Mommy with a mummy toe

Well.. my healing toe must be ahead of schedule. The whole nail has dropped off today. What a new start to a New Year! So.. I'm walking around with bandages on my left big toe.. therefore the title of this posting "Mommy with a mummy toe."

Hopefully the toe will be in full recovery ahead of schedule. Just goes to show that you can't believe everything that you read on the internet. I was informed that this kind of damage done to a toe nail would take up to 18 months to heal. I'm only on my second month now.. and things are healing quickly.

I've decided to heal another aspect of my life. Since I grew up in an alcoholic home, New Year's Eve has always been an awful day for me. Negative memories from my childhood creep out of the darkness of my subconscious and haunt me with awful depression. Up until now I have coped by hiding myself away in my bedroom and running away from any "festivities" claiming that I was sleepy or such. BUT this year, I claim my own right to enjoy myself. The past is just that.. it's past. I cannot change what my parents chose to do when I was a child, but I can darn well choose how I want THIS New Year to be, and I'm chosing to enjoy myself.

I'm claiming this holiday to be a time of renewal: a time of love, and support: and a time of hope, and joy.

My kids nearly fainted when they heard that I was going to "party" with them and stay up until midnight this year. They have never had that happen before in their lives. So this is a first for my family.

Ah... onwards and upwards. Only good things can come from this kind of thing.

Karate night before Christmas

My husband Arnie, and I wrote this little Karate parody of the classic
poem "Twas the night before Christmas".

Twas the night before Christmas and all through the dojo
Not a student was training, they were holding their hands low
Their shoes were all lined up by the wall with care
Knowing that soon Sensei would be there.
With their Gi (s) on sharp, and their obi (s) on tight,
They had just settled their minds for an oncoming fight.
When from the changeroom there arose such a clatter,
I sprang up from seiza to see what was the matter.
Over the mats I ran like a flash,
ran past the kicking bags, knocking over the stacks.
The sound of the intake of breath, and the row
of the students rushing past each other to know.
When what my astonished eyes did see
but the bare-footed feet of our Sensei indeed.
Such a stong presence, so fierce and so quick
I knew in a moment that Sensei was “ticked”.
More rapid than shurikens his commands they came.
He Kiai’d, and pointed, and called out by name,
“Now, Green belts, Now Blue belts, Now Yellow, and stripes
On Blacks, On Browns, On Purples and whites!
One hundred Manmakers from wall to wall
Now Dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!”
Huffing and puffing like little freight trains
Sweat pouring off them like Hurricane rain
Back and forth the students went running
Sensei said “We’re not here for the sunning!”
Then in a twinkling I heard Sensei say
“Quit the prancing, and pawing. That’s it.... Yame!”
As I drew in deep breaths, the room spinning ‘round
With an “Osu” of response, Sensei said “To the ground!”
He was dressed all in white with black belt on his waist
He said “Let’s do push ups! Let’s pick up the pace!!!”
His eyes- how they twinkled! His dimples how merry!
But our cheeks were like roses, flushed red like cherries.
His face showed no visible sign of fatigue
While the students knew that they were way out of their league
Each push up he did with much grace and power
While his students looked more like fallen down towers.
He turned over and started to do Fifty crunches,
the students were moaning and groaning in bunches.
He was lean, and mean, a fighting machine,
and I knew in a twist he could tear out a spleen.
A wink of his eye, and a twist of his head,
soon gave me to know I had more training to dread.
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
with his shinai, he helped students not shirk,
and laying a finger under their nose
he said “This is the technique, here’s how it goes..”
He called for line up, and gave the commands
and we bowed, and “Osu’d”, and then we shook hands.
I heard him exclaim ere he walked out of sight.
“Make sure you train hard each and every night.”

Christmas wrecks chaos on my training

I love the holidays. I really do not have a grinchy attitude towards them, but I have to admit that they do cause alot of troubles when it comes to keeping up my training.

I have so many school concerts to attend, why this week alone my Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday night is dedicated towards my children's year end Holiday performances. So no training on those days, I'll be sitting in a crowd of parents and watching my little ones sing their hearts out. When you add in the fact that the dojo will be closed on Christmas day, and New Years day, plus all of the parties that I need to attend in the coming weeks.. There goes most of my training time. I'll only have 1 class this week, and hopefully 3 next week. For someone who is used to training almost every day.. this is quite a big withdrawal. Yes.. I could try to train at home.. but the seven foot Christmas tree in the center of my living room takes up even more of my limited space.

Now.. Some people may say "What? What's wrong with that? You should take a break from your karate. You are obsessing too much about training." They don't understand. My body doesn't understand about holidays. The muscles, tendons, and ligaments get stiff and sore when I do not train them at least once every second day. I just can't explain to them about school concerts, and such. I did meet a ballerina that understood what I meant by this.. she nodded her head wisely and agreed that it is difficult to meet the physical requirements of your body during the holidays.

