Karate Talk

Adjust Your Activities To Your Physical Condition

Many physical conditions require you to adjust your martial arts:  Injury; illness; aging; and of course pregnancy.  In illness, you don't have much energy, endurance or strength.  Stay home and rest, and when you return to the dojo, take it easy until you get your strength.  When you are hurt, rest for awhile and let it heal, brace it and use a different technique (punch instead of kick), or for more permanent injuries, adapt your stance/technique/etc. to accommodate.  It doesn't have to be a limitation; it just means you have to figure out new ways to do things.  Aging can either mean going from your prime into older years, when joints and muscles stiffen up and lose strength, or it can mean going through puberty, as your body grows by leaps and bounds, and your center of gravity, strength, flexibility go through catastrophic changes.

At 5 months pregnant, pregnancy seems to me a combination of the above.  It is similar to injury in that there are techniques I cannot do, and I have to come up with creative ways around them.  It is similar to illness in that my energy level got nuked.  It is very similar to going through puberty in that my center of gravity is off, I've gained weight, and I sometimes have trouble controlling my extremities!  It is also similar to puberty in that hormones have wreaked havoc with my emotional and mental control, and it takes a great deal of effort at times to keep my "black belt face" on.

That's all quite general.  What about particulars?  When I first discovered I was pregnant, I looked up everything I could find on doing martial arts while pregnant.  This didn't take long, there isn't much out there.  What I did find was extremely general and did not discuss some of the specific things I was encountering.  So while I will reiterate that every woman and every pregnancy are different, I'll discuss a few things I've had to adjust for, as I go through this bizarre and wonderful process.

1)  Strength.  Your strength and endurance decrease dramatically.  I was expecting it during the last trimester, but was totally unprepared for the exhaustion of the first three months.  A normal person can pull up inner reserves and "push through" exhaustion.  This is not true for the pregnant woman.  Overexertion can and will harm you and the child.

The adjustment:  Monitor your energy level and respect it.  It doesn't mean you can't or shouldn't work out; in fact, keeping fit is great for you physically and mentally throughout pregnancy.  It will make carrying the child easier, and they say it makes birth and recovery easier.  But don't think you can still train at your "normal" level, and if you're not up for training, don't go.  Only do as much as you have the strength for, and get over feeling like a wuss about it. 

2)  Peak performance.  If you are having a complication-free pregnancy, there are very few restrictions on your activity.  One big change, however, is how hard you should push while you work out.  Don't shoot for your peak.  You do NOT want to "feel the burn"! 

The adjustment:  I was told to keep my heart rate in the "moderate" zone, no more than 140 bpm.  Also, you want to keep your body temperature down, as the growing child inside you can't adjust, and if you get too hot, then it can damage them.  So you don't work up a good sweat!  A guideline I was given is that if you normally train at an intensity level of 5 - 7 then knock it down to 3 - 5.  If you start feeling winded or hot, stop and check your pulse, and if need be, slow down.  Drink water before, during and after training.  During the first trimester this was very easy.  As I've felt better, it has sometimes been difficult.  My mind has to take over now and override the body's habits.

3)  Relaxin.  This is a pregnancy hormone whose job is to loosen up joints and muscles.  Many pregnant women I know think it's great.  Me?  I've been spaghetti-noodle limber my whole life, and I find it a bloody nuisance.  Thanks to relaxin, my joints now go way too far unless I am extremely careful.  My knees hyperextend just by stretching, I've dislocated my shoulder twice, and we won't even get into the things my back has been doing.

The adjustment:  Move carefully.  Ironically, relaxin has helped ensure that I don't push too hard, or get sloppy in technique, because when I do, I hyperextend or dislocate something.  So while I have roundly cursed relaxin, it's probably doing wonderful things for my karate!  Slow down, make sure that your line of movement is proper, and make darn sure that your stances are dead-on.  And enjoy the flexibility if it's new to you, it's not a permanent condition any more than pregnancy is!

