One of my younger daughters had been chosen by her school to participate in some free Theatre classes downtown for the next 2 months. All she needed was parental escort to and from the event. Therefore my Tuesday and Thursday afternoons have been reserved for this. I knew that I'd be spending a good 2 hours downtown. I'm not one to enjoy shopping, or sitting in a restaurant eating for 2 hours. What I really wanted to do was take advantage of that suddenly imposed "free" time to practice my karate.
So.. now I had a dilemma. I started phoning around at the various Y.M.C.A. and other athletic places available within walking distance of the theatre school. OUCH! Drop in fees were astronomical! I contacted a couple of Martial arts studios in the area, but they opened only in the evening.
Hmmmmm..... I stood there in the student lounge of the Theatre school with my Backpack in hand contemplating if it was possible to do kata in that enclosed space filled with chairs, tables, and couches. It was possible.. as long as I didn't kiai.
So.. I approached the head office of the school, and asked to speak with the "Principle". He was a kind gentleman who politely listened to my request. He instantly gave me permission to practice karate in the student lounge, and then he smiled, and offered me one of their classrooms.
I was led to one of their "private practice" rooms wherein actors go to work on their skills. It was fantastic! Honestly! It was huge, enough room for 12 karate ka to do kata, and the center space was clear due to the fact that all props were placed neatly along side the walls. The longest wall was mirrored. I was in heaven!! The ladies washroom, and water fountain was within 10 steps of the room.
I worked on 25 of my kata, and on all of my basics from white belt up to my belt testing rank. I was even able to take a 4 minute break sitting comfortably on a leather couch. I felt "pampered".
It never hurts to ask...
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2 comments:
OOOOOOOOooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOO
updates! I'm a happy man.
:D
That reminds me in nova scotia, we trained in a classroom. That was nice. Like you say : it never hurts to ask.
:-)
I've been training in the student lounge these past couple of classes, the head dude was out of town. The student lounge is in an open area, and well.. It's kind of embarrassing to be in the middle of a kata, and have someone come out of the office to go get themselves a drink from the vending machine. Oh.. I still do my kata, and pretend that I don't notice their wide eyes of shock, and their halted steps, and their stares as they get their pop. The honest truth is that I'm moving without full focus at that point, part of me is thinking about the position of the various tables, chairs (so that I do not turn and smack into them), and listening to the noises happening around me.
It's just not the same as training in a dojo. It's like training in a crowd.. ah.. but this can be good training also. We aren't always going to be surrounded by silence, and the perfect environment when we need to apply ourselves.
At one point, two teenagers walked up the stairs of the school just loudly chatting together, and they came running into the student lounge chasing each other. One startled look in my direction was all that happened, and they turned 180 degrees and rushed back down the stairs. I could just imagine them saying to their parents "Call the cops! There's a wierd grey haired fat lady fighting by herself upstairs in the lounge!!!"
Ha ha ha ha
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