Yesterday was Sensei’s birthday. And although I did wish him happy birthday yesterday, it didn’t dawn on me to share the good tidings here. So here we go… Happy Birthday, Sensei. For over three decades, you’ve changed my life, improved my life and motivated my life.
Last week, as part of my all-encompassing plan to better myself as a whole instead of making a New Year’s resolution, I visited a local karate class to see if the style would suit my wants, needs and expectations. Since I’m not here to endorse any one given school or style, I’ll keep what school I visited to myself until I’ve officially joined and have decided to stay in. Although I HAD been training at a local karate school since 2016, the pandemic put a chink in that when restrictions hit and the school was forced to close its doors. At one point, they compromised by having classes over Zoom, which wasn’t great but it kept us all seeing each other and practicing techniques as a group instead of training alone.
The Zoom classes topped without notice and when i inquired about it, I was told they had halted and we would be returning to classes in September. I was happy but also a bit curious as to why I hadn’t been advised. The school opened back up, albeit in limited numbers and with increased restrictions on paired training and direct contact. Fair enough, I could work with that. We got through about a week’s worth of class before the Provincial association that oversees that dojo decided to shut us down due to increased case numbers in Saskatchewan and further restrictions. That was last September. Now, even with most dojos operating, I haven’t heard anything from the school or even know if classes are happening.
On the one side, I could just suck it up and reach out to them. But there’s something tickling the back of my mind about the fact that I was overlooked on the group email that discussed the end of Zoom classes and the start of in-person training. For years, the head instructor’s wife included me on a group email that went out to all students whenever there were cancellations, plans or events. So, it isn’t as though she simply didn’t have my email address or contacts. It’s left a bit of a sour taste and since the basic fundamentals of that style didn’t mix well with mine, I’ve decided it’s simply easier to seek out a new dojo.
I visited a local karate school with a style that’s closely related to my own. There is a school of Uechi Ryu in Alberta, which would be easier than flying 3,400 kilometres to go home for the possibility that Sensei would accommodate me. But I’d still find myself travelling for about 7 to 8 hours by car, would need to take days off of work and leave my wife and children behind as I do. How often could I do that before the cost and the toll would begin to be too much? So, I’m back to the thought of starting over, somewhere else. With that in mind, last Wednesday, I walked into the dojo and introduced myself to a young black belt who was sitting at the door.
Through our conversation, I was honest about the fact that I held a black belt in another style. My preference would have been to keep that information to myself, but he asked if I had trained before and what rank I had obtained. Given my personal policy of honesty, I answered truthfully. When the head instructor arrived, she asked all the same questions and explained that it was up to me how I chose to train; I could wear my black belt and they would integrate me and within a couple of years I could continue on my black belt voyage. Or, I could start from scratch as a white belt but I was warned of how long it would potentially take for me to once again reach black belt grade. Ultimately, not matter what colour is around my waist, I was there to learn.
I was asked why I didn’t bring a gi, to which I answered I preferred to observe a class to see how well I would potentially fit in to how they trained. I was given a place to sit and class begun. I was a bit concerned over the fact that class was only an hour in length. I was raised with classes no shorter than two hours and I had difficulty picturing how they would cover enough material in that amount of time. The previous school I trained in had classes that lasted an hour and a half but they spent 30 to 40 minutes of that time on stretches and warm-ups (which should be done by the practitioner BEFORE class), which pretty much cripple their available time.
I was impressed to see that they spent a brief 10 minutes of calisthenics and warm-ups before moving on to actual, structured techniques and forms. They focused the majority of their time on forms, doing them slowly, quickly, individually and together by count. So comprehensive were they, that I caught myself leaning forward in my seat in anticipation of getting on the floor with them. I found myself trying to analyze their katas and predict their movements. Without trying and without skipping a beat, I became vested in their training and was suddenly immersed. When the hour was done they closed out the class and they were all breathing hard, which is how practitioners should be, after training.
I was totally sold and I told them I would return for the following night’s class. And then life happened… On the following morning, which was a Thursday, I was driving down the main strip on my way to work when I received a warning message on my dashboard that said “SERVICE STABILITRAK.” What the fuck is Stabilitrak??? This was followed by another message that said “TRACTION CONTROL DISABLED” and “ENGINE POWER REDUCED.” What the hell is going on??? Bearing in mind that it was about -50 degrees Celsius with the wind chill, I wasn’t entirely surprised at the vehicle having difficulties.