4)  Adjust technique, part I:  Body changes.  Relaxin aside, pregnancy changes your body drastically.  Waist, chest, rear end and thighs will grow.  Depending on your original body shape, your adjustments might be minor at first, but as the pregnancy progresses you will certainly notice some differences.  I was relatively smallish to begin with, not too large anywhere, and I've had "issues".  Apologies in advance to anyone who embarrasses easily, but I must give a mention here to what happens to your chest when you get pregnant!  I grew a full bra size in two days.  That alone would be enough to screw up some karate techniques, but I must add that this is painful and that pain lasts for several weeks.  Compression, jiggling, or heaven forbid something whacking me were all torture.  Then there's the growing belly.  Not only is it bigger, but it really, really doesn't want anything pressing on it.  And you can't risk getting hit, by other people or by yourself.

The adjustment:  First of all, you need new underwear.  Sorry if that doesn't sound martial arts related, but it makes continued martial arts possible so it's very relevant.  A supportive jog bra is essential, as are loose, comfortable panties.  Then slow your punches down and be very careful, so nothing vibrates or gets knocked.  As my tummy started growing, my center of gravity shifted.  Transitions from one stance to another become more difficult because your balance is off; you have to be sure that you transfer your weight properly, that your knees are properly positioned over your toes, and you need to make darn sure that you are keeping your abs tight, or you'll lose your balance.  Kicks of course need major modifications!  Side and roundhouse kicks I can still do more or less normally, but my front kicks are a whole different story.  I cannot raise my knee to my chest; right now it's hitting about belly button and will go further south as time progresses.  My jodan kicks are now chudan.

5)  Adjust technique, part II:  Preventing miscarriage.  As I mentioned above, there are very few restrictions in a pregnancy that does not have complications.  However, certain types of movement can cause problems.  You want to avoid anything that risks falling, getting hit, or otherwise taking traumatic injuries.  You also need to avoid exercises that mimic the feeling of giving birth, of "pushing".

The adjustment:  In martial arts, this is a no-brainer:  no more sparring.  I still do sparring drills (one-step and combinations), I've just adjusted my distance so there's no chance of contact.  Outside of the dojo, I'm careful not to do squats or leg thrusts of any kind.  Regular karate stances are fine, just keep your abs nice and tight.  Regular karate techniques are also fine.  In fact, the only real dojo thing I've had to modify is the "butterfly stretch".  I'm starting to have to adjust some other stretches to accommodate the belly though, and find that my best bet is to arrive early and stretch carefully ahead of time, so I can more or less skip any stretches in class that my body can't handle right now.

Listen To Your Body

Anyone who does regular physical activity learns, to some extent, to communicate with their body.  The more you exercise, and the more serious you are about it, the better the communication.  In order to get past a certain skill level, you have to be aware of your body on a fine-tuned level, and the more you work out, the better care you need to take in order to avoid health problems.  People who are careless find themselves with permanent joint problems, out of training for weeks or months to heal injuries, or with life-threatening problems like dehydration.  So although I am currently talking about trying to keep physical while pregnant, this particular maxim should be applied by everyone.

In martial arts, listening to your body helps you to develop higher levels of fitness and skill.  You learn to realize when you're raising your shoulders up, when you're not in the proper stance, when you aren't controlling your techniques or aren't hitting your target area.  You learn that many techniques, if performed improperly, can cause injury.  Not keeping your knee over your toes when in a deep stance will lead to knee and ankle problems; letting your elbow fly out when you punch can lead to elbow and shoulder problems; bending your wrist when you punch can lead to a jammed wrist; etc.

I've had years of practice listening to my body's wants, needs and complaints, and I've had to pretty much throw it all out the window starting last September.  The only thing that has remained constant is the need to listen to my body, more important than ever now because all the rules have changed.

I want to emphasize that I am no doctor, and in no way does anything I say constitute medical advice.  The next thing I need to say is that compared to so many women I know or have heard of, I've had it easy, for which I am very grateful.  So, I'm only discussing my personal situation, but I do feel much of it applies to many pregnant women.  Here's what my body has had to say to me the past several months:

1)  I'm tired!  I've never been so tired in my entire life.  I slept 9 or 10 hours a night, and needed naps most afternoons.  I spent 3 months feeling dizzy and exhausted.  If I didn't get enough rest, I had serious meltdowns. 

