Way back in 2014 an 8-year-old boy - we’ll call him William - came into class. His Mum had booked him into a private session with his best friend because the group environment in other sports made him feel overwhelmed.

William was one of the least motivated students I had ever met. He loved talking about his progress in Minecraft and did the bare minimum each time we played a game or tried a new drill. That’s right, even games weren’t interesting.

Two things were apparent after the first session: first, he didn’t lack motivation (he had plenty for Minecraft), he had just never seen how movement can be rewarding like his video games. Second, from the way he described his Minecraft adventures, he was very bright. All he needed was to have the chance to see that movement can spark his imagination in the same way Minecraft (and his books) had done so.

We changed things up a little. He was learning taekwondo, so we reached into his love for the 90s anime Dragon Ball Z. William was only able to practice a punch or kick after ‘charging up’ his powers. The visualisation of charging up and playing a role in an imaginary world helped him increase his output by 200% in some drills.

The key here was recognising that the imaginary part of the training is a tool, not a sustainable way to motivate William forever.

The tool worked to help him do enough repetitions of the moves to earn some level of competence that he had never achieved. We celebrated this achievement and William was hooked on movement. He couldn’t wait for training.

This was a three month process that included a lot of patience and listening from both William and I. After a few months of private sessions, he grew enough confidence to become a part of the main class and made some great new friends.

A teenager now, William is an avid mountain bike rider and has a great bunch of friends.