Author: Shawn

I am a practitioner of the martial arts and student of the Buddhist faith. I have been a Type 1 Diabetic since I was 4 years old and have been fighting the uphill battle it includes ever since. I enjoy fitness and health and looking for new ways to improve both, as well as examining the many questions of life. Although I have no formal medical training, I have amassed a wealth of knowledge regarding health, Diabetes, martial arts as well as Buddhism and philosophy. My goal is to share this information with the world, and perhaps provide some sarcastic humour along the way. Welcome!

Sometimes, You Gotta Feel The Burn… Inside!

For most of my childhood, our household meals involved a pretty bland selection. Part of that had something to do with the fact that it seems to be the cultural way back home to basically throw everything into a pot with water and stew it until it’s mush. But another big part of it is the fact that my older brother had gotten a kidney replacement shortly before I came along and had a plethora of stomach and digestive issues, so spicy foods (any spices in general, actually) were taboo in my childhood home.

This meant that I was stuck eating a bland Acadian diet with very little to no exposure to spices and, well… flavour! Picture your pasta being nothing but the noodles and plain tomato sauce with fried hamburger meat. That’s the basic idea, except for every meal. Every. Day. So it’s no surprise that the past twenty years or so have seen me taking advantage and making frequent visits to “flavour town.” this has included experiencing and enjoying a wide variety of ethnic, spicy foods. This has earned me the unfortunate nickname of “Butter Chicken,” for that and others reasons. But that’s a story for another time…

It’s a rare occurrence to look in my refrigerator and NOT find a bottle of hot sauce, Buffalo Sauce or both. And some of my favourite snack foods of choice involve Buffalo Chicken in some way, shape or form. This is why a recent concoction prepared by my wife has had me drooling and begging for more. I’m talking about a slow-cooker Buffalo Chicken dip. See the below image…

As you can see from the image, the ingredients and their respective amounts are all included. It’s a pretty simple recipe. My wife made a batch last week and we gorged ourselves on it using tortilla chips. But once prepared, it can be added to a tortilla wrap on a bed of spinach to make a decent spicy Buffalo wrap or eaten in a kaiser bun as a spicy pulled-chicken sandwich. It’s a pretty versatile recipe. She made another batch this weekend and I gotta say, it’s been a pretty good weekend!

People have a love/hate relationship with hot, spicy foods. Given that consuming too much of it can cause all sorts of digestive issues, including heartburn, diarrhea or ultimately compound or aggravate any of those conditions, it should come as no surprise. But what likely WOULD surprise some folks are the actual health benefits from consuming spicy foods. And just to be clear, when I refer to “spicy,” I mean the spices that bring heat.

According to an article posted on HealthLine.ca, there are a number of benefits based on some studies, including potentially lowering mortality, speeding up the metabolism and suppressing fat cell increase, fighting cancer cells and killing bacteria. The article even makes mention of spices helping to reduce inflammation, arthritis, headaches and even nausea. With all those potential benefits, who WOULDN’T want to bring the heat.

The article goes on to mention that the belief that spicy foods were a leading cause of ulcers has been disproven, and that certain short-term symptoms like stomach pain and diarrhea are temporary and are caused by overstimulation of the nervous system. Good to know. I’m glad I get to add a bit of spice to my life. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go finish the leftover Buffalo Dip. ☯️

When You Feel Like A Yo-Yo…

One of the biggest issues I face with Diabetes is the occasions where I become exhausted from going above and beyond what’s required for a normal day. For example, when the average person wakes up, they go to the washroom, wash their face and get breakfast going. Likely, they’re including coffee in that mix. Although if they aren’t, the light help them. But for me, my morning start with the consumption of three different medications, testing my blood sugar and depending on the day I may need to change up my insulin pump’s infusion set. THEN I get to use the washroom and potentially consume breakfast. But caffeine is a must. Obviously. Moving on…

Once in a while, I’ll succumb to this exhaustion in the sense that I’ll skip steps in the process that I likely shouldn’t. this was demonstrated last Tuesday night when my CGM sensor decided to expire at about ten o’clock at night. Now if you know anything about the process for getting one’s CGM going after a replacement, it’s a lengthy one. I’ve written about this before and in fact, I’m pretty certain I’ve thrown up a video of the CGM installation as well, but the bottom line is that it takes anywhere between 4 to 6 hours for a new sensor to be up and running.