In terms of karate, it meant I missed a lot of training because I was too tired to get off the couch, or knew I couldn't get through class if I did.  The one time I tried to rebel and "push through it", I ended up shaking and in tears, and it took me 2 days to recover.  Lesson learned. 

In terms of the non-pregnant martial artist?  Still true!  If you're too run down, there are times when you are better off resting than trying to push it.

2)  I don't want to eat that!  I did not spend the first 3 months of my pregnancy in the bathroom, and I can't begin to express my gratitude for that.  However, I did go "off" almost all food.  I ate bread, crackers, and baked potatoes, with water and ginger ale to wash it down.  Despite concerns for my nutritional needs, and those of the baby, I never tried to force myself to eat something I didn't want, and if I had, I would have gotten sick.  I did what I could with prenatal vitamins to make up the difference. 

In terms of karate, this meant more missed trainings and much weaker trainings, because I didn't have the fuel required to train at my accustomed level. 

In terms of the non-pregnant martial artist?  Many things might affect your eating habits, including illness, stress, or just plain busy scheduling.  Be aware that it can and will affect your strength and endurance, and give yourself a break until you're at full strength again.

3)  Like it or not, your hormones are affecting you.  I've always been a tomboy and never had much patience with women who use hormones as an excuse to weep, throw fits, or stay in bed whining.  I ignored the little suckers to the best of my ability, and never saw why other women couldn't do the same.  I now feel I owe an apology for every time I saw a pregnant woman dissolve into tears and thought to myself, "what an idiot!"  My emotional state was extremely shaky for several months, and some things were really hard to deal with and my inability to control my emotions made it that much worse. 

In karate terms? More missed training.  When I knew that I was too tired and shaky to have a good training, I didn't go, because emotionally, it was devastating.  The only thing worse than missing training and getting out of shape is training and really sucking, and spending the next two hours in tears wondering if you'll ever be able to do karate properly again.  Again, it only took once for me to learn this lesson. 

In terms of the non-pregnant martial artist?  There are many things in life that are beyond our control, hormonal or otherwise.  Outside stressors can do just as bad a number on your mental strength and confidence, and everyone has bad days sometimes.  Sometimes the outside influences are so strong that they will overwhelm your dedication to the martial arts.  Forgive yourself; life has a way of sometimes rearranging your priorities.

4)  Be patient.  Which was the most important lesson my body had to teach me.  I wanted to try to push through all of this, and you just can't do it.  Your body is pumping 50% more blood, and your internal organs are rearranging themselves to accommodate a growing baby.  This is physically exhausting, and it does no good to pretend otherwise. 

In karate terms, this meant stifling my infamous impatience level and hanging onto hope (sometimes by a thread!).  I had to keep my fingers crossed that what everyone told me was right, that things would get better during the second trimester.  And they have.

In terms of the non-pregnant martial artist?  Oh, how many times have I felt that I was on a plateau.  I trained and trained, for weeks or months on end, and felt no improvement.  I heard the same advice and corrections over and over again.  I got tired and frustrated.  For whatever the reasons, I always stuck it out, and comes a day when you have that amazing breakthrough, and your karate makes a "leap", and the feeling is indescribable.  When things seem hard, or seem to be going nowhere, have a little patience.  They can, and will, turn around.

Karate and the Pregnant Woman

Well, I guess the title of this post pretty much lets the cat out of the bag!  And explains a whole lot about what's been going on with me the past few months.  Yes, I'm expecting, and there's no question that being pregnant impacts your life on a staggering number of levels.

