Now I lay me down to sleep....

Anne's Karate Prayer


Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray Gishin Funakoshi my soul to keep. If I fight before I wake I pray I get a gold to take!


November 13th 2010. I took home my first tournament winnings with a first place in kata, and a third place in sparring.  I am truly exhilarated and ecstatic!  It seems as though all this hard work is paying off, however instead of becoming bored, I am more keen than ever to continue my pursuit of this goal. I can't imagine my life without karate now, it seems to be intrinsically tied to who I am, the choices I make,  and how I view the world around me. It's strange, that after 20 something years of playing and preforming music I can still barely make it on stage without being a total nervous wreck. Karate is not like that for me. I am at home in a crowded, noisy gym with spectators all around me. I feel calm in a sea of chaos, apart from it somehow. I don't hear anything, or see anything really, except for the next move and the next.

Now its time for my belt test. I don't feel quite ready for it yet, give me a few weeks and I will be there.

 
Time for this girl to rest her weary bones so she can train hard tomorrow. Training 4 days a week with a yoga supplement 2 days. I am loving it!

"Falling" into the season.

Spinning roundhouse kick. Second attempt. Somewhere in the middle, both feet lose the floor and my face finds it. The extremely loud slap/thud my body made when it connected to the mat was enough to silence the entire Dojo. The only noise that I could hear was a shocked inhalation of  breath one of my dojo mates made as she contemplated the seriousness of my injuries.  Seconds later as I uttered a breathless "I'm ok" and wiped the puddle labled "Annes pride" off the floor,  business continued on as usual in the Cheney dojo. I think people are getting used to the fact that I fall a lot.  I like to think to myself  that I fall a lot due to the idea that I am not afraid to take risks and thus occasionally lose my balance while attempting things that might be a little above my skill level. The truth: I am a klutz. Its genetic. I come from a long line of people who fall up (and down) stairs, trip over the lines of longitude and latitude, cut, burn, and generally hurt themselves. Did I ever mention that in grade three I managed to impale my foot with a toothpick? Right through my shoe into my foot. Now that takes talent!

On to sparring. After five weeks of respiratory problems, sparring is not easy.  I am still up for taking a few risks though. My combo: Jab, reverse punch, spinning roundhouse (did you think I was going to give up??), hook kick, and reverse roundhouse. Steps one, two and three went off without a hitch. Four took me off the mats onto my rear end. Yay me!! Hurray for the second fall of the night!  My sensei  did comment that he was impressed that I pulled off the combo as far as I did . My hook was actually in the vicinity of my opponents face.  So not so bad. 

Epic fail of the night, though, was when I punched the poor half yellow in the face. Not cool. Not cool at all. The worst part was that I could see  that I was going to connect a millisecond to late and by then there was nothing I could do. I was mortified! I felt so bad. After the hit, she looked so mad. Which made me want to let her win.... almost....

I have approximately 3 weeks until my first tournament.  Team kata, sparring, and regular kata.  Time to focus.

And So, a new season begins.

Coughing and hacking. What a great way to start a season.

All lung infections aside, I can't believe a year has passed. I can remember the pain of my very first training session as if it happened yesterday. We all know that in the world of martial arts, there is always some pain. I welcome it now.  Not only do I know when I am not getting enough protein in my diet, I know that I will hurt when I push myself beyond my perceived limitations.  That is the good sort of pain. It's a measure of whether we are striving to work beyond what we think we can or can't do, which is why I look forward to falling on my rear end a couple of times as I learn how to do flying kicks.  Some bruises in exchange for the day when I do my first flying side kick beautifully!

My best bud in the athletic world and in life, G. Dan (the man) has very nicely agreed to create a circuit workout for me. I am eagerly awaiting it!! There is no doubt that I will be puking, falling down on my face in exhaustion, and barely walking (moving??) , and yet I am looking forward to doing it on my off days.

I must be a glutton for physical punishment.

BUT

there will be a day (SOMEDAY), where my body will reflect the hard work I have been putting into it!