But the reduction in power caused the vehicle to be unable to go much faster than about 30 km/h. I was driving in a 50 km/h zone, so you can imagine the plethora of car horns and middle fingers I was subjected to, during this time. Don’t believe all the hype about Canadian friendliness. It ain’t all maple syrup and Timbits! I managed to make it into work, albeit much slower than usual. I took a few moments to search online for the messages I received and confirmed that it could be some significant issues with the accelerator assembly and that I should get it looked at. I managed to book an appointment for 8:45 that morning. The current time was 8:20.
I updated my boss about my short-term absence and drove to the repair shop and dropped off my vehicle. I was told that they had vehicles that were brought in the previous day that they hadn’t looked at yet and that I would need to leave my car with them for the entire day. I was a little pissed about the fact I had scheduled an appointment and now it wasn’t being honoured, but the vehicle needed to be checked over so I took advantage of their shuttle service and made my way home, where I worked remotely for the remainder of the day.
It was a little after 4 pm when they finally called to say the repairs were completed. I asked for their shuttle to come pick me up, which I was told would take upwards of an hour. By the time I reached the repair shop, it was about 5:30 pm and then i had to fill the tank, putting me back home at about 6 pm. Then, supper had to be made to feed the kids and my oldest had a batch of addition flashcards sent home by his teacher since he was apparently unable to perform basic math when asked. Lovely. Where I’m going with this is that I didn’t make karate class, which is unfortunate as I was hoping to see how well my gi fit after gaining my COVID gut.
Here we are on Sunday, and the next class is tomorrow. I’m trusting the fates to make it possible for me to attend without throwing any other monkey wrenches into my gears. After the last few years I’ve had, it would be nice if life would stop kicking me when I’m down. Hopefully, with a bit of effort and luck, I can make it to karate on Monday and start a new leg of my martial arts journey without any further issue. Here’s hoping… ☯️
It’s a bit ironic that I’m writing this post on a Monday, since I took this week off. While most people tend to focus taking time off during the week of Christmas, my wife and I took this week off, keeping us at home during the week leading up to New Year’s. The reason I say it’s ironic, is because this post was prompted by a conversation I had at work. I was chatting with one of my employees about the fact that everyone is good at SOMETHING, but that the path they walk will ultimately be different. Even if two people train to master the martial arts, the environment, conditions and motivation behind doing so will differ.
This is important because in life, there will be things you will be good at and some things that you’ll basically suck at. And the latter part is okay. No one is meant to be absolutely fantastic at everything and the ones who say they are, are not only lying to themselves, they’re lying to everyone to whom they say it. I’m not saying that there won’t be some people who won’t have a natural tendency to be good at things in general. I’m referring mostly to achieving some mastery over a particular thing. For example, most people don’t know that I tried a variety of martial arts styles before I landed on karate.
Some of those styles were very good, in their own way. But if I based my decision to pursue the martial arts based on the results of those attempts, I never would have gotten to where I am now. I still remember my first visit to a Tae Kwon Do class and realizing that I had neither the skill, ability or motivation to go spinning through the air like a top to land a kick. Even at the young age I was, I couldn’t understand why they didn’t just kick in a more straightforward manner instead of trying for all the high-flying fanciness… but I digress…
One can’t be good at everything. And that’s okay but it’s something you have to make your peace with. You have to be okay with it. Because the time you spend pining over what you may have realized you’re not good at, could be time used to pursue and achieve things that you ARE good at. That would be a terrible waste and even the things that you may be good at, need to be pursued and strived for. None of it will ever happen on its own. So push hard and be okay with your failures; they’re al part of the journey. Food for thought… ☯️
People love to have their own personal sense of style. And that’s all right, provided you aren’t wearing to doing something that racist or criminal, of course. But there are aspects of one’s clothing that need to be taken into consideration if you practice the martial arts. I’ll be the first one to say that fighting should always be the last recourse. But once the fight is inevitable, it’s incumbent on you to ensure that you walk away safe and whole once the encounter is over.