Also, the feasting during the holidays is detrimental to my personal conviction to live by controlled food consumption. When you go to a party the host usually offers you more than what you can eat, and they encourage you to go for seconds. There is always an excuse for over-eating: Easter "Go ahead.. Easter only comes once a year." Summer holidays "Let loose, you'll burn it off anyway.. you're on vacation. Relax." Thanksgiving "It's Thanksgiving.. you are supposed to overeat." Christmas "Oh.. cookies have no calories on Christmas, come on.. just one more." New Year's " Start the year right... you can start your diet tomorrow."
Birthdays "Aw... it's your birthday.. that only happens once a year.. live it up!"

So... combine the fact that there are less opportunities to train, and more opportunities to eat.. and pressure to eat alot.. Oh boy.. not a good thing for someone like me that is working towards keeping her conditioning.

Am I alone in feeling this frustration during the holidays?

Fighting without fighting

I've read that the ultimate karate is to be able to vanquish your enemy without fighting. I would like to share with you a true story of how my children achieved this phenomenal achievement just a few days ago.

My three youngest children were walking home from school. My 9, and 10 year old daughters were walking ahead of my son who dawdled by looking at the snow on the bushes, and skipping around happilly in the snow. My little 7 year old son bent over to pick up a snow block that was laying on the ground of the sidewalk. He didn't realize that he had done this directly in front of a sporadic school bully who happened to be non-chalantly swinging a stick at the time. The bully decided to strike my son on the small of the back.

My son stood up in shock and pain calling out "Hey! That hurts!" My 9 year old daughter, and 10 year old daughter stopped walking when they heard this, and turned around to see the bully say "Yah? that hurts? What about this?" as the bully swung the stick over and over striking my son over a dozen times.

At first, all 3 of my children froze at their first experience of such violence and brutality, but then my 10 year old daughter unfroze.. she rushed in yelling "Stop this! It's wrong!" and had the bully disarmed within seconds. She tossed the stick far away, and started pulling my son into a safer distance. The bully started striking at my 10 year old attempting to get to my son. My 9 year old daughter ( who trains more frequently in karate) came in between the bully and her siblings. She put on her fiercest face, and commanded the bully to "stop, and go away" in a very loud kiai voice. Now.. this bully was a good head and a half taller than my girl, but that made no difference to my daughter. The bully decided that my 9 year old would make as good a target as the others, and proceeded to try to strike her. My daughter went into defensive stance, and managed to block and thwart all of the bullies attempts to harm her. Quickly the bully became frustrated that the 10 year old was getting my son to safety, and that the 9 year old was successfully avoiding her strikes. The bully spit out swear words, and made a strong attempt to push my 9 year old daughter down onto the ground. My daughter set her stance even more strongly to absorb the shove.. and felt... nothing. The bully had put all of her strength into this attack, and my daughter was taken by surprise that there was no strength in it. Looking back in retrospect, my daughter admits that her next reaction was not the most appropriate, but she just couldn't help herself. She burst out laughing at how patheticly weak this bully's attack was for all the scary noise the bully was making. At this moment, my daughter realized that it would have been easy for her to hurt the bully quite badly if she wanted to... but then she remembered her Sensei teaching her that karate is to be respected for the damage that it can do, and that you should focus on getting away from a fight as soon as you can, if you can.

The bully stopped in shock at my daughter's laughter. She pulled away, retrieved her stick, and walked away sending some swear words into the air in futility.

The whole scene took less than a minute to happen. My daughters supported their younger brother with their arms around his shoulders as they walked him home. The winter parka, and ski pants had protected him from any bruises or injury.

I had taught my children that silence is the bully's helper, and if something bad happens to my children that they have to sound an alarm by telling an adult. When my children arrived home, they instantly told me all the details of what happened, and the names of some other children that witnessed the event. We contacted the school, and each one of my children went into the principal's office to give their account of the event. The school pulled in the bully, and handled the discipline quickly and efficiently.

I'm very proud of how my children had handled the whole situation.

Warning: this next posting has a gross factor

Ah.. the experiences of training in martial arts:

Throughout class, my young partner looked down at my left foot with compassion in his eyes and asked me if my dark toe was hurting me. I had to explain to him that I had injured the toe a few weeks ago during seminar, and although it looked pretty hurt, it didn't hurt me at all. I assured him that it just felt strange, like I had a second toe over the first one.. and that I would just need to be gentle with that foot.

Everything went normal during class, until it was time for kata. I surged into my cross-footed stance ( x stance/ Kosa dachi) at the kiai point, and I felt a pop down there on my big toe. I'm guessing that the force of the stance, and the position of the toes was too much for my injured big toenail, and it just burst like a blister. Instantly I looked down to see that there was blood, and water streaming out of my toe onto the floor leaving a fair sized puddle around my foot with my toenail standing straight up in the air. I collapsed into a seated position, and applied pressure onto the toenail to lower the amount of liquid seeping out, and I huddled around the mess so that no one would accidently move into it as they continued their kata. I did this silently... The black belts near me kept on doing their kata, but adjusted their position so that they gave me room. I could see them casting quick concerned glances in my direction to see if I was o.k.

