Four Lessons I Have Learned From Karate

Here are some bits of wisdom I've gained from karate:

1. Always Get Up-  You will get knocked down.  Or you'll fall down.  No matter what, get up.  It's always difficult to get back up, but if you are ready to accept that fact, it's actually easier.  Nowhere is this more important than when you must fight an opponent. You cannot defend yourself or even change positions if you are defeated.  Always get up, however you must.  DO NOT GIVE UP!  In real life, when crap knocks you over, you have to keep going.  This can be painful, but it's a reality that you will never get past whatever it is that is trying to beat the snot out of you.  I've seen this reality played out over and over in the dojo and in real life.   Although friends and loved ones can give you a helping hand, they can't do it for you.  You have to stand up.
2. Never Turn Your Back-  Just today, I was reminded of this lesson.  I was practicing weapons with another woman at a Shorin-Ryu dojo.  This particular exercise actually involved hitting and blocking with a bo staff.  She saw that I was having a problem and, in the context of helping me, she asked me to physically switch sides with her, as there would then be a mirror facing me and I could see what I was doing incorrectly.  So, okay, I walked straight over to the other side, giving her my back, thus exposing myself to a possible attack.  Her point was never to show my back to my enemy. (She was kind enough not to actually attack me!)  While this is a survival truth, I also took to heart the fact that I should never show my back to my friends either.  I should never turn on them or turn away.  Facing my friends (and my enemies) gives me an awareness.  If I "turn away" by ignoring what my friends are going through, how can I possibly help them when they need me.  Fortunately, I do not have any true enemies (thank goodness!), but I am aware there are individuals who are not my biggest fans.  By facing them, I show them my true self and, who knows, perhaps they will change their minds about their negative feelings toward me.  If not, I can only be who I am and nothing more.
3. There Will Always Be Mysteries- In karate, as in most martial arts, there are many, many scores of things I do not know and I may never know.  In learning kata, it is important to study the applications of the movements.  As a colored belt, I would often be frustrated by the fact that I just couldn't figure out what my movements meant.  As a black belt, I STILL don't know some of the interpretations, but I know way more than I did.  There will always be things I don't know; some things won't be revealed until I attain a higher rank; some things I may never know.  This does not mean that once you reach black belt, that a "veil" is lifted and you just know stuff.  You learn things gradually just as you do when you are progressing through the colored belt ranks.  Plus, the less you know, the more things you have yet to learn and that's exciting!  Secondly, there should always be mysteries.  One of the coolest things in the world is that there are things that even with all of our advanced technology, we still don't know!  When I was young, I would sometimes look in the sky and see little smudged-looking rainbows during the day.  I thought that was so awesome!  I had no idea what they were, but they were my "rainbow thingies" and they always made me feel good when I saw them.  When I got older, I found out that my "rainbow thingies" were actually something called sun dogs that occur when sunlight is reflected off of ice crystals formed in high cirrus clouds.  And while that is really nifty, I believe I would have been a bit disappointed when I was younger to have had that explanation for what I believe were my own special "rainbow thingies" (and yes, that is what I called them!)  So enjoy the mysteries of life...if there is a mystery that is solved then it is usually solved for you when you need it and not beforehand.  It's just part of the magic!
4. Things Are Always Hard, Then Easy- When you learn new techniques in karate or a new kata, it's almost always difficult, then easier.  Once something is mastered, it may get changed slightly ("now do it this way") to reflect your growing understanding.  What you are taught as a white belt may look a little different as a brown belt.  Then it gets hard again...and then easy.  Well, real life is like that too.  Sometimes life is just freaking hard...and then it eases up.  But yes, it will get hard again and then easy.  I would just say that when things are easy, enjoy it and be happy.  Just because things get hard does not mean that it will be sad or devastating (though we must realize that sometimes life does get that way), but it does mean that things will eventually get better and easier.  It's all part of a cycle. Embrace it!

DO Drink the Water

First off, unless you live in the Southern Hemisphere, it's summer and unless you are a camel, you need to worry about hydration before, during, and after exercise or any strenuous activity.  Not to put too fine a point on it, but actually, you should worry about hydration year round, but I'll save that post for this winter! 