This is because once you’ve injected the sensor and installed the transmitter, there’s a 2-hour warm-up period required. then, the pump prompts you for a blood glucose test to calibrate the sensor, followed by another one sometime in the following few hours. Starting this process at 10 o’clock at night when my head should be hitting the pillow doesn’t sound appealing. So, I did the only thing a reasonable and exhausted person in my position would do; I shut off SmartGuard, plugged the transmitter in to charge for the night and went to sleep without it.

That night wasn’t such a huge problem, although I did have a waking blood glucose reading of about 10.4 mmol/L, which is a tad higher than I’m used to. But I could live with that. Since I primarily place my CGM on my triceps, I usually recruit my wife to help install the sensor and transmitter since I can’t see the back of my arm, especially if I’m pre-coffee. Insert whatever nurse-fantasy jokes you’d like, here. But given that she was quite exhausted from dealing with my hyperactive loinfruit the day before and she was still asleep, I figured what the hell…. I’ll go a day without and install it tonight. No biggie, right?

Don’t get me wrong, I love my insulin pump. Honestly, I can’t understand how I survived as a Diabetic for as long as I have without it. It has the potential to make life SOOOO much easier…. Please note that I used the word “potential” in that sentence. I didn’t think I would ever have to admit that I could become addicted to an electronic device, but apparently I have become incapable of managing my blood sugars properly with the use of a CGM. By the time I got home from work, I had fluctuated from high to low at least three times and I was exhausted and just wanted to sleep.

Let me break down why this scenario is a problem…. When you DON’T use CGM, your pump delivers a pre-programmed base rate of insulin, referred to as a “basal rate.” But as your blood sugars fluctuate, the pump doesn’t take that into account until you test your blood sugar to discover that you’re either high and need more insulin or low and need to eat something. Meanwhile on CGM, SmartGuard will begin to trickle in an extra bit of insulin on top of your basal rate in order to stem higher blood sugars and will set off an alarm if you start going low. The result is better time in range, better overall control and less feeling like you just want to voluntarily curl up into a coffin and stay there. Still with me? Good.

Once I had the CGM installed, my evening started to go a little bit better but my blood sugars somehow managed to creep up a bit. So I corrected. This started a yo-yo effect that lasted through the night. My correction caused a low. In my sleep-induced haze, I ate a few too many jellybeans. Fell back asleep. My many jellybeans caused a high and I was woken by an alarm. I treated. Then I woke with my alarm in the early hours of the morning with a low. Bloody lovely.

Despite the fact that some of that can be attributed to human error (too many jellybeans, etc), it stands to reason that this can happen frequently depending on a number fo different factors. I’ve written about this type of this before but once in a while, it’s good to remind people that it ain’t all joy and jellybeans, even with the advantages of an insulin pump. And that complacency can start to have an effect if you get to used to the technology you’ve been given. ☯️

Be Who You Are, You Aren’t Designed To Be Anyone Else…

Here’s the thing, and you may as well buckle up because this one will be a bit of a rant. I am who I am. I spent a good portion of my youth being someone I wasn’t meant to be. And that’s a horrible way to live, even as a child. As we grow into adulthood, there’s always this great expectation that we’ll conform to certain societal norms and kowtow to the masses. But realistically, we don’t live in that kind of world anymore. And with the advent of social media and the internet, it doesn’t take long for anyone who tries to suppress any individual’s thoughts, beliefs or lifestyle to be swiftly and sometimes radically, put in their place.