We wanted to keep it quiet until that perilous first trimester was over, and now that I'm halfway through the pregnancy I can reflect back and share some thoughts.  Not only am I more comfortable talking about it at this point, but my energy level has rebounded dramatically!  This will, obviously, cover several posts.  For this first one, I am going to keep it very simple, with a key list of DO'S and DON'TS that I have come up with over the past several months:

DO'S:

1)  Listen to your body

2)  Adjust your activities accordingly (in other words, don't be stupid)

3)  Listen to your doctor

4)  Remember that every woman and every pregnancy are different

DON'TS:

1)  Think you can keep doing everything as though nothing has changed

2)  Think you are Superwoman

3)  Listen to friends and family too much if they disagree with any of these things! (see #4 above, and then add to that the fact that the advice given to pregnant women has changed drastically through the decades)

I'll elaborate more on these things in my next few posts.  For now I will just say that I am doing quite well, that I am still training and plan to keep training for as long as possible, and that this whole thing is a giant learning experience in so many ways I can't describe. 

And don't worry, the blog isn't going to turn into some "daily pregnancy diary".  I will keep entries restricted to the pregnancy/karate interaction and how it's affecting me.  However, I have found that many of the things I've learned (or re-learned) were totally relevant to life in general, just sometimes that much more so to life when you're expecting.

Action vs. Intent

No, I'm not dead.  I've just been very very busy and very very tired.

I've learned something about myself.  When I'm very busy and very tired, I don't train as much.  When I don't train much, I don't write karate blog posts.  Not because I don't still have tons of opionionated opinions or comments or musings.  I think it's more that when I feel like I've been a slacker, I don't feel I have the right to criticize anyone else, directly or indirectly.

I'm starting to pull out of it, I made it to every training last week for the first time in a month.  The husband and I had a long chat today about various things, past and present, that haven't always thrilled us.  This can include instructors, fellow students, camps, testing, tournaments, etc.  After all, just because I'm enthusiastic about my dojo, my region, my organization, and my chosen martial art, it doesn't mean I wear blinders or that I love every person involved or everything that transpires.  That would be sort of unrealistic, yes?  It's important to talk our way through the things we don't like, so we can come to  resolution about them. 

So what did we discuss, and how critical were we?  Quite a few things, and pretty darn critical  =).  We discussed our dissatisfaction with a couple of people who we feel tend to rest on their laurels rather than still working hard.  We discussed someone who we like a great deal personally, but seems in our observation to play favorites, which disappoints us.  We discussed the results of a dan test a few years back, where we both felt that some serious inequities were handed down in terms of who passed and who didn't.  We discussed the pitfalls of subjective judging in a tournament situation, and whether or not the perceived bias toward past champions really exists.

Do we really have the right to question all these matters?  Of course we do!  We are active, thinking participants in our karate-do.  We question things we don't agree with, but we try to do it in the spirit of, "we don't understand that particular decision/action/etc."  We don't approach it from bitterness, saying "they were wrong, they're on crack, they're not fair".  Sometimes we do feel some bitterness, but that just means that we come back to that subject another day, and keep trying to process it out.

Although I'm working hard and learning more every day, I don't always understand the testing process for the higher ranks.  I have about a 75% - 80% success rate when I try to determine who will pass and who will not.  I don't always understand the criteria that some of my fellow judges use during tournaments, when someone's kata will seem clearly superior to me, yet one or more judges votes for their opponent.  I don't appreciate seeing talented people not given credit for their achievements.  I don't enjoy training with instructors that I feel are more combative than supportive, although I know there are as many different effective instructional styles as there are humans in karate.  I don't understand why some people insist on carrying their bad day into the dojo and taking it out on everyone, or pouting their way through a class where they are uncooperative and surly.  I don't understand parents who force their kids to keep doing something the kids clearly have no interest in whatsoever, and I don't understand parents who pull enthusiastic kids out of karate because "I wanted her to learn pure self-defense".  Yes, these are a few of our topics of choice this day!

We talked about our own failings as well, things we need to work on, areas we feel we fall short, reasons why we've missed a lot of training and whether or not they were justified, and how we feel it impacts our training and our dojo.  It's going to remain crazy busy around here for another month or so before things settle out, and unfortunately that might mean more missed classes and more lost opportunities.

But I plan to train tonight, and as long as I train regularly, you'll probably see me posting up here about things I like, don't like, or are just on my mind!