The kata ended quickly. I unfolded to reveal the mess on the floor. I'm telling you.. the warp speed response that I had from the other people. Within seconds I had 6 people offer me bandages, antiseptic cleanser, paper towels (wet and dry) I had made sure that I had wiped up the blood colored water off of the ground before I took care of my foot. One person brought me a full out first aid kit. My little compassionate young partner was at my side with deep concern in his eyes asking me if it hurt yet. Well.. of course that brought a smile to my lips, and I said "Oh no.. it isn't hurting, it just released some extra stuff so now it's clean, and even better.." O.K... so I stretched the truth a little. My toe was sharply stinging like it had been stung by a scorpion but my little friend didn't need to know that. The whole dojo surrounded me with caring concern. Although it was a nice feeling, I really needed the space to just take care of my foot. You know what? It's like they all felt that need, and now that they could see that I was o.k., they backed away, and went on with finishing class.

Within a few minutes I was sporting a nice white bandage on my toe, and I was lightly limping my way out of the dojo to go and get changed.

I'm going to lose the whole nail on that toe.. Will it stay gone? Am I going to have a "bald" big toe on my left foot?

Seminar, and Resting

Alright.. I listened to my body. I cut out all home training except a few minutes of Bo staff here and there. I even stopped volunteering at the outreach center for a good 2 weeks. I brought all of my training down to just the karate classes. I started seeing progress on my upper body. Instead of weakness, and shaking, my arms were stronger, and sharper in their techniques. I decided to "smooth" out my home practice so that it supports the progress. It will be a day to day thing depending on how difficult the karate classes were the previous night. IF my muscles need to rest, and stretch, then I will do so. If class was calm, and easy the night before, then I will put some extra demand on my body the next day at home.

So guess what happens at Seminar? I was doing some one step kumite ( sparring) with one of the brown belts testing for Shodan. I had just finished my head punch, and he was countering. He made a mistake, and stepped forwards improperly surging onto my back foot with his full weight onto my toes. It is a good thing that I have been trained to grasp the floor with my toes. I could feel the force of his momentum threatening to pull my toes back, and break them, but my toes fought that, and stayed on the ground. My left big toe took all of the damage. Instead of a toenail I had a huge black/blue/purple spot, and a constant sharp knifelike pain which made each time I put my body into any stance a new experience of how much torment one can feel from their feet. It HURT! From that moment on I limped through each day... It's been 4 days now, and I'm still wincing when I see something heading towards my feet. I was told that it will be weeks before I can use that toe normally again. It's really wierd to have 9 normal colored toes, and one black toe.

This incident brings me to a question: When you are doing one step, you are not supposed to move after your initial attack. You are expected to stand still and allow your partner to counter, trusting that they will not damage you. Now, when I stood there waiting for my partner's counter, and I saw the direction he was heading and the momentum he was surging with, I had this deep inner gut feeling that I should shift my foot out of the path of his energy. I quelched that inner desire, and forced myself to stay still. The result? 2 weeks of limping on my left foot. At this moment in time, I'm thinking that it would have been better for me if I had listened to my inner voice, and had moved that foot out of the way. Which is the better path? Being able to control your body, and not "jump at every inner reaction", or to listen to your gut feeling and err on the path of safety?

You know the student that I was helping prepare for their Shodan test? She passed. I was so proud of her performance. She put forth so much focus, and energy. To tell the truth, ALL of my dojo mates put forth so much good spirit during the Seminar. I just wanted to stand up and cheer for how much I saw them putting forth their best. Congratulations to every one of the students, and especially those who tested for Shodan. You can be truly proud of yourself for doing your best.

Oh.. I have a nice picture to offer you from this seminar of my husband, and I "posing" as if I am giving him corrections on his kata. Notice the smiles? ha ha ha... I don't think that we were very convincing in our pose.

GRRRrrrowl.....

My body is teaching me that I can not force it to do more than it allows. My left arm, my hips, and my knees have been giving out on me this week. I'll be doing my push ups, or whatever, and suddenly that limb, or joint will lock, or give up totally letting gravity take my body to the ground.

To be honest, classes have been extra hard this past month.. In Shotokan we are preparing for the visit of our Master. Also, there has been demands on conditioning in Kyokushin.. things like 500 strikes, 500 blocks, and 500 kicks in a row interspersed with various exercises like push ups, sit ups, squats, etc. etc, and that is just the warm up.

This sudden total weakness of my body parts really bothers me. I've been able to push past the burning pain of my skin condition as I train, the sharp pain of the constant muscle cramping as I train, the dizziness, nauseau, and fainting spells through my determination, and will power, but I can't push past total "giving out" of the muscles. They won't go, and thinking strong thoughts won't MAKE them go. Suddenly there is no output in that arm/leg, and I collapse.

I tear up at the thought that I cannot work past this weakness. My body says "thus far, and no further.." and I cannot fight through that with will power. I have to adapt, slow down, even force myself to not train to allow those muscles, and joints to come back to what they were. And that drives me crazy.. because I had been gaining a little, and now I have to baby myself again.

I have stopped all extra home training ( except for Bo staff) for a whole week.. and I can't explain how much that bothers me. I'm not depressed, it is more of an anger, and frustration that boils within me. I spent most of my whole childhood laying in a bed coughing with bronchitis (an effect of my father's chain smoking) wishing that I could go out and play.