Where o Where has the time gone???!!!??!

Delinquency thy name is Anne. 

I realize it has been a few months since I posted on my blog. Once you get busy, the grains of time seem to slip unnoticed through the hourglass, passing without so much as a single sound but swiftly, oh so swiftly. 

May and June literally cascaded into each other as they do when all hell breaks loose in the last two months of the school year. I trained very hard during that time focusing solely on the the tournament at the end of may, and also on my upcoming belt test. The tournament was a learning experience. I don't particularly like sports where there is judging involved, and this proved to be the case in the tournament.  I managed to get one grumpy judge.... the rest is history. I also learned that rules can be bent ... no hitting in the face, turned out to be alright as I managed to take a few in the kisser... ok quite a few in the face, yet nothing was called.  Chalk it up to learning experience. I did realize something about myself, an important something.  I learned that I could be calm, and composed, and not nervous. (I know those words do not usually fit in my vocabulary of  words of description when it comes to me).  I managed to do this for myself!  The pride and the confidence within myself came with it. In the end, it really didn't matter that I did not place because I won something better than a medal. It was the knowledge that you can really do anything when you put your mind to it. 

July 9th, 2010. I finally got my yellow belt. I should have been tested in may, however when your cosmos become filled with the end of the school year data, IPPS, testing, meeting with consultants and field trips, I truly forgot about it !!!  My test went by wonderfully. Lots of things I did well, some things I need to work on, like breathing with the movement (not after it! ). Side kicks with my left leg need better retraction, and my stances are too wide!  My self defense went really well, culminating in the perfect reap take down of my sensei. Needless to say I was very happy!!

Now to focus on orange! 

Summer highlights

- being told by a black belt that I have awesome timing for sparring!

- getting kicked so hard in the face that I saw stars and ended up sitting on my bottom!

- learning Hiean Nidan by myself without help and being complimented on how its coming along last class

- learning that I have asthma and realizing how different my world is when I can actually breathe! INHALERS FOR THE WIN!!!

September goals!

1.) back to 4 days a week training

2.) working on Heian Nidan together with my partner-in-crime Chris, so we can do team kata in tournaments together. 

3. ) Do as many tournaments as possible!

  

Oh, the joyful return: Sunday Afternoon and Monday Night adventures!

Monday
 After Six weeks of physio-therapy, Numerous repetitions of R(est) I(ce) C(ompression) E(levation), copious amounts of Ibuprofen (which I now dub as "Vitamin I"),  and precious skin lost as a result of taping,  I  was finally able to make it through the entire class without having to rest my ankle!!! Huston, we have progress! Monday left me ecstatic! I felt so confident through the warm up and the forms, things really came together for me! My hand that sometimes drifts off my belt during upper blocks felt glued to it, and every single technique felt clean, crisp and powerful. I had a very hard time not smiling, I was supposed to have my mean face on, but I think my eyes were crinkled up at the corners. Even my Kata was smooth, despite the fact that every time I do it to the sensei's count I turn the wrong way on the third move. Boy is that annoying. I have no clue as to why I do that, and its only when my sensei tells me the move. By myself, however, it never happens. I just don't understand, but I think its one of those things. Of course with Kata there are always things to improve on.  I was nailed for looking down a couple times and needing to make my stance a little longer. Or was it wider??  During "target" practice, (ie. working with a partner and pads) I lost the magic. Granted it was the first time in six weeks that I had worked on them, it was a bit harrowing (probably more funny from another persons perspective) to watch me do spin kicks. Everything went wrong with them! If  I wasn't spinning fast enough, I was kicking to high, or low, or taking extra steps!! All I could do was laugh at myself and think, "THANK GOD THIS IS NOT ON MY BELT TEST!" I felt bad for my poor partner.  I know she doesn't like to get hit, and there were times where I am sure she thought that my out-of-control flying feet were headed right for her face.