The type of clothing you wear can have a direct impact on the outcome of a fight, especially if the clothing you’re wearing is confining, restrictive or has accessories that may hinder or get in the way of a safe encounter. So let’s start from the bottom and work our way up, shall we? As a karateka, kicking holds particular importance as kicks are an integral part of my art. So let’s start with footwear.
In the dojo, most practitioners will be bare-footed. I say “most,” because there will the odd exception of some students wearing athletic footwear or so-called “Kung fu shoes.” But for the most part, we spend our time on the mats bare-footed. For the sake of form and muscle memory, this is fine. So picture doing a front kick… In Uechi Ryu, we practices the front kick by pointing the big toe towards our target. Some other style will strike using the ball of the foot, some will use the heel. It all depends on what style and technique you use.
Now, picture being on the street during the winter months, wearing thick winter boots with little to no flexibility. Executing a front kick in the way you’ve trained to do so may not be possible. You’ll notice I said “the way you’ve trained” and not “the right way,” because the correct way to kick is subjective to one’s style and technique. But trying to execute your kick with restrictive footwear will result in either improper technique, inability to deliver the kick or perhaps even some level of injury, your opponent taking advantage of the situation notwithstanding.
Your pants or shirt/sweater can have the same issue. Hell, if you’re wearing a coat of a sweater, you’ll hinder yourself, as well. Most martial arts practitioners will be used to wearing a loose-fitting gi or fitness apparel that will allow freedom of movement for your techniques ands blocks. But wearing regular street clothes can present unique challenge, especially if they’re restrictive and/or form-fitting. If your jeans are so tight that you can barely lift and bend your leg, you’ll easily find yourself compromised as it relates to using your kicks.
Coats and tops present the same problem. Uechi Ryu uses some rather circular blocks and having a thick, winter coat would hinder the proper execution of a lot of these coats. All of this is bearing in mind that one should be able to find an alternative, of course. Proper martial arts shouldn’t be restricted to a limited set of techniques. And by no means am I suggesting that one shouldn’t wear specific types of clothing. My goal is simply to get one’s mind turned towards the potential obstacle and take it into consideration. After all, the average person, even a martial artist, won’t spend their days fighting.
I know some people who prefer slim-fitting clothes, which can be fine. Not for me, since it tends to make me look like someone poured too much batter into the muffin cup. But it’s important to be cognizant of what may restrict or hinder you, should you need to protect yourself or someone else. I’m a boot cut jeans kind of guy and I usually manage to find those jeans that have one or two percent spandex in them, making the denim flexible enough to kick properly. I also make sure they fit properly as opposed to looking like a second skin. this ain’t yoga class! Food for thought… ☯️
Maintaining one’s health is important, especially when dealing with the complications of Type-1 Diabetes. T1D has enough side effects and complications on its own without adding to the burden. But the truth is, maintaining one’s fitness comes at a price, as well. Between pulled muscles, aches, pains, sores, excessive sweating and dehydration, there are many issues that working out can carry. And although all things are best in moderation, anyone who’s read my posts already knows that my opinion on fitness is that it SHOULD involve blood, sweat and tears in order to reach one’s fitness goals.
There’s one issue that faces a lot of athletes and people who work out that most don’t talk about. It’s a real pain, it’s annoying and it can be unseemly because of the effect it causes. I’m talking about jock itch. Although named because it’s often associated with athletes who sweat a lot (and because it’s pre-dominantly occurs on the inner thighs and near the groin), jock itch is actually a fungal infection that develops a red, itchy rash around the warm, moist areas of the body. So it would make sense that it would occur in the inner thighs, as most people tend to keep that area covered up when doing cardio and working out, since exercising nude in public is frowned upon. Prudes.
Realistically, despite its name, jock itch isn’t JUST experienced by athletes. It can develop in non-active individuals who may sweat excessively, have excess body weight or who are simply experiencing the rigours of the summer heat. According to a post by The Mayo Clinic, jock itch is uncomfortable and bothersome but usually isn’t serious. The treatment often involves keeping the area clean and dry and potentially using an anti-fungal cream to help clear it up. The awkward part comes from the fact that given the itchy nature of jock itch, it may look like you’re compulsively scratching your groin, which can be awkward.
The article goes on to explain that you can be at greater risk of jock itch if you are male, wear tight underwear, are overweight or sweat excessively, have a weakened immune system or have Diabetes. Great. Lovely. those last two should give you a bit of a hint about how I came to write this post. But jock itch is usually caused by the same fungus that causes athlete’s foot, which is why it’s so important to ensure that you stay clean, stay dry and change out your underwear and treat athlete’s foot, should you have it, in order to prevent its spread to the groin.
