Karate Talk

Finding Progress

When I first discovered I was pregnant, one of my greatest concerns was how this would affect my karate.  Don't get me wrong, of course I was concerned for the baby's health and safety, but assuming that the pregnancy ran smoothly, what did that mean for my martial arts training?

Although it might sound silly, I was unhappy at the thought of losing a year of "serious" training, and depending on how the birth went, and how we coped with the first few months of the baby's life, it could be much more.  Obviously the baby was the priority and well worth any sacrifice, but that didn't mean that I was blind to the fact that there would, in fact, be sacrifices.

Initially my worst fears seemed confirmed.  Constantly exhausted and with no appetite, I missed a lot of training in the early weeks.  Plus, due to the limitations of pregnancy, I was forced to train at a very moderate and cautious level when I was there.  By the end of the first trimester, there was no question that I was slipping.  And I was discouraged.

Then came the second trimester, where appetite and energy made a reappearance, and I was able to train more often and with more focus.  However, many restrictions remained.  There was just no way I was going to be able to train in the style I was used to, and that's the only way I knew to keep improving.  Never allowed to go full speed, full power, not allowed to push myself to physical extremes, and definitely no sparring, it seemed that although I now felt capable of much more, I was still condemned to plod through class on "medium".  I was still discouraged.

Finally I decided to quit feeling sorry for myself, and figure out what I could work on that wouldn't be limited by the need to keep my heartrate down, avoid overheating, or be restricted by my increasing size.

Once I looked with fresh eyes, it would obvious:  stance and technique.  Those can be done quite slowly, and they can be done without excess physical exertion.  They also allow for cautious movements to accommodate the physical changes in my body. 

So I started working hard.  I spent a lot of time in stance, making sure that my feet and knees were in proper position, deep with weight properly distributed, and practiced moving slowly from one to another for smoothness and proper expansion/contraction.  Since I had to slow down, I had plenty of time to really think about how I was making technique and concentrate on making sure that I was doing full range of motion, that my elbows weren't flying out, that my shoulders were being kept down and back, that my techniques were properly targeted and that my timing was correct.

Yesterday I got a compliment.  I was told that, contrary to other people's expectations, my karate had actually improved over the past few months.  Specifically noted were my technique, which I'm told has become sharper, with excellent timing and execution, and also my stances, which are low, strong, and perfectly balanced.

That's the beauty of martial arts.  No matter what you're going through, you can always find something that you can still do which will give you a personal feeling of accomplishment as well as a very real improvement.  You can find progress if only you teach yourself how to look for it.

How Much Do You Give Back To Your Karate?

Anyone who trains in the martial arts for any significant amount of time, who puts committed effort into it and enjoys their endeavors, can hopefully give you a list of many things that martial arts training has given to them.  Among these might be physical fitness, mental health, greater self-confidence, feelings of accomplishment and satisfaction.  These are gained through regular exercise, through gaining understanding of various techniques and their applications, through learning new things and mastering them, through facing challenges and overcoming them.

At some point, after gaining much understanding and raising through the ranks, it might be asked:  what have you given back?

We have a tournament coming up in March.  Normally I would arrive early, help set up the rings and tables, check in contestants, spend most of the day judging, compete in my division, and at the end of the day help clean up.  This year my role is undefined, due to the fact that I will be almost 7 months pregnant at that time and I'm not sure how much I'll be able to do.  The only certainty is that I will not be competing this year.

What will I do?  I will be there early and help set up.  I will check in contestants.  I'm not sure whether or not I will judge, and if I do, it will of necessity be for briefer periods of time than usual.  I plan to stay and help clean up.  By the end of the day, however much or little I have managed to contribute, I will probably be exhausted.  And no matter how much or little I have contributed, I will feel guilty for not doing more.  Sure, it's a lot of work, but it's also fun and a great experience.  You get to see people you don't normally see, spend time with them, see how they are progressing, swap stories.  You also get to learn a great deal if you are paying attention.  It's well worth the effort.

I wish more people felt the same, but I'm not sure they do.  This tournament has been a great attraction, drawing avid competitors from all over the region.  There were always plenty of willing volunteers to help run things, making it fun instead of a task (to quote the old saying, "many hands make light work").  The color belt and youth rings would go all morning, and then in the afternoon the marquee events:  men's and women's adult black belt competition.  Everyone looked forward to watching the strongest competitors, appreciating and learning from them.  We all knew who they were -- knew their names, knew where they trained -- and couldn't wait to see who came out on top.  Watching katas performed at high skill level is an artistic experience, and watching the sparring was so exciting!

Although it is the normal state for things to ebb and flow a bit, the past two or three years have seen a falloff in participation great enough to concern me somewhat.  Some of our strongest competitors have retired or moved away.  We have full youth rings, but few adults, and most of the youth competitors leave as soon as they are done competing.  So too do many of the adult color belts.  By the afternoon, the place is practically deserted except for competitors and judges.  The black belt competitors have no appreciative crowd to fire them up, the youths and color belts are deprived of the opportunity to watch the best karate our region has to offer.  The people who work the tournament (judges, staging, table help) work all day without a break, because there are barely enough of them to go around as it is.