I take stock of who I was in my youth (my youth includes both childhood and my teens) and I recognize that I had a lot of work to do. Sure, I studied the martial arts and I worked on my health. But there were a lot of hiccups along the way. I was quiet and withdrawn. I didn’t associate with the world very much, which I’ve come to feel has damaged opportunities and taken away certain options I COULD have had in life. I made myself content with staying in my small corner of the world and ignoring the rest of it, all while doing karate and enjoying my few, small pleasures.

It wasn’t until I reached adulthood and took ownership of certain personal choices that I finally began to open up. Most people who know me now would likely be taken aback by the quiet, pliable and compliant individual I was throughout my youth. Considering how loud and larger than life I tend to be now, all thanks to my specific heritage, no doubt, I think it would come as a shock to most people who knew me “back then.”

What got me here? Honestly, I’ve screwed up during my life. A lot. I’ve made mistakes and errors in judgement that I’ll never be able to take back and that have had real and measurable consequences on the way my life has turned out. I’ve made poor and even bad choices. and have lost friends and loved ones due to my inability to say or do the right thing at the right time. Although some of them are dearly missed, their chosen absence tells me that they weren’t meant to be a part of my overall journey.

I’ve done a lot of good in my life. I’ve done charity, made donations and given away possessions and time. I’ve solved crimes and saved lives and tried to make the world a better place in whatever way I could. I have also done some bad in my life. I’ve failed to be there for people who needed me. I’ve ignored the needs of others and have ended friendships because walking away was often easier than fighting it out. Sometimes in the pursuit of eliminating suffering; sometimes not.

Among all of my direct and indirect actions, my words and choices comes one ultimate result: I am me. For better or for worse, here I am. Some people like me. Some people don’t. Hell, some people hate me. And I KNOW that some people love me. And therein lies the secret to life: it doesn’t care about your plan. And by that very fact, it’s important to recognize that one should never live with regret. Regret is insidious and can only lead to suffering. And it gets you absolutely nothing.

Learn to live with the life you have and you’ll never be without happiness. This isn’t to mean that you won’t ever feel sadness. Or loss. It simply means that your life as a whole will be far happier. Once you let go of hate (and the haters), eliminate the suffering in your own life and do what makes you happy, especially with THOSE who make you happy, you’ll always be on the straight and narrow path to a happier, more enlightened life.

I am me. I am who I am. I may be weird, although I prefer to think unique. I’ll always say exactly what I think and what you see will always be what you get. I find myself incapable of ever being otherwise. Those who know me, know this for a fact. I don’t make friends easily and keep them even less easily, especially once folks get to know the real me. But if you happen to be one of the select few in my life who stick around through the good AND the bad, my love and loyalty will be yours. Without question.

The only down side to being open and always saying what I think, is that it works both ways. If I don’t like you or you bring harm to me or my lobbed ones, you’ll discover that little fact quickly. I make no apologies for turning the page on the story that is my life. As the line from hamlet says, “To thine own self be true.” Life will throw you a lot of curve balls. Some good and some bad will always be inevitable. Such is the balance of life. But so long as you remain true to yourself in all aspects of life, you’ll navigate the good and bad without issue. Food for thought…. ☯️

Your Muscles Know, Even When You Don’t…

“I fear Not The Man Who Has Practiced 10,000 Kicks Once, But I Fear The Man Who Has Practiced One Kick 10,000 Times”

– Bruce Lee

Who doesn’t love Bruce Lee? Even folks who don’t study the martial arts can have a deep appreciation for his skill, speed and technique. The quote above the photo is one of the most widely-shared quotes allegedly said by Bruce Lee. I say “allegedly” because, well…. I wasn’t there! And there’s often a significant number of quotes attributed to a person, even when it may not be provided that they said it. After all, you can’t believe everything you read on the internet. Abraham Lincoln said that. See what I mean?