Sunday


I think Sunday afternoon workouts are the best. There are no formal classes and no bowing in. You are in control of your own destiny on Sundays and I love it.  I usually have a set schedule that I adhere to: warm up, core work, stretches, technique, Kata, fighting maneuvers, and finally self defense (if I have a partner). It will usually take me a wholesome 2 hours to get through it all especially if I concentrate on doing everything as best as I can.  I was lucky enough on the previous Sunday to have our Master Sensei run me through all my belt test requirements (Yes folks, I am going to be tested in a week or two!!!). This Sunday, I was told I would be sparring with my Sensei.  I, for one, can not believe how fast you lose your aerobic conditioning.  After one  1.5 min sparring session I was sucking back wind pretty hard. After two... I was down with my head between my knees gasping for air.  I. was. so. winded ! My Sensei always tells me to try and control my breathing.  BREATH IN TWICE THROUGH THE NOSE- HOLD -EXHALE THROUGH THE MOUTH.  The sad and yet still funny part of that was the fact that I was completely unable to even get two breaths in through the nose and hold. It literally felt like I was going to choke on the inhale. It was pretty brutal!! In terms of aerobic conditioning, I am back right where I started. In the world of Karate, there is definitely no rest for the wicked and the righteous have absolutely no time. Lucky for me I have 7 years to work on that.... 

Two Sunday afternoon highlights: The first, after being extremely warm and loose I was able for the first time to go down into lateral splits, as well as front splits!!! I have never in my life been able to go down into lateral splits and I was only able to go down into front splits when I was in my pre-teen years.  I am so excited to be regaining my old flexibility and then some!! Now, if only I could catch that ever elusive pull up!!
The second highlight of the day was when my Sensei's daughter came to practice with us. Incidentally, she attends the elementary school I work at, so we know each other.  She is 8 years old and already is a very skilled karate-ka.  Last tournament she took first overall in her division for sparring and second for kata.  I had a great time letting her make combos on me, I was too afraid that I would bowl her over if I put any force  behind my combos (even then I kept getting winded- Sheesh!). When we were done for the day, and in the change room changing, she asked me a question that still makes me giggle when I think about it. Very boldly, she questioned me as to whether or not someone made me go to karate or if I wanted to go on my own. I found it hilarious that she didn't see me as an adult at all but rather just another student taking karate, and possibly forced to take karate.  I told her  with a huge smile that no one makes me take karate, and that when you love to do something, you want to do it all the time!

Things to note for the future:
Belt test upcoming in the next two weeks
First tournament May Long weekend. If I place first in either kata or sparring I will have a chance to be invited to the world championships in Las Vegas. How cool is that?? I am definitely going to try for kata and give it my all for sparring.

Test of Patience and Revelations

Life is full of sequels, a long line of actions and consequences, failures and successes, and sometimes, just sometimes repeating your mistakes over and over. I just finnished reading one of my good friends blogs this morning it made me think about how often I can immediately jump to the worst conclusion possible, over dramatize it, and blow it out of immense porportions.  Because I know the way I react, I am learning that sometimes its best to simply wait and find out the entire story. Hard to do with someone who does not have much patience. Even though I know this about myself, it is still impossible for me not to instantly think the absloute worst. I would say 95% of the time the situation is about half as bad as I think it is. So the question I pose is how does one change a line of thinking that has been a part of them for a long time? Can we fundamentally change our thought patterns and behaviors to be of a more peaceful and serene nature (sometimes I think that it would take living in a Bhuddist monastary for me to be entirely peaceful).  This has been an on going question for me as I have struggled with it my entire life. Emotions run deep and powerful within me, they bring me to wonderful highs and dreadful lows, yet there seems to be no balance, no middle ground. Lately I have been looking at my left wrist alot to remind myself that I need only to breathe. Has it been working lately? Well, truthfully its been a mixed success. I still tend to experience intense emotional reactions, but the length of time it takes to steady  myself and look beyond the emotion, has decreased. I doubt that I will ever be to completely detach myself emotionally from any situation but I  have a good feeling that while I may feel very deeply I will someday be able to focus beyond the storm and know that it will be ok.