Jet Li's Fearless

The discussion topic for the week is obviously philosophy!  I've talked about Master Okazaki's new book, and have been posting up his thoughts on the dojo kun.  I wanted to keep those posts separate and discrete, so I made this one its own being even though I feel it fits so nicely in with all the rest!

We went to see the movie "Jet Li's Fearless" yesterday, and I have to say I loved it.  Not just for the fun fighting scenes, which are always reliable in a Jet Li movie, but also for the philosophy that the movie tries to impart.  Just as the movie "Hero" tried to point out that there are many different perspectives of looking at a situation, and many different reasons for fighting, and also emphasized that you have to weigh the decision to enter into combat carefully, even so does "Fearless" attempt to impart this deeper perspective.  "Fearless" tells the (more or less) true story of Huo Yuanjia, a Chinese hero whose fighting skills helped to restore the pride of the nation at a time when they were being beaten down.  It's also the story of one man's personal journey from youth through arrogance and irresponsibility, through personal tragedy and into maturity.

Not everyone will like the movie, obviously.  One part I particularly loved did nothing for a friend of mine, who said "it got really slow in the middle"!  He wanted the fight scenes and found the personal growth section dull, I loved it all.  But that's just me.

I find it interesting that this is Jet Li's last martial arts action film.  Rumor has it he's been trying to move beyond them for several years now, and he has declared that this is it.  This movie was filmed when he was 42, about a Chinese fighting master who died at age 42.  He's at a point in his career when he's moving beyond pure fighting and trying hard to express deeper or greater meaning beyond the combat itself, just as Huo Yuanjia in his maturity had learned that the glory of the fight was not what it was all about.  The parallels are unmistakable and I'm quite sure that Jet Li himself was well aware of them throughout the journey of making the movie.  Since I got so much more than just fun fight scenes from the movie (the scene taking tea with the Japanese swordsman was absolutely wonderful), I hope that others can as well.

Sort of the same way I feel about the deeper aspects of karate  :-).

Dojo Kun Philosophy, Part III

ENDEAVOR

Hitotsu!  Doryoku no seishin o yashinau koto

Try hard at everything you do.  No matter what you are doing, whether it's training, working, having a relationship, give it one hundred percent.  To do anything else is to cheat yourself and others.  If you don't endeavor, you are not being faithful, and you are not trying to seek perfection of character.

Dojo Kun Philosophy, Part II

BE FAITHFUL

Hitotsu!  Makoto no michi o mamoru koto

Be sincere in everything you do.  Make a total effort, all the time.  This not only means to be faithful to other people, to your obligations -- but to be faithful to yourself, in doing your best in everything you do.  When you are faithful to yourself, others will have faith in you.  This creates mutual trust between people.  Being faithful to yourself is essential to realizing the first goal of being the best person you can be.

Dojo Kun Philosophy, Part I

A couple of years ago, we were given a copy of the dojo kun which included some of Master Okazaki's thoughts.  In keeping with his book coming out, I thought I'd post up one per day for the next few days.  Hopefully this will give people something to think about, plus be a bit of a preview for the book itself.  For those who train in very different styles or schools to mine, it will probably give you some insight into some of my feelings and how I approach training.  They might also find, to their surprise, that they include more philosophy in their approach than they realize!

SEEK PERFECTION OF CHARACTER

Hitotsu!  Jinkaku kansei ni tsutomuru koto

This is the ultimate goal of karate.  The other four aspects of the dojo kun tell us what it means to seek perfection of character.  But this is the most important thing.  We seek perfection of character from the inside out.  It is something we should do every day of our lives.

New Book By Master Okazaki

Master Okazaki has written a new book which is due out for release at the end of October, to be entitled:  "Perfection of Character - Guiding Principles for the Martial Arts & Everyday Life".  It is described as a book about the dojo kun and the niju kun, as interpreted by Master Okazaki.

I'm really looking forward to reading this, and our dojo is planning to pre-order a number of copies because so many people have expressed interest.  Anyone who reads this blog will know that I spend a lot of time pondering the ramifications of karate training far above and beyond the physical, beyond the obvious practical real-world applications.  When I've had the privilege of training with Master Okazaki, I've always appreciated hearing his insights into some of the personal struggles and the greater meanings of martial arts, so I anticipate really enjoying hearing him expound on this at length, based on his 50+ years in karate.