But now that I’ve finished being sarcastic, let’s get back to the quote itself. If one were to question the thought behind this quote, one could easily interpret that it suggests muscle memory is more effective than variety. And I would be inclined to agree. Even in smaller numbers, you may gain more from doing one technique for an entire workout than doing ten techniques over the same period of time. The idea is that doing too much waters down your ability to master certain techniques and find the ability to do them without thought.

This is why muscle memory is so important in the martial arts. When it comes to a real life fight situation, which you’ll hopefully never have to deal with, having the ability to call upon muscle memory can mean the difference between getting your ass handed to you and being seriously injured, or hopefully coming out of it with only mild injuries. Because realistically, there’s no such thing as a real fight where you don’t get hurt in some given way, shape or form.

So, what is “muscle memory?” Well, the Oxford Dictionary defines muscle memory as “the ability to reproduce a particular movement without conscious thought, acquired as a result of frequent repetition of that movement.” Even just based on that definition, I’m sure you can see why it would be important in the martial arts. It’s a bit like a toddler, learning to walk. They’ll stand, stumble and take a few steps before falling. But then, they’ll get back up and keep at it. Through repetition, they’ll learn to walk and it occurs naturally through muscle memory.

Can you imagine if you had to remind yourself how to walk EVERY time you went somewhere? Granted, I have a tendency to walk into walks at the best of times, so perhaps my muscle memory isn’t as good as I think it is. But I digress…. The point is, muscle memory is important to the overall function of routine movements in the body. From the martial arts perspective, it becomes important because in a real fight scenario, your ability to respond depends on your muscle memory. Taking the time to plan out your defense usually doesn’t happen and if it does, chances are your opponent isn’t patiently waiting for you to figure it out.

Back in my “younger” years, I used to hate doing lines of one particular technique. It irked me to be doing only one movement when my body and mind wanted to throw in so much more. During youth, it can seem boring to do so little and we rarely have appreciation for the fact that as we perform frequent repetitions, we’re honing our bodies to be able to reproduce that movement on a moment’s notice, usually without thinking about it. Mastering one piece of the puzzle is how you ensure you’ll get a clear, complete picture. ☯️

How Buddha Got His Groove Back…

It’s been a difficult couple of years for the entire world and very few people have gotten away unscathed. The pandemic caused a lot of upset and difficulty for most people, causing the closure of businesses, loss of jobs and the loss of key life experiences that one will never get back, like high school graduation. As society begins to lick its wounds and the world re-opens (for now), I take stock and reflect on the fact that one of the biggest things that has affected me, besides Nathan being kept home from school, is the closure of my karate dojo.

For almost fifteen years, my policing career has dragged me all over Saskatchewan, to an extent where the thought of joining a karate class was a moot point. After all, what’s the point of joining a martial arts school just to have them lose me after the 3 to 5 that the Mounties usually required at any given one spot? So, it was an important step in the right direction for me when I transferred to Regina and found the current dojo that i train in. Imagine the irony, when I was forced to step away when the dojo closed due to the pandemic.

Oh, we tried the old Zoom training thing, as I posted about here. It was alright, per se… But karate isn’t a knitting circle. Eventually, you need some physical contact with an actual partner in order to train and practice certain techniques. We closed up shop for the summer, as we usually do. As Labour Day came and went, i got a little concerned when I didn’t get the customary “back to the dojo” email that I’ve gotten every year for the past five years. Five years… I’ve been training with the Regina Institute of Kempo Karate for five years, Still feels like yesterday…

Anyway, I got the email on Monday for class on Tuesday evening. I walked into the dojo and time melted away. it was two years ago, before the pandemic and lockdown. The same faces and the same class. the same energy and the same mojo. We were back. I was back. It was glorious. We were all a little excited to be chatting and catching up, so we started a little late. AND we took things a little easy to start off the season (I may or may not have pulled a bicep during a ridge punch) but it was a fantastic class. Next one is tomorrow night and I just can’t wait to get back.