Now that I'm an adult, and I have the capacity to train, I'll be darned if I'll allow my body to dictate to me what it won't do.

I'm not stupid, though, I will not damage myself trying to force the joints to perform when obviously they are not doing well.. but I'm not going to throw in the towel and accept the limitations that is happening. I'll find a way to strengthen the muscles, and joints, whether by diet, exercise, or stretching. Sure.. sometimes when you are climbing a mountain, you might find yourself at a position where you cannot continue going upwards, and you have to backtrack a little to gain a better vantage point, and better handholds.

Kata Query

I was performing the Bassai Dai kata, and suddenly it hit me that I need an answer to a certain movement.

This movement occurs in many kata: It is when you bring both feet together, stand up straight, and usually block WAY up high.. like two rising blocks in Bassai Dai, the augmented side head block in Jion, or when you place your fists on your hips in Heian Sandan.

As I was performing this move, I realized how all of my central vital points became open for attack. I also realized how vulnerable my feet were so close together. There is no stability to the Heisoku stance at all. I asked myself "Where in any self defense moment would I WANT to put my feet together, stand up, and lift my arms above my head exposing all of my vital points?"

And yet, you can see this type of position happen very often in Bassai Dai (Penetrating the fortress). at least 5 times. Why? Bassai Dai is a very strong kata that uses the hips.. why would we put our feet together, and stand up? That actually locks the feet, and hips in place.... sure.. we lift up our knee and continue into another movement.. but why stand up out of our lower stable stance, to get into a very 'tippy" high stance.

A few guesses that I had was that

a) we were trying to use the pull of gravity on our body to our advantage as we struck in the next movement.
b) we are trying to sucker in our opponent with the appearance of vulnerability.
c) we are looking for the right downward angle to achieve a vital attack.

However, all of the above guesses could be met by standing in Heiko Dachi ( Parallel stance), or from Shizentai ( Natural stance) where the feet are more stable, than in Heisoku Dachi ( closed together stance). At least in these stances, your hips are more free to do other movements if you need to.

Where in heaven's name is there any advantage to pulling your feet together, and standing straight up?

*Shakes head*

Well, just because I don't understand it yet, doesn't mean that I should throw it away. There's got to be a good reason since it is included in so many kata.

Hey, my dear Bo manipulating friends, Do you do a similar stance with your weapons? and does it help defend you or strenghten your attacks in some way?

In honor of Remembrance Day... Thank you Sifu

If you like my poem pass it on.
 
 
In the distance one can see the glimpse of freedom slipping away
Through terror, killing and fear everyday.

But in the hearts of those that scale freedom's wall,
they will never let those evils overtake us all.

They stand on posts, they guard the night,
and yes some give the ultimate sacrifice.

Their nights are short, their days are long
and they long to hear a child's song.

They long to touch their loved ones far away, but they know in their hearts, it's duty that day.

So, as you pass one of these guardians of peace of mind, remember their duty was and still is to protect those rights you have at this time.

As it has been stated before and by so many, Freedom isn't Free, and those that serve preserve it do it with Honor and Dignity.


Tim White
USA Ret
First Sergeant IGR

What can I say? I've been busy

When you add the fact that I've had visitors from out of town to the usual high demands of family, and karate, my life has been extra busy. Computer leisure time goes to the bottom of the "to do" list. Therefore, I've neglected so many internet things.. and I'm behind on my emails, forums.. you name it. Including my little blog.

So.. let me tell you what I'm working on in my karate:

It seems that my efforts to relax, and spar with less rigidity has teeter tootered into TOO much relaxation, and I've lost alot of technique. It is quite a tight line to walk when you need to be relaxed, and yet have just enough tension, and technique to make things work correctly.

I think that my kiai has become the key to how to clue my body into that necessary sudden tenseness that you need to strike, or defend, but to stay loose inbetween the action. Expansion, and contraction is such an important part of sparring.. but it is the inbetween moments of calmness that are the hardest to achieve for me. I found that the calmness is so important to being able to sustain an equilibrium to the effort. Too much tension all the time just burns me out.

I've been working on my kiai, and experimenting. I've been kiai-ing at different parts of my strike; at the end, during the middle, even before I send it. Just to see the effect on my body.. and you know what? It DOES make a huge difference as to when you kiai. The body moves differently.. it's like there is a different focus, or philosophy behind the movement. If I wait until Kime is happening to kiai there is a sense of solidity, and finality.. similar to "THERE! Now that's done.. let's go do something else.." If I Kiai as soon as my fist leaves it's chambered position.. there is an excitement in the movement like "Yes! Send it NOW!". Then my breath breaths out with the strike and there is a feeling of continuation...... of flowing into the next moment.