I am sure that you are wondering how any of this has to do with karate . I could probably draw a million connections to it , but it is only the truths that I see for myself. Thats the wonderful thing about human beings each one of us experiences the world around us in a very unique way. Each different trial,tribulation, joy and wonderment will  bring a separate truth to the table, and that truth will be no ones but your own.

That said,
I promise to see beyond the fact that I am not able to give it my all right now, I will do what I can now so I am able to give my all later.
I will see beyond the postponement of my belt test, and take it as extra time to learn and prefect skills, afterall whats an extra month or two in the face of seven years. Never again will I place a date as a goal for a belt advancement, too many unaccountable things can happen in the meantime that will lead to failure of cet goal. What the heck people! Its about the journey anyways right ?  
I will not give up if my emotions overwhelm me, I will choose to experience them and then work to see beyond them .
Regards,
Anne

A True Test of patience

*Rant on*

For all my words of wisdom, I am having difficulty putting them to the test. This sprain blows.  I can not believe how much effort I am having to have to put into not overdoing it, to sit out of the things I love to do, to become a bystander instead of a participant. It goes against my nature to only do things half assed, and thats the way I felt this week. No sparring, minimal pad work, burpees absolutley out of the question.

*Rant off*

Sensei Brian picked up on my frustrations wednesday night, what an astute man. He actually suggested that it might be better for me to "do something else" while my ankle healed so I would not be tempted to push beyond my capabilities. In some ways I think he's right, but I am afraid that if I don't get back on my karate horse I am going to lose confidence in myself .  I need to be careful, but I must get back to work. It's important to me that I find that balance, to heal while continuing on. I will not let a sprain undermine my confidence in my ability to learn and continue to learn this amazing sport.

In reflection, I should really be grateful that my physio theraptist  allowed me to go back to training this week. Insead of seeing the negatives of the "can'ts" I should spend my energy on focusing on what I can do.  The power of positive thinking is real, and I believe in it. I am human, however, and sometimes it takes sorting out the frustrations to find the good in the situation.

I am sure that this upcoming week will be better for me.
Regards,
Anne

Pull up bars, crunches, and Battlestar Galactica

It is Saturday night and I apparently have nothing better to do than blog. Actually, its Saturday night and I am taking time out of my busy life and writing in my blog. (whoooo perspective change!!) I have Halloween II going on in the background with my husband continuing to comment on what a lame movie it is. Amist the random screams and constant stream of swear words I sit here chewing my lip thoughtfully, trying to go from my normal ping pong thinking to something more linear.

After two weeks of physio therapy, and keeping off the ankle, I finally got the go ahead to start training again. Tomorrow I will be going it to the dojo to work on testing the waters and seeing where my boundaries will be. I intend to take it slowly and not be a "hero".  I am pretty excited  though and I am eager to get back to training for my belt test.

I was able to watch my first tournament today. I went along to watch my Dojo mates kick a little ass and take names while they did it. I realised today, the amazing caliber of training we get at our dojo. I think almost everyone took a medal home whether it be in kata, sparring or weapons. Some may consider us a little traditionalist, and militaristic, but after what I saw today, I think that those values serve and served us well in the field of competition. Good Job Cheneys!!