I’ve been so focused on cycling and training by myself, I had almost forgotten the importance and value behind training with others. Who knows what the months to come may bring? With all the variants floating around and the way the world is treating the pandemic, things may lock down again shortly. And if they do, so be it. But when opportunities present themselves, it’s important to jump on them while we can. After all, you never know what you got ’til it’s gone. ☯️

Your Helmet Won’t Stop A Speeding Car…

I grew up during as time when the wearing of bicycle helmets wasn’t really a thing. And how could it be? I couldn’t wear a helmet while wearing earphones to my walkman, now could I? This was long before the advent of earbuds but honestly, as long as I was wearing a ball cap to protect my scalp from the sun and I was home before dark, my parents never imposed the wearing of a bike helmet. These days? Depending on the community you live in, the requirement of a bike helmet may be law. But there isn’t a day where I don’t see multiple people cycling in heavy traffic areas without a helmet.

It is what it is. Some people are more apt to follow rules and best practices than others. But the curious thing is, what purpose does a bike helmet serve? If you’re a young child and you happen to topple sideways on your bike, a helmet may save your skull from cracking on the edge of a sidewalk; no question. But whether you’re a child or an adult, you’re helmet won’t save you from any significant incident, such as getting struck by a moving car. This makes one wonder why it’s considered so necessary on most cases. And this post is about all of those little “rules,” not just bicycle helmets.

The reason behind certain rules and regulations isn’t always clear. And more often than not, it can seem unnecessary and perhaps even excessive. Especially if you find yourself on the receiving end of a penalty in relation to any of it. One good example is last week, when I was issued a traffic ticket for performing an “illegal” turn. I won’t get into the specifics of the ticket, other than to say that I definitely performed the alleged action, and the section of legislation does render it unlawful. So I really can’t argue the traffic ticket. But I couldn’t help but feel that I had done nothing wrong or unsafe and that being issued a ticket because of it was rather ridiculous.

The point behind today’s particular rant, is that even though it seemed perfectly safe and acceptable to me, doesn’t mean that it would be to everyone. In most cases, an incident likely occurred that led to that action becoming unlawful. By that logic, it becomes important for people to observe those laws and abide by them. Not only for their own safety, but the safety of others. At the risk of opening my comments section up to a plethora of argumentative points of view, this concept applies to a lot of rules, regulations and laws that are being enacted in response to the current state of the world. Some of them may seem unfair or excessive, but they all have the aim to protect and safeguard the population as a whole.

Most people can’t discern the difference between their “rights” and doing “what’s right.” The two often don’t go hand-in-hand and don’t always apply to one another. And sometimes, we need to abide by certain rules in order for society to continue to function normally. This is the cost of living in a modern society where we live in mass gathering of populated towns and cities. I’m quite certain that if a vehicle clips me while I’m out cycling, my helmet likely won’t do a damn thing to save me. Just like wearing a face mask “may” do nothing for me or the people around me. But I acknowledge two things: the first is that I can still observe my rights as a person while abiding by the rules. The second is that it costs me nothing, which tends to make peoples’ theatrics over most of these issues more than a bit ridiculous. this is why you’ll always see me do both those things, so long as it’s required of me. Food for thought… ☯️

Six Of One, Half Dozen Of The Other…

That time came once again to visit my endocrinologist. If you read the previous post, my last appointment was last May, when I received news of the lowest A1C reading I’ve had in almost two decades: 6.9. Why is this reading important? For you non-Diabetics, the A1C results basically calculate a Diabetic’s average blood sugars over a period of three months. Although still an important reading, one’s A1C can be manipulated through extreme highs and lows, making it a less efficient means of proper blood sugar control than one’s percentage of “time in range.” Time in range can’t be manipulated; either your blood sugars are good or they aren’t.