I've noticed that sharp short breaths will change how you move compared to a long constant puffing of air ( like if you were swimming underwater)

I found this awesome article on breathing, and sparring on a Tae Kwon Do website:

http://tkdtutor.com/06Concepts/Breathing/BreathControlI.htm

I'm amazed at how many different ways we can breathe improperly, and actually inhibit our efforts to perform. I LOVE the description of "stillness" that is provided in this article:

"For martial artists, one of the most important principles of Yin and Yang is the relationship between stillness and motion. Stillness is the natural state before movement begins, and yet it is also the basis of all movement. A technique that begins from perfect stillness enables you to execute the movement in a coordinated and efficient manner that allows your body and mind to unite in a balanced harmony and helps you to release unnecessary tension and to relax more completely. From a  state of stillness, any movement is done with complete awareness and true intent. Your actions become the embodiment of quality and perfection. Once you have a feeling for perfect stillness you will be able to call on it whenever needed. In a pattern training,  you may only be still for a split second between moves, but if it is perfect stillness, then the transition between the moves becomes flawless.  "

Yes.. that is what I desire in my sparring, and my kata. I want to find that calmness or "stillness" inbetween the active phases of movement. Another ideal for me to shoot for... :-)

Not a good idea at all

Scheduling my upper body weight training the day before my biggest Kyokushin class was not a good idea at all!

When it came time to do my usual push ups.. my arms were noodles. No ability to lift anything! I laid there like a wet blanket.... well .. more like a struggling wet blanket. I had no energy in my arm muscles at all. In fact, at one point I attempted to do a head block to a quite strong opponent. No way.. I had no power in my arms, and I had to dodge my head to the side. It's Sunday already, and I'm supposed to be doing more weight lifting. No way.. my arms are still recuperating from Friday. I've got to revise my schedule.. oh yes!

I also have to reposition my Bo staff training. Right now I have it scheduled at moments when all the kids are home.. not good. My kids sit there staring at me as I work through my routine. I'm having issues with the tight quarters of training indoors ( due to the cold weather), and once in awhile my staff will thunk against a wall or door frame, and the group of children will erupt in giggles of delight. They are just waiting for that to happen. It really makes it difficult to focus on your technique. Training on Bo Staff while the kids are in bed isn't a good idea either. I could still hear them giggling at the "thunk" sounds when my staff would slightly tap a chair, or the floor. It keeps them awake. I tried switching to a shorter Jo staff for practice work, and that seems to make it a little easier to move around the room, but it doesn't spin the same way.. nor does it have the same weight. I tried training outside in my jacket... but the Bo staff work doesn't mix well with a thick winter coat.

Saturday my body was sore "all-where": feet, heels, legs, hips, stomach, arms.. you name it, I could barely move. Yet, I still had to go buy groceries, and carry the bags into the house with my husband. That doesn't sound like much exercise, but when you have to supply food for close to 10 people.. that is alot of weight to carry into the house. We spend close to $200 on groceries per week. That amounts to 10 pounds of apples, 5 pounds of oranges, 5 pounds of bananas, 15 pounds of ground beef, 8 quarts of milk.. etc. etc.

Oh.. and I forgot to add the Vital points hand strikes sequence that I need to practice into my list. I've got to add the Kihon Geiko technique practice more than once a week. Aargh. I need to practice my Bo staff twice a week, not once. How do I remedy this????

Hmm.. I've revised my schedule.. but I'm still not satisfied...

Mon
-2 hrs folding clothes
-2 hrs karate instruction
-50 + push ups
- Kihon geiko practice half hour ( basic techniques)

Tues
-3 hrs karate instruction
-Inversions/ Break fall practice
- *Focus on the legs here*

Wed
-2 hrs folding clothes
-3 hrs karate instruction
-Inversions/ break fall practice

Thurs
-Vital point hand strikes sequences
-Kihon geiko practice half hour ( basic techniques)

Fri
-2 hrs folding clothes
-4 hrs karate instruction
- *Focus on the legs here*

Sat
-2 hrs karate instruction
-50 push ups extra

Sun
-Bo staff practice half hour
-Upper body weight training

Maybe this will work out better for me.. fingers crossed.

Balancing the demand on my arms.

Mr. X. gave me this comment on my last addition to my blog.

"You should at least a day of break in between each push-up sessions. At the rate you are going, you're not giving your muscles enough time to repair themselves. "

I've been thinking about that:

Each day I have been doing 50 push ups ( interspaced in time) I've also done a half hour of upper body weight training with 3 lb weights. In addition to this I've been doing Bo staff practice 3 times a week for a good half hour with a 6 foot hardwood Bo staff. Oh.. then there are the inversions that I have been doing.. that takes alot of shoulder, and tricep effort. AND then... 3 times a week I do about 2 hours of consequetive folding, and placing clothes on a shelf as a volunteer at the nearby family center. My arms get exhausted from that too.

Add the fact that I train for an average of 11 hours of instruction in karate during the week at the dojo.

Yes, Mr. X., I can see how my muscles do not get time to repair themselves.