So, what have I been doing with myself for the last two weeks with my gimped ankle? Aside from electro-shock therapy (which by the way, I found a little funny due to the fact that I am extremely ticklish on my feet and each zap was like someone grabbing my foot and tickling it) and hot and cold water treatments with the physio therapist, my life was spent at home going stir crazy. I was unable to work the entire last week before spring break so its been sort of a forced extended vacation for me and limited mobility truly sucks! You really dont realise how much you take your body for granted untill something goes wrong! I was able to do alot of core work, situps, crunches and pilates while watching the first two seasons of battle star galactica (god do I love that show!! My favorite characters are Starbuck and Helo). When a friend of mine suggested a pull up bar, I managed to cajole Mark into getting one for me to work out on.  I found out very quickly that doing huge amounts of pushups does not equal the amount of strength needed to do a pull up. I could barely do one. My husband snickered several times watching me struggle, however that did not really deter me from wanting  to make a goal  to get up to one full pull up with out cheating.  Right now I am working on doing Australian pull ups and standing rows, that should work me up eventually. One vital lesson in this journey of self discovery through karate, is that it is really all about paitence.  You can't rush into things and expect them to happen right away, but rather takes time and dedication to acheive your goal. That said, a little fearlessness never hurt either. Sometimes I think life is really about a series of goals, and your success or failure to achieve them .

With that thought, I bid you good night and go to bed.
Regards,
Anne

Craziness, Kickboxing and Caput Ankles

The course of being an adult has tested me greatly this week. I will not go into much detail due to the fact that it involves personal trials and tribulations of others close to me, and to discuss them on a public forum goes against my moral code. In my own perspective, however, the whole situation has left me bewildered, unsure, scared, which has resulted in feelings of anger. Granted the anger is a by-product of the cumulation of the other pretty strong feelings I have been experiencing and is most likely misplaced, it nevertheless took a hold of me tonight and all I wanted to do was really hurt a punching bag. Going to train tonight was ideal when I found out we were going to work on some kick boxing. Punching and punching HARD was in the schedule!!
I need to make a little side note here: I train in Zen Karate. Zen Karate was founded in Canada actually, by a cool guy called Sensei Olaf Simon. Some might recall him in some commercials in the past. Zen Karate is comprimised of three types of martial art styles; Taekwon do, Shotokan Karate and Kickboxing.

Ok, where was I? Right. Kickboxing. I was the lowest belt tonight. The next lowest, a blue belt which is 4 belts higher than me. It was all good of course, did I mention I was going to get to punch REALLY HARD?? The warm up went well. I am pretty happy that I can get through *most* of them and still be able to breathe afterwards. It means I am slowly getting into better shape which is of course totally awesome. Once the drills started, I finally found myself relaxing a little. Breathe in. Focus on the mitts. Jab, cross, hook, exhale with each hit. The rhythm that you get into is wonderful. Soon, the hum drum of the other students hitting the mitts slowly fades into the background and all there is, is you, your gloves and that little red dot that you zone in on while making your hits. Even your thoughts, emotions and , for me, the whole weeks worth of cares slowly slip away, leaving you empty inside with the exception of: Jab. Cross. Hook. It’s a most amazing experience. We then started the kicking drills... switch front, then back leg front. I am terrible with switch kicks. They feel very awkward. I have no rhythm with them. I think I started to try too hard and then found myself tensing up. The next thing I know I hear this “pop” and I am suddenly on my butt on the floor and my ankle is screaming. Did I mention I already wear a brace on my left ankle? I am beginning to wonder if I am going to have to start wearing one on my right as well. I ended up having to leave halfway through the training session. Not fun hobbling out to my car. Even less fun driving home... I had to use my left foot to brake. By the time I got home the darn thing (I believe I was using much more colourful metaphors when I tried to go up the stairs to the deck) was swollen up like a tennis ball.

My hubby, the wonderful man that he is, had ice, tensor bandages, pop and nacho’s waiting for me when I came hobbling in. I am going to feel guilty later for gorging on cheese, greasy hamburger and sour cream, but hell I might as well enjoy something about tonight. Now I sit nourished, with half a bottle of wine demolished writing my weekly blog post. I may or may not finish the bottle. Tomorrow night, sushi and sake. I will hopefully be able to train a little on Sunday but I am not holding my breath.

If all else fails, sit ups and kata visualisation .

Regards,

Anne.

To Breathe

"Our breath plays a very important role in our life. The breath is the connecting link between the inner world of the mind and the outer world of the body and environment."- Sri Sri Ravi Shankar



Wednesdays karate class definitely made wonder about how much of my life I spend holding my breath.