I'm one of those people who carries a water bottle just about everywhere.  I enjoy water (except the kind out of the water fountains at work- NASTY!) and so, I drink it regularly.  When it's super-hot, as it has been in my neck of the woods lately (high 90s, 100s), hydration is even more important.  A rule of thumb is to drink around 8-10 oz of water approximately 10-15 minutes before you exercise, the same amount every 15 minutes or so during exercise, and be sure to drink around 20 oz of water after exercise.  This is just ONE rule.  My own personal preference is to drink water shortly before exercising, but in actuality, I try to drink water throughout the day.   In addition, and I'm sure you ladies can back me up on this...too much water beforehand can make you want to pee and any high impact activity combined with a need to pee...well, you get what I'm saying and it ain't funny.  If I am exercising for longer than an hour, I will sometimes mix a sports drink, like Gatorade, with water...I personally don't care for straight Gatorade, to replenish those electrolytes.  If it's super-hot or I am sweating a great deal, then I might mix a bit of Gatorade into my water anyway.  After exercising is also the time to replace electrolytes, but I also want to eat a little something, preferably carbs and protein, as just a sports drink is not advisable. 

Okay, so those are some tips, but the reality is that there have been cases of people drinking too much water and dying.  Who'd a'thought you could do that?  The problem lies in the fact that the sodium in the blood is not being replaced and the balance is disrupted...hence, the need to sometimes drink a sports drink or eat a salty snack, to ensure that you don't totally deplete your sodium.  Oddly enough, the symptoms of drinking too much water (hyponatremia) are very similar to dehydration, so it's extremely important to monitor your own responses to heat, urine output, etc., to avoid such a thing happening to you.  Granted, hyponatremia is rare and is more often seen during endurance events, such as marathons, etc.

The really awesome thing is how portable water has become (again).  Back in the olden days, people had to carry their own water with canteens, waterbags, or barrels.  Fast forward to the modern times and with things like convenience stores and water fountains everywhere, unless you were going on a hike, you didn't really consider toting your own water bottle.  Now that hydration has become more popular and with nifty things like backpacks that include its own water reservoir, and water bottles (BPA free), and even these really nice collapsible water bottles (for pets, too!), there really is no excuse for not drinking water.  If you don't like the taste of water (which I can't imagine unless it's that nasty "work" water at my office), there are very low-calorie additives that will give you different flavors.  Just make certain that the sugar content doesn't override the benefits of your exercise!  In other words, don't add Cheerwine to your water, as that would kind of defeat the purpose!  And yes, I knew someone who did that!  In fact, the ratio of Cheerwine to water was about 20:1!

Living the Way of Truth

A very important tenet in my study of wado ryu karate has been the principle- "Live the way of truth."  I have given this principle a great deal of thought, as something that sounds so simple generally isn't.

This principle sounds the most obvious of the dojo precepts, right?  Boiled down to the basics, it means "don't lie."  Right?

Haha!  Wrong!  I think this principle, next to the one about patience, is the most difficult.  I decided to write about this principle because I personally know an individual who demonstrated this concept.

One of my fellow martial artists (I'm keeping his name confidential), recently had a situation in his workplace in which another individual (who is subordinate to my friend) was placed at risk of great harm by one of my friend's colleagues.  His colleague physically attacked the subordinate and was quite literally choking the subordinate.  My friend was forced to intervene to ensure that the subordinate did not get any more seriously hurt.  In addition, once he was asked by his superiors what happened, there was an assumption by his colleagues, at large, that he would take his colleague's side.  He didn't do so...as his own integrity required him to "live the way of truth."  He experienced some grief for his decision, at least through the grapevine, as he heard grumblings that he "should have" backed up his colleague, even though his colleague was clearly in the wrong.  His superiors did the right thing in ending his colleague's employment.  My friend never even considered lying for his colleague, though clearly his peers felt he should have done so. 

As a martial artist (especially the super hero kind!), we are, again, held to a higher standard.  Now, I happen to know that my friend is a very spiritual individual and is very open about his faith.  Needless to say, while this quite likely influences his decisions, my friend had to deal with a very difficult, very physical situation in which a life could have been lost.  He chose to "live the way of truth" in a way that reflects not only his Christianity, but also, I believe, the embodiment of his belief in the dojo principles. While I believe that I would have chosen the same path that he did, we don't really know until we are tested. 

So, living the way of truth isn't just about what we SAY, but is also about what we DO.  It reminds me that if I cut someone off in traffic, or get upset because something doesn't go my way, or I yell at my waitress because my food isn't just right, that I am demonstrating my integrity (or rather the lack, thereof).  My friend, who I have always admired because he's an awesome guy, just increased my respect for him tenfold.  I can only hope to live out the same example he gives me.