Given that I’m citing some facts from the Mayo Clinic’s website, which is one of my favourite sources of medical information, I’ll point out that another of my favourite sites, WebMD, reflects the information I’ve shared here, almost word for word. The only exception is that it states that you don’t need to be male or an athlete in order to get it. If it doesn’t clear up on its own after a few days of daily cleaning, staying dry and changing out your underwear, over-the-counter anti-fungals from your local pharmacy can help move things along and clear it up faster.
Yes, it’s pretty gross but it’s the reality of fitness and wellbeing and in some cases, even if you aren’t active. The anti-fungals I mentioned come in a variety of types, including ointments, sprays and powders. It can be tough to stay on top of, especially if you have an intense workout followed by sitting in your own sweat for an hour or two until you’re able to get to a shower. Planning ahead can help. Keep a small container fo talcum or baby powder in your gym bag and give your “areas” a sprinkle before your workout to prevent unwanted friction while running and to keep the area cool and dry. Then, give it another sprinkling AFTER the workout to help dry things up until you reach a shower.
Using baby powder in your fitness shoes can be a great help, as well. preventing athlete’s foot is almost as important as treating jock itch, since one can lead to the other. It can be an embarrassing and uncomfortable condition, especially since one’s daily life won’t allow for one to constantly be scratching one’s groin. But proper prevention and treatment can go a long way towards ensuring that jock itch will be one less problem you’ll have to deal with while travelling on your fitness journey. ☯️
As a general rule, I always try to give people the benefit of the doubt and think the best. However, over a decade’s worth of dealing with the light and dark side of society has caused a healthy level of paranoia within me. Even now, when I go to pubic places, I usually try to tactically place myself in such a way as to have a clear view of all exits, be able to survey the whole room and prevent anyone from being able to sneak up behind me. Is it a bit much? Maybe. I just know that’s it’s kept me alive through a rather colourful policing career for quite a number of years.
The problem comes when someone is the polar opposite of what I described in the first paragraph. For the most part, members of the public have their heads down in their devices or are generally oblivious to the world around them as they wander; a habit that can be dangerous and even deadly in the wrong circumstances. As a martial artist, I’ve spent years training myself to be aware of my surroundings and be vigilant. To some, this may mean I’m paranoid. But a little “healthy” paranoia can keep you safe…
Many say that the world has become a dangerous place but I would argue that it has always been dangerous. It’s one’s exposure or lack thereof, that lends to one’s perspective. But make no mistake, danger is consistently around us in some given way, shape or form. There are some statistics (although i couldn’t locate concrete ones) about the fact that every person will cross paths will a killer at some point in their lives. Am I being a little too dark? Is my perspective on the world skewed? Maybe. But maybe not…
Last Thursday, I took the bus to work as my wife needed the family car to run some errands. Nothing out of the ordinary for us and we happen to have a bus stop ten feet from our house that drops me off a five-minute walk from my office building, downtown. Doesn’t get any more perfect than that. I was dressed and ready, had change in my pocket and was out the door with only five minutes to wait until my bus rolled up and I hopped on. Morning was going according to plan. What more could I ask for?
As part of my general sense of wellbeing, I walked to the rear of the bus and took a seat on the far right side of the rear bench. As described above, this allowed me a clear view of all the other passengers of the bus and all the exits. Given that it was about 6:40 in the morning, there were only two other people on the bus, but one of them was sitting on the far left seat of the rear bench as well. Clothed in a dark hoodie with their hood up and head down, I wasn’t able to make out any facial features and couldn’t even tell if it was a guy or a girl.
The bus moved into motion and I did my usual, which was to text my wife and observe my surroundings. Given the events in 2008, where a man was stabbed and beheaded while on a Greyhound bus in Manitoba, I make a point never to be asleep or inattentive on public transit. Again, maybe that’s my paranoia being somewhat on the excessive side. But that morning, it paid off as I dealt with a rather unusual situation.