I made my way downtown quite early this morning; well before most businesses were open. The air was crisp and the morning had the feeling of autumn. I was only semi-caffeinated but the walk did its job and woke me up properly before I reached the doctor’s office. I was almost half an hour early, which wouldn’t have been an issue, pre-COVID. Now, most clinics and doctors’ offices frown on arriving early, since they try to keep patients from interacting as much as possible. But my laptop was outdated and couldn’t update to support the Medtronic CareLink Uploader, meaning I needed the office staff to do it for me. This did not please them.

Once my pump was uploaded, I saw my endocrinologist and discovered that my A1C had increased to 7.4, which was disappointing but I had expected a rise of some sort. I expected it because I’ve had a significant amount on my plate since the last appointment. Between starting a new job and a new routine in April, we’ve got major renovations happening in the house as well as my son Nathan, deciding to use his bedroom as a public washroom and basically hosing down every corner. This resulted in the removal of the carpet and discovery of asbestos tile, which obviously needed to be replaced. Then, we repainted, put in new flooring and new baseboards and basically dropped some serious G’s into renovating his bedroom far ahead of plan. And budget. FML.

Long story short, added stress and life issues caused some variations in blood sugars that I’m not proud of. What can I say? I’m human and far from perfect. As I said, I expected it. What I didn’t expect, was the increase in cholesterol and blood pressure. To the point that my doctor has increased some of the “preventative” pills that I take. My Endo considered me a bit of a medical oddity, since despite the increase in cholesterol, I somehow managed to lose about ten pounds. Ain’t medicine wonderful? He also added a new pill that would work in tandem with my other medications to help bring my cholesterol and blood pressure in check.

Despite the medicine aspect, we discussed some things that I could do to improve things on my own. The reduction (but not elimination) of sodium in my diet, increased water intake and reduce my alcohol intake (I don’t drink constantly, but everyone could stand to drink less) and ensure I cut back on foods that may be fried or processed. He also suggested trying to eliminate some of the stress in my life. This aspect can be a bit tougher, since some stress is inherent in the course of normal life and can’t necessarily be eliminated.

I left the doctor’s office feeling a little down. It was a strange combination of victory and defeat, considering one of my main goals has been to breach the 200-pound weight level. It was nice to have the doctor acknowledge my hard work in losing ten pounds, even though I haven’t crossed that 200 mark, yet. But the raise in cholesterol is concerning. Certain lifestyle changes will need to take place. I think that first and foremost, and if this wasn’t written here, many who know me wouldn’t believe it, that I need to cut back on the caffeine I consume in a day. I should refocus my efforts towards some herbal teas and water. I can easily recognize that the multiple caffeinated beverages I consume throughout the day easily contributes to my increased blood pressure.

My wife and I have been on a decent salad kick, recently. We fell away from that, somewhat. So tonight’s supper involved some chicken with a very lovely salad. The best part is that there was enough salad left over for me to bring to work tomorrow. The day wasn’t all bad. I got notice today that karate classes will resume tomorrow evening. That’s been a long time coming. I haven’t trained with others since March of 2020, so it’ll be good to get back at it. And last but not least, I’m currently typing this post on my newly purchased MacBook Pro. Since my old laptop could no longer support any updates or sync my phone, I decided it was time. In today’s world of technology, I think that six years is a pretty good lifespan for a computer. ☯️

Adaptation Does Not Mean Depreciation

I’m pretty late getting a blog post written today. That’s what happens when you waste away a cold, cloudy, autumn-like morning by laying in bed longer than you should, followed by dragging your feet at some errands before the work week starts. Luckily, once I was able to sit down in my rocker, play some daily crossword puzzles and get some caffeine into me, all was good.