I'm not sure what has led to the change, although many things are potential contributors.  I only know that I find it discouraging.  Why don't people want to stay and watch the black belts compete?  When I was coming up through the ranks, that was my greatest thrill on tournament days.  Why don't more black belts participate?  As any reader of this blog knows, I don't live for competition, to put it mildly, but I see so much to be gained through it, and we have so many strong black belts that it could be really exciting and rewarding.  Why don't more people volunteer to help?  Maybe they don't realize just how much work it is to put on a tournament and keep things running, but if so, why not?  Hasn't anyone of higher rank explained any of this to our people, and encouraged them to contribute what they can and support their fellow karate-ka?  It's one day out of the whole year, is it so much to ask? 

I have no answers.  I'm not attacking anyone or claiming that they aren't pulling their weight.  All I know is that I think it's sad that more people aren't more excited about this right now.  It makes me worry a bit for the future, if the committed and active participants slowly disperse and no one steps up to take their place.  I really hope to see more people there this year, in all capacities, enjoying the opportunity to get together and share our martial art with the other people in our regional organization.

Repetition, Both Good And Bad

Repetition, like so many other things in life, is neither intrinsically good nor bad.  It all depends on the situation, and your personal perspective.

For example, repetition in karate.  Although sometimes it might seem tedious repeating the same movements, over and over and over again, there is a point to this type of repetition.  Repeatedly doing the same kata helps you learn the movements so that they are natural, helping you to move on to the point where you can start thinking more in terms of application and proper technique, timing, etc.  The more you do your kata, the better it gets, if you are putting any effort whatsoever into the process.  Bring a thinking mind to it, and the progress will be obvious.  Repeatedly doing kihon (basics) helps build muscle strength, flexibility, body control, and the end result is that the movements become a natural reaction to certain stimuli, performed correctly when needed.  Boring to practice?  Sure, sometimes it seems that way.  But there is a definite point to it, which helps even the least philosophical person see a purpose (in these cases it also helps to think of it as "doing karate", which you enjoy, rather than "practicing", which most people think of as a chore).

Other kinds of repetition appeal only to sadists.  Okay, maybe that's a little extreme, but things like a faucet that drips all night, the 14th time in one day that you hear the latest hit song on the radio, being able to predict what your mother will say before the words leave her mouth ("that's not music, it's just noise!") -- these things are annoying.

Another thing I find annoying is beating a dead horse, or in other words, endlessly rehashing and arguing the same points, when there is nothing new to be gained.  I also dislike people using this blog's comments as a personal soapbox to attack someone else.  That is why I made the decision a few months ago to close certain threads.  See my post on September 29, 2006, if you want the details.  I stand by that decision; in fact, time has shown that it was quite wise.  I still get plenty of comments attempting to publish to these closed threads, and believe me when I tell you they bring nothing new to the table, and most of them are pretty belligerent (and many have been submitted multiple times, in the apparent belief that if they just spam me, then I will give up and publish them).  So yes, I continue to censor my personal blog.  I could defend myself by pointing out that I've blocked ALL comments, including those that I agree with.  However, that's really not the point.  The point here is not to "win" an argument or get your shot at someone, the point is that the time comes to close a discussion and move on.  Period.

The More Things Change...

Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose?  Well, not always.  Things don't always remain the same as they change.  As your situation in life changes, sometimes you need to make adjustments.

A friend of mine had her baby last summer, and says that her attitude toward karate has changed drastically since then.  She's been training for 20 years, and plans to continue, but she says it's no longer her highest priority -- nor should it be.  She trains now just for herself, not for the team, the region, her husband, her sensei, or any other reason.  This is not because any of those things have become less important in her eyes than they once were, but because her priorities have changed.  She has a husband, an infant, and a career, all of which she loves, all of which are important to her, and none of which she will neglect, even if it means scaling back on her karate for awhile.  She doesn't want to miss anything good, her life is so rich right now that there's not room for letting something take up all the thunder.  She won't let anyone guilt trip her into training if there's something else she deems more important.

There will be times in every karate-ka's life that are like that.  Karate is still hugely important to me, but I had a migraine yesterday and did not go to training, even though it was mostly gone by the evening.  My husband, who recently started a new job, stayed late at work to finish a project and didn't make it either.  In years past, we both probably would have gone.  Right now his job is #1, he needs to get settled firmly in his new position and wants to make a good impression, so he's going the extra mile a lot of the time.  Me?  As I've mentioned repeatedly (until you're all sick of it, I'm sure), I'm not taking any health risks at this time.  I was weak and woozy and still light- and sound-sensitive, and the last thing I wanted to hear were ki-ya's echoing around the room.  I stayed home and rested.

This is not to say that karate should not continue to be a priority for me, my husband, or our friend with her infant.  It should be, and it is, but at times, your life outside the dojo needs attention.  This is true for everyone out there, because you need balance in your life.  If you spend too much time at your job and neglect your family and your training for too long, you will lose out.  If you spend too much time concentrating solely on karate and neglecting your job or your other relationships, then some things which need attention won't get it.  If you wrap yourself up too much in one person or situation, you stop even seeing the other ones that exist.  The Masters would be the first ones to back me up on this; although they always emphasize the importance of regular training and making karate part of your life, they have repeatedly told us that you need to maintain balance.

So that's the theme of this post:  Don't think you can always just go on as though nothing has changed.  Sometimes things do change, for better or for worse, and you need to address those situations and find a new balance in your life.