As I was looking out my window, I turned my head and glanced in the direction of the individual on the bench with me. Although my eyes didn’t linger on the person, I suddenly did a double-take as I noted the person appeared to be staring straight at me! this wasn’t subtle; their head was turned directly to the side and their eyes were locked on mine as we sat there. I held eye contact for several moments, thinking they might say something but nothing came. I finally broke the silence and asked the individual if I could help them with something, to which I received a deep, rasping response of, “No.”
The creepiness factor sent chills down my spine and I’ll admit that I removed my gloves and unzipped my coat as I anticipated this person might attack me in some way. We all have an latent survival instinct that warns us of impending danger; some call it “lizard brain.” This is the sort of feeling that came over me in that moment. The odd thing is, despite the depth of the voice, I still couldn’t tell if it was male or female. I was moments away from needing a clean pair of pants when the individual pulled the “stop requested” cable, stood up and waited at the bus exit until the bus came to a stop. The individual dismounted. All of this, while maintaining eye contact with me.
Was I familiar to this person? Did they think I was someone they knew? Is it someone I possibly arrested during my policing career? A dozen questions ran through my mind as we rolled away. I calmed significantly once we had driven a ways down the road and I knew there was some distance between this person and myself. It was certainly a creepy experience and I have no idea what it was all about, but it stands as a good example of why one should always be aware of their surroundings and not lost in their device or asleep when out and about. You never know what could happen. ☯️
I don’t know if any of you have experienced this… Those of you who are reading from a country that doesn’t get snow every year likely haven’t… I remember being in grade school during the winter, and we’d often try to make a giant snowman. This would usually include gathering snow and slowly starting to roll it so that the ball would get bigger and bigger until we were ready too use it as our base. Then we’d start the process over in order to make a smaller one for the torso, followed by an even smaller one still, for the head.
It was loads of fun and usually ate up recess and lunch hour for a couple of days (weather pending) until we had our gargantuan snowman completed. The key to a successful construction was to go slow and be gentle. If you had even one of the participants push too hard, force at the wrong time or go against the flow of movement we had going, the snowball would fall apart. Even though a certain level of strength/force is required to get such an amount of snow moving, it’s the amount of force and how it’s applied that makes the difference. This concept can be easily applied to the martial arts. But today, I’ll address two different perspectives; force and size.
First, let me make a statement that’s seldom heard from guys… Size matters! And before y’all go thinking I’m being lewd, I mean the size of a person, overall. Let’s examine this from a real-world perspective for a moment. You find yourself in a situation where it appears that things are going to take a violent turn. Setting aside the fact that there’s always an alternative to fighting for a moment, you square off with your opponent as you fight off your body’s fight or flight instinct and brace yourself for the physical confrontation that’s about to take place…
You size up your opponent… Maybe they’re the same approximate size and body mass as you are. This would be good. That would mean that the outcome of the fight will be dependent solely on individual skill, mixed with a generous sprinkling of luck. But let’s assume for a moment, that your opponent has a significant weight advantage on you. 60, 80, maybe even 100 pounds of added weight. It’s safe to say that if they manage to land a strike against you with that bulk, they’re going to do damage, regardless of your skill.
This may be an unpopular opinion for those who enjoy seeing the little person overcome the larger enemy. We all have a David and Goliath story to draw from, and there’s a reason why that story has endured for so long (besides where it originates from). People love seeing the little guy win… It’s an example of overcoming great opposition when faced with impossible odds. I get it. It’s inspirational. It just isn’t very realistic. The idea that someone who weighs, let’s say 150 pounds can fend off and win against someone who may be 250 pounds is reasonably laughable. is it impossible? Of course not. Is it unlikely? Pretty much.
That may be an unpopular opinion among those who train in a dojo where everyone is taught material in a consistent fashion and they like to encourage their students that proper skill will allow you to overcome any enemy. And I’ll admit and believe that increased fighting skill will certainly be an asset if you find yourself against a larger opponent. But if that larger opponent manages to lock a hand on you and deliver a strike, all the training in the world won’t help you if you’re unconscious.
Now that I’ve likely pissed off half of my martial arts readers, let’s get into some physics and the aspect of not forcing things. Martial arts employs more physics than your 11th grade physics teacher knows. After all, this is the physics formula for Force:
F = m x a
For those of you who slept through high school physics, this formula basically tells us that Force will be equal to the mass of a given object times its acceleration. This is important in the martial arts because a 1-pound weight moving at a given acceleration will do as much damage as a 2-pound weight moving at half that acceleration. Make sense? Or did I just give everyone nightmarish flashbacks of school where they couldn’t wrap their heads around the concept? The important thing to remember is that speed and acceleration can be important in the amount of force that a given strike will deliver.
