tremendous aid in developing perseverance. Setting up a schedule to work consistently towards your big goals, and then sticking to it, will go a long way in achieving success. Showing up for a workout, even if you don’t feel 100% motivated that day, will still provide benefits and will keep you in the habit of consistently moving towards your long-term goals.

For more information on creating positive habits, please see this article: https://teamkowkabany.com/kfma-creates-positive-habits-through-the-masters-challenge/

Helping Others with Perseverance

One of the best ways to enhance your own perseverance is to help others build theirs. We often talk about how we teach to learn, and we learn to teach. Teaching a skill requires we look at it from a difference perspective than when we are learning it.

When you see someone struggling who is considering quitting, ask them a few questions. Does the long-term goal seem too far out of reach? If so, help them to focus on the smaller steps. Are the benefits of the original goal still worthwhile? If so, then there is always a way, even if slowly, to work towards it, and maybe the two of you can work together. Everyone has different talents and skill sets, and the synergy created by two people working together is always better than just one. In the words of Zig Ziglar, the famous motivational speaker, “You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help enough other people get what they want.”

God gave each of us talents that are unique and amazing, and we are here on this earth together to develop and share those talents! Great things are accomplished by teamwork, and that includes motivating and encouraging each other when things get difficult.

KFMA Teaches Life Skills

Chief Masters Laura and David Kowkabany have dedicated their lives to helping every student at KFMA to recognize their God-given talents, and to learn to develop them to their full potential. As students train at KFMA, they will develop a number of life skills, including perseverance, that will help them to find success not only in the martial arts, but also in their academic fields, in their professions, and perhaps most importantly, in their family relationships.

For more information regarding our family martial arts classes, just give us a call at 813-540-5528. KFMA is located at 13910 Monroes Business Park, just two doors down from the Tampa Bay Brewing Company off Racetrack Road.

Kowkabany’s Family Martial Arts is chartered with the American Taekwondo Association: https://atamartialarts.com/