So... I've decided to try to schedule the demand on my arms out more evenly. I won't add all of the leg work stuff, kata stuff, conditioning exercises, self defense stuff yet. I'll keep this list focused mostly on the needs of my arms.:

Mon
-2 hrs folding clothes
-2 hrs karate instruction
-50 + push ups
- Kihon geiko practice half hour ( basic techniques)

Tues
-3 hrs karate instruction
-Inversions/ Break fall practice
- *Focus on the legs here*

Wed
-2 hrs folding clothes
-3 hrs karate instruction
-Inversions/ break fall practice

Thurs
-Bo staff practice half hour
-Upper body weight training

Fri
-2 hrs folding clothes
-4 hrs karate instruction
- *Focus on the legs here*

Sat
-2 hrs karate instruction
-50 push ups extra

Sun
-Bo staff practice half hour
-Upper body weight training

I'll see how this works for me.

Learning about push ups

My body has been teaching me about how much the various joints dislike doing push ups with improper technique. I've been doing about 50 push ups in a row per day, and the result has been strong pain building up in my wrists, biceps, shoulders, neck, small of the back, and hips. On the advice of my Sensei, I gave my body a rest break for a week so that what damage I have done can repair itself.

I started looking at what I was doing right, and wrong as I did my push ups, and learned quite alot about them. I'd like to share my knowledge on this blog so that others need not suffer as I have.

a) Having a straight back means "tucking in your hips" even when you are in the push up position. I believe that my sore lower back muscles, and hip joint pain was happening because I was jack-knifing my body, and popping my bottom up too high. I've learned that proper posture ( hips tucked in, shoulders back, back straight) is needed in this exercise. Another way to look at it is to "squeeze your buttocks together".

b) I was going too close to the floor. The arms should not go past a 90 degree angle, because this puts too much stress on the shoulder muscles, and ligaments especially for women. We aren't built like men in our upper bodies. Also.. by going to close to the floor and touching.. the muscles will relax, and then send a surge to push back up again. This puts a sudden stress on all of the joints instead of keeping a constant weight pressure.

c) You do not want to lock your arms at the top of the push up either. The whole idea is to keep the muscles working, and to not release the pressure... this will bring out the maximum efficiency of the push up.

d) Doing push ups once your muscles are too fatigued will transfer the weight demand unto the joints, and ligaments. You do not want to do this, you want to build up muscle, and strength, not weaken, and damage your joints.

I found this website quite helpful at looking at how to do push ups:
http://www.wikihow.com/Do-a-Push-Up

If you'd like to know how your ability to do a push up rates against other people your age, just go to this website:

http://www.exrx.net/Calculators/PushUps.html

Even in my weakened state I still received a "good" rating. I'm shooting for excellent.. but I will have to let my muscles heal first.

Deceiving oneself

I've been contemplating many things during karate class lately. Perhaps that is just part of walking along with a black belt around your waist that you can stop for a second and assess what is happening around you.

I've noticed that many of us deceive ourselves as we train. For example, I've seen some students jump the instructor's count. They anticipate the upcoming number, and already send their strike before he/she actually counted. The result is that their strike is finished far before everyone else's. The sad thing is that this gives an inaccurate training result. First of all they will develop improper timing. Also, they are not training their fast twitch muscles to react quickly. It would be far more helpful to them if they waited for the sound of the count, and THEN reacted.. as if the sound was an actual attack.

I've really come to a full circle when it comes to how I tie my belt. There has been a silent struggle within my mind as to which height I should tie it. I would attempt to tie it down on my hips ( as has been tradition). The result would be either that the belt would pop up to my waist on it's own through movement, or it would fall down to the ground. Now I have come to the point of realization: a) It's MY belt, and my karate. I can chose as to where I wish to place my belt upon my body.. as long as it does it's job of holding my Gi closed. b) Practicality dictates that I place the belt just above the navel at the curve of my waist ( not below). Since I am a woman this area is the most curving and most condusive to having the belt out of the way of my kicks. c) If I ever had to defend myself, it will not matter as to where I placed my belt upon my body. My skills will be as they are.

Many of us like to deceive ourselves as to how hard we train in karate. It reminds me of how my children will bring home their homework, sit down for about 10 minutes, and write a paragraph of information. Then they will spend half an hour complaining to each other about how much WORK they had to do. I believe that we tend to exagerate that which we consider difficult. I have been quite guilty of this type of building up of experiences. Similar to how a fish that wasn't caught grows three sizes, I have sat there telling my friends of how I ran at least 25 laps around the gym last night, although in reality it wasn't that much.

Today, I have learned that karate is just part of life. We train our bodies for our continued health. Everyone needs to exercise to maintain strength, flexibility, cardio, etc. Our bodies are designed to move, and it sickens when it is kept laying still. So.. I have chosen to move my body in the form of kata, kihon, and kumite while someone else may enjoy tennis, swimming, or other physical expressions of themselves. Now that I think in that way, the few laps around the gym are not much in compared to a marathon runner, the few push ups that I've done are nothing compared to what some military soldier needed to do today. I'm not saying that I should belittle my achievements, but more that I have learned to see them in perspective. This is the path that I have chosen to live.. I train each class to be the best that I can be at that moment.. so if I can only do 5 laps around the gym due to my state of health.. then good for me. If I can run 150 laps.. good for me. It is nothing to be exalted about, nor to push aside. It just exists as part of my life.

My blog taught me some things about me..