It all started with a brutal warmup. Nothing really made it stand out from all the other warmups I have been doing, in fact, most of the excersizes we did were standard for our class. Upon thinking it over I decided two things that impacted my warmup. First, the workout was done at a higher rate of speed, and secondly I simply forgot to breathe.  Not so good when you are doing 50 jumping jacks, 20 push ups, 20 situps, and deep knee bends, and core excersizes...X2. By the time we hit the stretches I felt like my lungs were instantaneously being wrung out like a wet dishrag and about to explode into a million pieces within my chest cavity. It took at least five stretches for me to be able to slow down my air intake, to a point were I wasn't literally gulping oxygen. Imagine a fish without water.

Ok Anne, breathe.

Immediately after the warmup, we hustled over to the other side of the dojo to do our kata.  I 've been feeling pretty confident about my kata, I am even to the point where I can do it with my eyes closed and finnish in the right direction.  Well, maybe I was a little overconfident as my sensei sure had a lot of things to say about it. My knifehands were off, my opposite hand was coming off my belt when I was doing my upper blocks, I even turned in the wrong direction (drat, DRAT, DRAT!!!). Crestfallen would be a nice way to describe what I was feeling. However, devastated, and near tears would sum it up more accurately. I have been working so damn hard on that thing, and to faceplant as badly as I did... well let's just sum it up as another EPIC FAIL! I must be growing as a person because normally that would produce tears for me. Someone once told me that more people cry out of extreme frustration than out of sadness. I have to agree somewhat.  It used be that a random thought would trigger my over active imagination and thus cause tears. Trust me, I used to be the victim of my own catastrophic imagination.  Not so much anymore though. In fact these days I only cry out of frustration... and sad movies, oh and sad music, and tragic poetry, and unfair things that happen to people...

Holy hell, did I ever go on a tangent, trust me I have a point.

OK Anne breathe.

This time it was a matter of breathing to calm myself down, to take the time to remind myself that there will be other times to do it correctly and other times to make a huge mess of it. Perfection is merely a perception, not a reality.

Breathe.

I seemed to find my redemption in sparring. Sparring for some reason, is not something I look forward to doing.  Once I am all geared up on the floor actually doing it, however, its another story completely. I love moving all the time, trying to figure out my opponent, and then testing the waters with my own measures and counter-measures. I am, however, still in the proccess of learning how to fight without every single muscle in my body tensed and expelling huge amounts of very much needed energy . Fighting is apparently all about being relaxed, I suppose in the next seven years I will eventually learn how to do it. I have been told previously by one of my sensei's that I have to simply breathe while fighting. Sparring continuously for two and a half minutes with 30 seconds to a minute rests between them, still take a big toll on my body.  Usually by the end of the second round I am doubled over frantically trying to inhale twice, hold, then exhale. I am so out of shape. This time was very much like the others. Doubled over, gasping for breath. The difference, my sensei noticed my fighting and complimented me in front of the class.  After class I got quite a few compliments, one of my good karate friends told me that I would be the person to have with you in a bar fight, and another one told me that they would love to see me when I have a few belts, uh, under my belt :P  I left class euphoric, elated, and doing the happy dance to my car in a way that is uniquely Anne.

In the end, its all about breathing. It is  not only a  physical means to intake oxygen, but also a way to calm and give perspective. Remember that when life is troubling. Breathe.  Don't hold it bottled up inside your body and soul, simply breathe.

"kokyuu suru"-Breathe.

Self Defence and the giggles

I spent 3 hours this week working on self defence alone. Trust me, I needed it. I struggle with self defence, it does not come all that easily to me, and due to my handicap (of needing to write down each step before I "know" it ) it often feels like I am expelling a whole lot of effort to simply stand there with a confused look on my face while my sensei patiently explains each step over and over again . My sensei is very serious about teaching self defence, he wants us to be able to not only recognize bad situations but also have enough knowledge to a.) fight back, or b.) get the hell out of there.  Sadly enough, whenever I screwed up on my techniques, my quirky sense of humor kicked in and I found myself wondering if anyone has tried to "get the hell out of there" on a belt test!?  Of course my imagination kicked in and I pictured myself on my belt test making a frantic dash for the door leaving my uki stunned on the mats. Of course Anne, in her usual fashion, got the giggles.  Have you ever tried remembering each step of a technique while trying to quell laughter, and keeping a straight face?? EPIC FAIL...

