Thursday, March 29, 2012

Life inevitably involves change.  As human beings, we resist change even those that we know are good for us.  Exercising, like any other facet of our lives, must involve change.  If you lift weights, for example, how much progress would you make if you only ever lifted those little pink 2 lb dumbbells.  Granted, you would get really awesome at lifting the two pounders, but what fun would that be?   Giving up the nice cushy couch in the evenings after work for a three mile run involves a sacrifice also.  That couch looks mighty good after a long hard day at work!

When you first start an exercise program, it is very likely that you were sore afterward.  A week or two later, however, you realized that the soreness was not as bad and you felt like one bad mother!  But, as with anything, you gradually added more distance or time and realized that the soreness came back as strong as before...until your body adapted.  Thus, the challenge of change involves pain.

Change without some pain or loss isn't really change at all.  Not that the change is not good (for example, switching out a favorite pair of running shoes for new ones with more cushioning....your feet may feel better, but it can be difficult to part with equipment that you really love!)  Going up in rank in martial arts is an awesome accomplishment, but now the challenge is that you have to get out of your comfort zone, learning more challenging techniques or kata that may be more difficult than anything encountered before.  With higher rank also comes more responsibility....a brown belt can't get by with making the same mistakes that a white belt can!  Change can be positive even though it may not feel that way at the beginning.

Change is everyday life.  Embrace change; don't reject it.  Pain that comes with change can be overcome.  As change is inevitable, so too is progress.

"Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don't resist them - that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like. "
Lao Tzu




Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Competition in Karate

Competition season in karate, with the change in weather, is upon us and many of the students in my karate school are planning to participate this coming weekend at an AAU qualifier for the Karate Nationals.  The students are working very diligently to perfect their skills in kata and kumite and it's a true pleasure to see so many of our dojo principles put in to action.  My favorite, especially, for this time of year is: Seriousness, Try Hard, and Never Give Up!  With that attitude, I expect every one of our participants to do extremely well.

Competition in karate is a unique concept.  As many people probably know, I am a huge Karate Kid movie fan (the first one!) and an enormous plot line is the main character's training for a tournament to once and for all keep those mean ol' Kobra Kai's from continuing to beat him up.  In the end, Daniel-San wins the tournament against his arch-nemesis with the infamous "crane stance" kick.  The good thing about this movie is that winning the tournament was not the important point; conquering one's fears and not other people IS the whole idea.  Yet another concept that we train by in our dojo is that our purpose is "Not to conquer others, but to conquer the weaknesses in oneself."  We have this precept painted on the wall above the mirrors in our dojo, so that it is literally right in front of your face.  Many is the time that I have been struggling through a drill or kata and looked up and taken those words to heart.

Competition is a worthwhile endeavor in any karate school, particularly if entered into with the attitude that you are competing against your own weaknesses.  It seems almost antithetical since you are often in the ring with another competitor.  Rather than wanting to "beat up" your opponent, the goal is to do YOUR best.  Can you be just a bit faster?  Can you get over your feelings of nervousness to perform a kata as flawlessly as you can?  Yes, you want to "defeat" your opponent, but do you really want to hurt your opponent?  Karate is for the purpose of defending oneself; not causing pain and torment in a tournament setting.  Yes, we train to hurt others, but only under the threat of serious harm coming to us from someone else.  Tournaments teach you how to be better at your sport...and karate in this context IS a sport. 

Now I am all for tournaments.  It is not my main purpose, but it is fun to train for a specific event.  I have had a great time at tournaments, particularly at Nationals when it was held here in Winston-Salem.  Every year, I had to convince myself to get back in the ring, as I was always matched up in the finals with a student of Sensei Doug Perry's.  This lady was amazing!  She was at least 5 inches taller than me and was tough as nails, particularly in the ring.  Off the mat, she was very kind and sweet.  She always beat me for the gold medal, but one year, I came much closer than ever because I worked on my weaknesses to prepare, instead of training against her strengths.  The year before, she fought me in a left handed stance, which totally threw me for a loop.  She was an excellent puncher and she would always managed to get inside on me.  The next time we matched up the following year, I had trained, not for her southpaw stance, but instead, I worked more on my kicks.  I worked on my weakness with my kicks, which was mainly my timing.  That way, it didn't matter what stance she was in.  I managed to score on her twice before she ever scored on me once.  I think it actually surprised us both when I got ahead...the look on her face was priceless!  Unfortunately, she was still much faster and she won.  I still felt victorious because I had worked on something to make me better, not to make her weaker.  My goal for the next year was to work on my speed, but unfortunately, she broke her ankle very badly while riding a motorcycle and did not return to karate.  I was very sad for that, as she taught me a lot, likely without even realizing it.

So, best wishes to all the competitors out there!  Remember what your karate means to you and you will come out on top with or without a medal!

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Weekend Awesomeness

This weekend has been a blast for myself and several others in my dojo.  First off, we were honored to have our instructor's instructor, Shihan ("a teacher of teachers"), Dale Coker, visit us from Charleston via Thailand, where he lives most of the time.  He taught several seminars, as well as helped us learn some of the black belt kata in more depth.  While this was a physical pursuit, my brain is crammed full of new information and insight, so it may take me several days to get back to my "normal" self!  Oh yeah, wait...I'm not normal.  Well, I can certainly get back to what passes for normality before Monday morning.  Maybe.

One of the best parts of the weekend was participating in a shodan rank test for one of our students.  Happily, and not unexpectedly, he passed and showed a great deal of black belt spirit and fortitude.  For every shodan test I witness or participate in I am reminded all over again of my own test waaay back many years ago.  While reaching black belt is a tremendous milestone, it does serve to remind me that it's not the end goal of a martial arts career, but actually, a beginning of a beginning.  At black belt level, you are finally ready to BEGIN studying the martial arts.  Yep, that's right.  Black belt is not the end.  For some, perhaps, this is the goal, but honestly, having a black belt does not make someone a super hero.  I'm sure my family and friends can attest to that!  I can't imagine stopping just when the journey has only just started!  Could you imagine someone being drafted for the NBA and attaining a starting spot on the team, and when it's time to play, just...stopping?   That would be like stopping work on the skyscraper when only the first floor has been finished.  You'll never know what the view looks like from 100 stories up! 

Incidentally, when someone hears I have a black belt, I get the usual questions/comments:  "Do you really have to register your hands with the government?"  "I'd better not make you angry!", or "Wow, can you really beat up anyone?"  I generally let people know that I only use my powers for good, so they have nothing to fear from me, and I am still waiting for Tony Stark to invite me to be a member of the Avengers.

Okay, maybe not.


But...you never know!

Symbol for Wado Ryu karate