Nathan and I started our day by having some breakfast (which consisted of cold pizza for me. What?! It’s the weekend…) followed by running to a local department store to grab groceries and items we would need to make it through the week. When we got home, Nathan was hungry again, which he practically always is. I fed him a snack and since the baby was in bed, my wife and I decided a cold, lazy Sunday was an appropriate time for a nap. I convinced Nathan to stay quiet for an hour so that we could lie down.

When we woke up, Nathan decided he wanted to go to the park. Since it’s the weekend and I have no reason to decline his request, I agreed on the condition that we take our bikes. I’m only about halfway towards my current virtual marathon, which requires 508 kilometres on the bike. I’m currently at roughly 200. Today should have been my day to break out a solid 40 or 50-kilometre ride, but the morning left me uninspired due to the cold.

Nathan and I donned our helmets and took to the streets, hellbent on making our way to a local park, which was about a kilometre away. Nathan still has his training wheels on, since he outright refuses to work his legs consistently to get them stronger. I’ve been threatening to remove his training wheels all summer, but I thought this would be a good opportunity for him to ride with me and get a feel for some actual biking that doesn’t simply include doing circles in the driveway.

Riding to the park with Nathan was a learning experience. For one, I got the opportunity to o learn how slowly I can cycle and still maintain my centre of balance on the bike. FYI, it ain’t very slow. But once on the street with me, Nathan gave himself the effort and started to push hard with his legs. He not only kept up at a reasonable pace, he overtook me a couple of times and the grin on his face was worth the slow speed.

His reward was playing at a local park with a batch of kids and making new friends. He even got to pet a dog. And despite not sweating through my fitness gear like I usually do, I added almost 3 kilometres to my virtual marathon. I’ll worry about great distances tomorrow. today, I got my son on the right track to start using his bike not only for recreation but as a source of transportation. And I can certainly appreciate the opportunity. ☯️

How Did I Get Here?

I’ve always made a point of ignoring my birthday. This usually involved working extra hours, burying my head in a book or doing something that kept me out of the limelight in order to allow this day to pass as quickly as possible without drawing attention to it. It doesn’t help that today is usually memorable to most people for different reasons. Then it was made clear to me a few years ago that when you have children, your birthday isn’t JUST about you anymore.

How did the path to my birthday this year come about? Well, let’s see… On Thursday, I had my eye injections. Loads of fun. Because I’m self-masochistic, I endured the evening’s pain without my usual dose of pub beer. I did, however, enjoy a plate of very filling, “Irish” nachos. These are nachos made with cross-track fries instead of nachos. Quite delicious. So, that wasn’t so bad. But the next day on the way home, a lovely officer of the law was kind enough to educate me on a mistake I made by serving me a $233 ticket. That was SO nice of him. Especially since it was for something I technically SHOULD have known but surprisingly didn’t, despite my previous career.

With any luck, I’ll be getting my hands on a raspberry pie this morning. Combined with some time with my family, it should make everything alright. Today is an important day of reflection for me, to examine where I’ve been, what I’ve been through and where i hope to go. The world has changed significantly since I was a kid, and I’m often amazed at the fact that I’m still kicking. But kicking, I am (karate pun fully intended) and I have too many plans and ambitions to slow down now. Here’s hoping the next year brings better tidings than the last three. ☯

The Cost Of Karate

I once wrote a post about the cost of Diabetes supplies and how financially devastating it would be to someone who isn’t lucky enough to have medical coverage. I won’t get into the specifics, since I’ve posted on it before and it can be read here. But there’s no denying that there’s been a noticeable increase in the cost of things, even in JUST the past twenty years. I remember buying my first car when I was 16 years old (that’s the reward of working at a young age, I was able to purchase my own first car) and gasoline prices were in the 50 or 60 cents/litre. When I got fuel for my SUV yesterday, the current cost was 132 cents/litre. Crazy, right?