Self defence at home: Friday night, I took Mark up on his offer to help me. Yes, he's promised to help me anytime I ask for it. Was he on drugs when he offered?? I do not know.  I explained that two of my self defence moves involved a "take down" (put your opponent on the floor), and he looked a little uneasy. He made a quick gesture to the bed (we were upstairs in the bedroom to work on the carpet )and asked quickly if we should maybe pull the mattress pad on the floor to work on that instead of the carpet. Where is the trust ??? His face alone made me want to laugh all over again.  Before each of the moves I told him exactly what I was going to do. I reminded him that if the holds started to hurt he was to tap his legs or call out "mate".  He gave me a look, ( the eye rolling sort) and said, "how about I just say stop??" Stop works too apparently.  When we were done, I think Mark looked at me with different eyes. He saw me as someone who will someday, be able to protect herself with deadly force if needed. I hope that day never ever comes, if it ever did, I will a.) be able to fight back or b.) run like hell!

New goals:
One of the things I have  been discussing with Dan is aerobic and anaerobic conditioning. I desparately want to start doing more of that on my off time  when I am not at the Dojo. I came up with a workout plan that I will hope will be a good start to a great training program for me. I am starting small but I plan to increase it once my fitness gets better.

Monday: 6:30-7:30 pm
Karate (kata, technique night)

Tuesday: 4:30-5:30 pm
Burpees (25)
Treadmill workout an intense hill workout for 30 mins

Wednesday: 6:30-7:30pm
karate (sparring night)

Thursday: 4:30-6:30 pm
Burpees (25)
Treadmill workout

Friday: 6:30-7:30
Karate (self defence)

Saturday: 8:00 am
treadmill
yoga

Sunday:2-4 pm
karate (techniques, kata and self defence)

Well this concludes my first week of blogging.  Enjoy this week, and I'll leave you with this thought; "Don't be afraid of stepping off the path, your footsteps are the path"

Time to Say Thanks

I need to acknowledge  a few people today.

First and foremost:
Mark, husband of mine for almost 9 years. You have seen the best of me and the very worst of me, and yet you encourage me to find my way, and do whatever it takes to achieve my goals. Thank you for fixing yourself dinner monday, wednesday, and friday nights, taking out the dogs when I am too sore to move, and not divorcing me for kicking you and backfisting you in my sleep. You are an amazing uki (self defence practice person) and your trust in me not to do too much damage to you while putting you down on the floor is fantastic. I love you honey!!

Daniel, you are one of my very best and dearest friends. You are an amazing athlete and are a large part of my inspiration to always strive to be better than I am. Thank you for putting up with all my sports and health related questions. Laughing with me (and at me :P) and listening to me talk endlessly about all things in life. Thanks for sharing your history papers with me, and not laughing when I get all excited about medieval history. You are always there to remind me not to kill myself whilst trying to conquer the world, and we all know that while I may not conquer the world, I am going to try my hardest to make it a better place.

Jeff: I have to tell you that this is ALL YOUR FAULT!! Thank you for giving me the idea to try martial arts in the first place, and responding to all my karate related posts on facebook. I never knew I would adore karate so much and I am excited to share a love of the sport with you!

Family friends and co-workers: Thanks for listening to all my stories, maybe I will find something more to talk about other than karate after I start putting all my thoughts in this blog. No promises though!!! I appreciate all the encouragement to "kick some ass" !!