I was reading some of my past postings on this blog, and I learned a couple of things about myself:

a) My skin condition seems to have a pattern as to when it flares up into pain. It usually happens during the first strong snow fall of the season. This is probably when the air is most dry. There just was a snowfall for two days now, and my skin was painfully telling me about this change in the weather. AHA!

b) I have developed in my understanding of, and expectations in my martial arts. I am able to look at things differently, and even see the bigger picture since last year. I can see my limitations as challenges, and my strengths as opportunities.

c) My gratitude towards those Sensei who have guided me on my path has not diminished. It is wonderful to think that I have had the chance to meet, interact, and learn from these kind people. I can foresee many more opportunities to meet, and explore the depths of my art in the future.

d) I can greatly appreciate those fellow karate students who come to class with a healthy, encouraging, and energetic attitude. They make the training environment such a pleasant place to be. I really admire their dedication, and effort. I hope that I am giving them the same impression.

e) I have learned to appreciate my Kyokushin training for the unique, all encompassing, and experiencial art that it is, and to appreciate my Shotokan training for the strength contained within it. My energies at this point of my path have been balanced more towards Kyokushin because I'm still climbing the ladder in that art. My Shotokan training has calmed down to focusing on my basics, and truly centering my basic kata into my spirit.

Martial arts mothering

I chose a different path as a mother today. I leaned on all of my martial arts training, and I chose to control my opponents rather than to do violence to myself.

I placed my kids on the couch, and calmly put forward my expectations towards chores around the house. I gave them a good amount of awareness of where there is disharmony, and where I want to see improvements. I did not raise my voice ( as was my habit in the past ).

I controled my anger at the awful mess that they had created. Sure.. I was upset, but I placed that as a low priority. Instead, I focused on solving the problem by getting the children motivated to do what I wanted them to do.

I thought of how various manner of pain is used on your opponent to give them incentive to go in the direction that you want them to go. I then provided the children with very good motivation. I assured them that our family will be fasting until the house is in good order. I informed them that I have successfully fasted on just fruit juice for 4 days straight, so I will have no problem fasting for as long as it takes them to clean up their mess. Since I view fasting as a positive energy building, and healing moment for the body, I didn't mind putting my children on such a fast.

I also informed them that I will not touch anything, nor clean anything because at this point, they are to be responsible for the mess that THEY created. None of the mess was from my actions.. therefore I chose not to clean it.

We will see how quickly the house will get clean through the efforts of my children. It has to be clean at MY specifications. Already the dining room, entryway, and living room have been brought to that level. Only 6 more rooms to go.

Me? I am calm, relaxed, and enjoying adding this entry to my blog.

KIAI!!!!!!

Wonderful quotes

"It's what you learn after you know it all that counts." Harry Truman

"The years teach much which the days never know." Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Education is hanging on until you've caught on." Robert Frost

"Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty." Henry Ford

"Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers." Alfred Lord Tennyson

"The man who keeps everything locked up in his heart will know far less than he who compares notes with his fellows." Theodore Gordon

"I can learn from anyone, but I do not stop at that. I go on trying to learn from myself." Zane Grey

"It does not matter how slowly you go, so long as you do not stop." Confucius

"Have patience with all things, but first of all with yourself." St. Frances of Sales

"Character is that which can do without success." Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Deviation from nature is deviation from happiness." Samuel Johnson

"Humility neither falls far, nor heavilly" Publilius Syrus

"The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts; therefore guard accordingly." Marcus Aurelius

"Nothing is good or bad but thinking makes it so." William Shakespear

"Happiness and misery depend as much on temperament as on fortune." La Rochefoucauld

"It is not the fish we catch that counts, for they can be had for mere silver. It is the break of the waves, the joyous rush of the brook, and the contemplation of the eternal rush of the stream." Herbert Hoover.

The latest and greatest news

Well.. my cold is still holding on, but not strongly. I've been keeping up with the housework, training, and other needs of my position as Mom, and Black belt making sure that I drank lots of various liquids, and ate as much Vitamin C as I can to help support my immune system. One thing that I learned is that my body has no desire whatsover to invert into the upside down position when it has a cold.. no way. It doesn't feel nice at all. So.. I have relaxed on my headstands. I've also stopped putting mental pressure on me to try for a handstand. I just decided that I have succeeded on my first goal, and that I need to give myself a break before I start working towards a handstand. Handstands always bring up that inner "terror" reaction within me at this moment. I think that it would be best to let that demand relax a little, and keep practicing headstands until I'm so comfortable with them that I can do them in a heartbeat.

...And what does my little 7 year son come running up to me to state with joy, and declaration? "Mom! Watch me! I can do a one handed handstand, and hold position. OH.. and look at this Mom.. I can walk forwards on my hands while I'm in a handstand.. see???"

It appears that my little boy has been training on his handstands with even more gusto now that he has seen me doing my little headstands everyday. It's a good thing that we are competing. That little one is advancing beyond me in leaps and bounds when it concerns "going upside down".