This increase in cost has affected everything, from food to commodities and leisure products. But it wasn’t until recently that I discovered that it had affected the martial arts world, as well. And why wouldn’t it, right? The costs associated with running a dojo have undoubtedly increased with the years, same as everything else. I’ve just been fortunate enough that it’s never affected me. Between time and circumstances, I was always in a position where inflation never came to my attention, at least not where karate or martial arts was concerned. Until recently.

When I joined karate in 1989, I was paying a monthly tuition of $20/month. That’s it. I bought a GeneSport cotton karate gi for $40 and there was nothing else associated. Of course, Sensei was always the kind of instructor who never charged for anything. He basically charged JUST enough tuition to keep the lights on. That’s it. There was no entry fee, membership dues besides monthly tuition and no charge for sport insurance or any of those things. Obviously, I’m not hear to argue the necessity of those costs in a modern dojo; I’m simply pointing out that they didn’t apply to our dojo.

During the last ten years that I trained in Norther New Brunswick, Sensei announced that due to the school board increasing rental costs for the gym we used, he would have to increase our tuition cost. The irony is most of us were wondering how we would afford a more expensive monthly tuition to keep training. Sensei announced he would be increasing tuition to $25/month. I remember thinking, “Wow, that’s it?” He even asked us if that was okay with us, and we were all fine with it, but I can’t help but wonder what he would have done if we’d all said we weren’t fine with the increase.

Besides that 5-dollar increase in monthly tuition, I’ve never had to worry about increase cost of studying karate. That is to say, besides my own indulgences, such as purchasing a Tokaido or Shureido gi, or purchasing a custom belt with my name on it, when I graduated Shodan. But those are not necessities to studying martial arts. Otherwise, Sensei never charged us for belt tests, certificates or even his time. On reflection, I have to say that I got really lucky in finding him, as the character of one’s Sensei dictates how the pupil will grow or even whether they stick it out.

In 2009, I moved out to Saskatchewan where I joined the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and attended training for six months in Regina. When I completed my training, I was posted to the Province of Saskatchewan and have been here ever since. I was posted in multiple places within the Province but as I was never anywhere for longer than a few years, it made it difficult to commit myself to a local dojo or even open one of my own, which would have been my preference. But in 2016, I transferred to Regina and ultimately retired from the RCMP. We’ve been living in Regina ever since, and the city actually has better than a dozen martial arts schools of varying styles.

For the first time in almost ten years, I found myself searching for a place to train. I had gotten so used to training on my own that it was a bit surreal. I visited a number of dojos, but joining a martial arts school is a very personal and individualized process. Most people don’t understand that different people will be suited only by certain styles. But after visiting some schools, I settled on one and was taken aback at the prospect that monthly tuition was $60/month. This was almost triple what I had been paying a decade earlier. Despite that concern, I joined the club.

I trained with this club for almost two years when issues at work and with the house caused some financial hardship to the extent that I could no longer justify using $60/month for something that I could rightfully be teaching on my own. I made the difficult decision to step away, since I had made friends in this dojo. Luckily, the head instructor’s perspective was in keeping with Sensei’s and he agreed to allow me to train without tuition, given my rank and contribution to the club. It was extremely generous and I accepted.

Then, the pandemic hit and we tried some different things. We used to have training over Zoom, which allowed us to have group exercises and such. But i don’t think I need to explain that martial arts requires contact. I was looking forward to the dojo re-opening with the conditions lessened in our Province. But it doesn’t seem to have happened. The club’s website still indicates it’s closed with no indication of when it may open and no correspondence has been received. Which is odd, but it is what it is.

So I once again started looking for a dojo in which to train. Interestingly, I found a school of traditional karate, which would have been alright. Then I got roundhouse kicked in the face with the reality of inflation. monthly tuition was listed for adult pupils at $95/month! Are you fuckin’ kidding me??? That’s almost $1200/year JUST on tuition, not including the fees for sport insurance and the “mandatory” memberships to certain karate associations. And we all know how I feel about THOSE. Needless to say, it appears as though I’ll be training on my own for the foreseeable future. ☯