To my Senseis, you share your knowledge, skill and time with all of your students. I am lucky to be part of such a honorable and respectable Dojo. I promise to give you my all and my best each time I step foot inside the Dojo. I may get the self defence giggles from time to time, but I will always work hard and listen to what you say.
Anne

The Last Six Months: a Recapituation

September 10th, 2009. My very first karate class. There I fell in love, became slightly obessed, and started this journey. For any adult beginning karate students, I am sure that you can commiserate the feelings of nervousness and excitment, all bound together to create a highly strung (more highly strung than usual for me) version of yourselves. I remember physically starting when my sensei called for the three of us to sit in lines, and then practically tripping over myself to get to the mats. I dont remember much more of that first class it all seemed like an intense blur, but  I know that I gave it my all and didnt think the workout was all that hard....

The next three days were spent in sheer agony, as all my out-of-shape muscles screamed in protest to the previous nights activity. I could barely walk, dont even ask me how I managed to go up and down stairs (I'll give you a hint: very gingerly and whimpering like a baby with every step taken) and my arms hung uselessly from my sides like limp spaghetti. My Co-workers wondered what kind of very good drugs I was on , as here I was limping, barely able to move (and when I did I think even the slow moving seniors out there had taken pity on me), and yet all that could come out of my mouth was my karate class and how awesome it was.  I was hooked after the first day.

The next three months were several things, excruciatingly painful (you want me to do how many pushups... on my knuckles??) strangely exhilarating (yes!!! I can pack a powerful punch and kick) and filled with mental head aches (for someone with average to above intellgence, I can not do a Kata unless I have all the moves written out and memorised .. yes if you look in my little green duotang I have, the first step in my chung ji kata as "look left, turn 90 degrees to the left into a left lower block in a front stance").

My half yellow belt test: (November 28th 2009) My sensei is small but his presence can fill an entire room... with mixed feelings of trepidation and intimidation. Yes folks, he can scare me to the point where I stand there frozen to the spot uable to move and comprehend a single order hes given out. I love it! He expects the best out of you and you only dare to give it your very best or he will call you on it. Before my test, the other sensei that worked with us took one look at me and told me to, "just breathe". I took this to heart and I am sure that Sensei Lyle was probably wondering why I was sucking back wind, and so noisely at that, the entire duration of my belt test. I did pass my test, not exactly with flying colors, but well enough to be proud of myself and what I had accomplished since september.

The art of desicrating...errr...dying your belt. Yes people, there is a way to dye your belt half yellow... although I neglected to ask whether you simply dye half of it yellow on both sides or all yellow on one side. The simplest way, the way that made most sense was to dye half the belt on both sides yellow. I apparently missed my common sense pill that morning and took it upon myself to dye (with fabric paint I might add) the entire length on one side yellow. As you can imagine, my endever ended up in huge failure. The fabric paint soaked through both sides and resulted in a frantic trip to Michaels to buy white fabric paint to cover up the yellow that had soaked through to the other side. A few curse words and tears later (with my husband wondering if he should check me into the psychiatric ward)I was pretty proud of myself for having accomplished such a difficult task. It wasnt until my very first intermediate class that I realised the collossal error I had made. All the other half yellow belts had half their belt- both sides dyed.  I could have cried, but of course you dont cry in karate class . After class that night I grimly bought more yellow and white fabric paint and set about making my belt the way it should have been. My belt is now yellow and yellowish-white, and I am looking forward to the day that I can earn my full yellow and put away the disaster I have been wearing for the last three months .  Valuable life lesson: if its nearly impossible, you are doing it WRONG!!

January 2010- till today.  All things said and done, I have been amazed with what I have been able to achieve so far; my heian shodan kata is coming along very solidly (because I wrote it out!!!), my techniques are getting better and faster, I am fairly flexible and I have decent power. I am still trying to figure out sparring and how to control my tricks . Ultimately my goal is to enjoy the journey set out in front of me and the destination is earning my black belt. I hope to share all that is karate and life oriented so please feel free to laugh and cry alongside of me :) To have friends to share your life is one of the greatest things imaginable.