I've been focusing my home practice on doing my basic kata starting from the opposite side. I am striving to make it so that I can do my kata starting from the right with the same comfort level as if I started from the left. This is far harder to do than to say. At first I would hold position, and my body would yell out that it's supposed to turn left at this part of the kata, but since I'm moving in the opposite direction, I knew that I had to turn right.. BUT... How? Which leg does what? It was quite a challenge at first.

I've also been adding time to my Bo Staff practice. Winter is coming soon, and I will have limited ability to swing a 6 foot Bo around my head. The wasps are all hibernating now, and the weather is just warm, and cool enough to allow me to go outside and take advantage of the space. My neighbour looked over the fence, and saw me practicing my Bo staff kata, and he yelled out "Go get him! That opponent is DEAD the way that you swing that thing!" in the middle of my kata. I was quite proud with the fact that I held concentration, finished the kata, and then responded to his encouragement with gratitude.

I've also been working on moving forwards with a 360 degree spin in front stance. I've been fighting to keep balance, use the placement of my feet properly, and control my eyes/ head so that it supports the movement.

Also.... I've been doing extra "tutoring" of a couple of students of my club that may be testing for Shodan in the near future. I've been giving them extra attention, guidance, and suggestions to help them feel prepared for the challenge mentally, physically, and spiritually by showing up very early, and giving them as much as almost an hour of extra training before normal class. I've seen alot of progress in their skills, and I am confident that they will do well on their rank test.

I learned an important life lesson during one of the children's classes during which I assist. We were doing "frog hops" across the floor. In an attempt to gain in distance of the hops, I leaned forwards rather than keeping my back in proper straight alignment. I knew that I was risking injury as I did this, but I was willing to face the risk in a gamble that I could cover more ground. I did 3 hops like that.. and felt a sudden sharp pain erupt from my large gluteal muscles ( my posterior/ my butt) From that moment I felt pain. I couldn't sit, stand, lay, crouch.. nothing.. everything hurt. Oh dear.. oh dear.. I was at a loss. It took me a good half hour of stretching of the leg/ back/ and butt muscles just to be able to lift my leg again.
I learned a REALLY good karate lesson: Keep good posture when executing movements/ and technique unless you want to feel a very bad OUCHY in embarrassing spots. Also I learned the life lesson of: Proper posture can help prevent headaches, back aches, even digestion problems. So! Shoulders back, hips in, and back straight people.. if you want to stay healthy.

Training with a cold

Yes.. I have caught a seasonal cold.. either from my children bringing it home from school, my fellow dojo mates, or just from walking around in the world.

Ah.. but this cold has taught me alot of karate lessons.

a) You can achieve far more than you think that you can.

b) Attitude is everything.

c) Never let your issues stop you.

d) Admit to reality, but strive for perfection.

and finally..

e) Always be prepared for the unexpected.

I've found that my karate mind set has taken this cold as a challenge rather than as an obstacle. I've increased my intake of vitamin C, gave my body plenty of rest, but also called forth an effort to train everyday. Why train? because the exercise brings up my body temperature and creates an artificial "fever" that helps my immune system. Also, I found that the circulation increase, and the deep breathing in training actually helped me combat my coughing. I have had really restful night sleeps after my training. I didn't spend the whole night away drinking hot chocolate, and having a dry cough.

Sure.. when I woke up.. I'd have an early morning clearing of the lungs coughing fit.. but so far.. so good on this cold. I feel pretty normal. Sure.. there is a slight threat of a headache at the back of my mind, but other than that and a couple of "barks" that escape now and then... I feel great.

Pretty cool that karate can help you with the mundane challenge of a common cold.

Roadtrip with Supergroup7 Day 5, 6, and 7

My trip wasn't over. It was time to head home. Another 2 days of travel awaited us, and we were tired.

We left Dallas, and headed for Kansas City where Sensei Charley awaited our arrival. He had informed us to get into the city, and phone him as soon as we made it in, he'd come meet us, and escort us to his house. He insisted on hosting us. What a wonderful, and gracious welcome we received from him, and his family! They made us feel like family.

My husband and I were so exhausted when we arrived, we just sat in their living room not moving very much at first. We ended up falling asleep, and dreaming the first afternoon away.

Sensei Charley brought us to his dojo:

(Insert picture here)

What an awesome experience it was to train under him! He challenged every aspect of my knowledge, and filled in alot of questions that I had concerning certain movements of kata. He is very practical in his art, and makes sure that what he teaches is usable to his students. I was impressed by how he teaches in such a relaxed, and yet controlled manner. What a Sensei! There are alot of great Sensei out there, but few that I have found that I can feel comfortable learning under... I have to say that Sensei Charley is one of these Sensei that bring out the best in me.

The next day we were able to visit the Kansas City Zoo. I took some lovely pictures of that:

Insert pictures here

I saw a Red panda for the first time in my life. What a curious creature! I still am amazed at the mob of Kangaroos that I saw just relaxing on the field beside the path.

We headed home, refreshed, and ready for the last leg of our journey. Our last day spent in anticipation of seeing our backyard again, and entering our familliar mess of a house. Our trip was over, but our memories last for the rest of our lives.

Thank you to all of you that crossed my path during the past weeks for giving me such good memories to cherish.