(Approx 1 minute 50 second read)

Injuries are inevitable, and are usually perceived as a huge annoyance when time is needed off from training. But with every injury there could be an opportunity, and continuing to show up to class is one way of capitalizing on them.
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We learn from watching, everyone is at least somewhat of a visual learner, and attending the dojo when injury prevents you from training also helps you maintain the connection with that training.
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For me, it always confirmed to me that nothing will stop me from training, from showing up, and that my injury is an opportunity to show my resilience in the face of whatever gets in my way along my path.
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You have to reinforce the habit of showing up. This is an important part of your training, the way you’ve rearranged your life to consistently make time to train, not “finding time” but “making time”.

For most, it takes a bit of a juggling act and commitment to get to class each week, and to develop the balance in the other areas of your life. Showing up to class when it is difficult helps prevent the weeds growing beneath your feet.
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Injuries are going to take as long as they are going to take to heal. You can’t force it to heal faster. You cannot rush. Thus, you need to be patient.
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However, there is a thin line when it comes to patience. By thinking all you need to do is practice patience, this may allow for laziness to creep into your mentality, thereby causing you to fall into the trap of doing nothing.
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Showing up just to watch helps prevent you from replacing training with other habits that could pull you away. Attending class as a spectator, bring a notebook, take notes on things, ask questions, keep motivated to return. Your instructor might even have drills you can do that won’t aggravate your injury.
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When watching you may notice small details that you may have missed when training while you are focused on other things.
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Basically, when you get hurt, it’s important to not adopt a useless “woe is me” victim mentality and let the injuries crush you. Instead, you can use the injury as a chance for self-development.
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When you get hurt or injured either inside or outside of the dojo, you can simply accept the situation has occurred, and seek an alternative way. Overcoming setbacks in the martial arts, and life in general for that matter, is about how you use the setbacks to your advantage.
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If you can’t be on the dojo floor, stay close enough to keep learning. The path doesn’t stop just because you’re injured – it just changes direction.
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Written by Adam Carter