A quote from the book:

"Karate practitioners and other martial artists must know that the martial arts are about more than physical development, self-defense, and competition; most importantly, they are about continually striving to perfect one's character."

My character, so flawed!  In so many ways, in dojo or out of it.  Lately I've been tired and grumpy, I've had the cold from hell which is taking me ages to shake off, my best friend's dad died and everything that surrounds such an event was as always so stressful, I've been trying to find the energy to tidy things up and get my act together but keep crashing and burning, leaving much undone and making me even grumpier.  I haven't wanted to train because I'm tired, dammit, I can barely make it through class and I ache for a couple of days afterwards, because I'm still weak.  I've gone anyway, but I've had a few rebellious thoughts during training ("I don't WANT to do five more of those and this IS full speed for me right now!") and definitely been whiny afterwards.  I'd like to think I've still managed to give my all and kept a game face on, but it's cost me dearly. 

Is it worth it?  Why not just stay home if I'm tired and sick?  Why push myself past what I can do?  Why let people order me around?  Why let someone tell me I'm doing something wrong when I know (oh yes, I know!) that I'm right?

Character, and the perfection thereof.  Does karate help build character?  Oh hell yes, if you let it.  I have left the dojo in tears, exhausted, furious, frustrated, discouraged.  I've been rebellious, I've been hurt physically and mentally, I've felt humiliated and I've definitely felt impatient.  I have felt fear many times, fear that I'd get hurt, fear that I'd make an ass of myself.  I've had people outside martial arts ask why I put myself through that for a hobby, and my answer is that this is not just a hobby.  It is karate-do, a path through life that is hopefully making me a stronger and better person, starting with the physical and using the physical as the means of accessing greater and deeper places within me. 

Is it working?  Sometimes I don't think do, when I pout all the way home from a training, or a tournament, or a test, feeling victimized and frustrated, and realizing that I'm acting like a 5-year-old who needs a nap (which doesn't help the situation).  But I keep going back, not because I'm masochistic, but because at the bottom of my anger or embarrassment there is a chance to do something better, something to work on from which I can get a real result if I really try.

Closed Comments and Cross-Links

This is a quick editorial issue, so bear with me.  I promise to talk about karate again soon  =).

I have closed a few posts from accepting further comments.  I have done so because basically I feel that the discussions have been done to death.  Many things in this blog are opinion as much as they are experience or knowledge.  Although I try to respect other people's opinions and give them their 15 minutes, after a point there's nothing more to be gained.  When nothing new comes up but people keep posting anyway, I get bored, so I'll 'fess up and admit I'm just plain tired of reading about certain topics, so I closed them.  Nothing personal, but... move on!

Along the same lines, I have now (hopefully temporarily) set the comments to be held for moderation before publishing -- in other words, yes, I'm screening.  I did this because of some comments that were sneaking through:  spam still getting past the filters, some that were obviously designed to set up arguments just for the sake of getting people riled up (rather than rational debate and exchange of ideas), and some that were blatant advertisements for someone else's blog (related or otherwise) masquerading as a legit comment. 

Which brings me to the final issue.  I don't do link exchanges, and I hope that people will be understanding of that.  I do have links to some other sites, but it's always for purely personal reasons.  I didn't do it because they requested it, and I don't request them to back-link to me.  I started the policy initially because I used to work in internet marketing and it felt too much like carrying work over into my hobbies (and by the end of the day I was more than ready to leave work at the office), and continued it because I get so many requests.  So, my apologies to worthy blogs or websites that I've shunned, it's truly nothing personal it's just a policy.  Believe it or not I do visit your sites, and if I find myself going back and like what I see, odds are you'll turn up on my links list sooner or later.

Okay, that's it, boring I know.  I just returned from several days dealing with the funeral of my best friend's father and am exhausted and grumpy so I'll just wish everyone well and leave it at that, talk to you all soon on karate-related issues that happen to interest me at this point in time! lol