Problematically, the martial arts are not designed to be learned using maximum force. You can’t, really. One needs to take the time to properly learn the nuances of particular technique and develop some muscle memory before putting the full strength that one’s body allows behind it. Soft and slow can lead to hard and fast. And in the martial arts, it almost always does. Take Tai Chi as a good example…. When Tai Chi is mentioned, most people picture groups of people in a public park, swaying and moving slowly like a pack of zombies. Most wouldn’t associate Tai Chi with a combat art, but it’s actually based on a very effective and powerful style of Kung Fu.
It may seem a little convoluted, as I seem to be indicating that bigger and stronger will always win while simultaneously claiming that you have to take things soft and slow in order to become faster and stronger. The former won’t be true, 100% of the time. But the latter is. At least in my experience, they are. There may be some who would view it differently and have a different perspective. But that’s why I have a comments section and why I always invite good discussion and conversation. ☯️
I’ve often said that choosing a martial art to study and practice is an extremely subjective thing. And it is! Not only does one have different types of martial arts to choose from (striking, grappling, weapons-based, etc) each of those types have different schools and styles to choose from, often differing from one another on some very key levels. For example, although I study Okinawan karate, not all Okinawan karate dojos will offer the same aspects I may be looking for.
The thing is, there really isn’t a BAD reason to join a martial arts school, unless you or reason is because you want to actively bring harm to someone else. Notice that I didn’t say it was bad to defend yourself, but I would be lying if I hadn’t encountered a bully or two walking into my dojo over the decades. If your goal is to learn how to fight so you can bully, intimidate or harm others, good luck finding a good instructor who will be willing to teach you.
A few years ago, when I started the challenging task to find a new dojo to train in by virtue of being 3,400 kilometres away from Sensei, I coined the term “Coffee Club Dojo.” This refers to a dojo or martial arts school where the students and/or practitioners spend the majority of the class joking around, chatting slit about non-dojo-related matters and waste their time. This grates on my last nerve, and can make it difficult for a prospective student to positively identify whether the style in question may be suited to them.,
What’s the difference, you ask? The difference between a McDojo and a Coffee Shop Dojo is that a McDojo teaches a watered-down version of a specific art in the interest of maintaining the highest student count possible and making the most money. Students will often climb in rank quickly, provided their cheques clear and they’re willing to pay any associated fees. A Coffee Shop Dojo is one where financial gain may not be a priority and may not even be a consideration, but the student body treat the dojo as a social club rather than a place to learn. The instructor in these schools will often be complacent about this behaviour and may even take part in it.
I know what some of you may be thinking…. If these folks are treating their dojo as their own personal social club and use it to socialize, who are they hurting? there’s no bad reason to be in martial arts, right? Well, the problem I have with this type of environment is that it may sway or provide a wrong impression to a prospective student. Although most individuals should know what they want out of their training, it’s very possible that some wouldn’t. Further, some youths who may be brought in by their parents may not have the inherent knowledge to recognize that this may not be the place to get the best training.
Ultimately, preference is key and knowing what you want is important. that’s why it’s critical that you allow yourself the opportunity to observe a class before participating. you need to have the opportunity to ask some questions and get a feel for how those questions will be answered. If your goal is to LEARN the martial arts and get in shape, learn to defend and protect yourself and better yourself, a casual, laid back atmosphere may not be for you. But if you’ve never set foot in a martial arts dojo before, how will you know? And THAT is the question that begs answering…
When you practice an art that’s suited to you and your needs, there will be struggle. But it should be smooth-flowing. there will be difficulty, but you’ll be energized and have a hunger that will make you want to train harder, faster and stronger. there may be blood, sweat and tears but as I shared in a previous post some time ago, he who sweats more in training, bleeds less in battle. Martial arts is a subjective thing. Be sure you exercise that choice and find something suited to you. Food for thought… ☯️
Those who know me well are aware that in some ways, a lot of ways, I’m a bit of an old dog. And we all know what they say about the aching us new tricks. I’ve been studying Okinawan karate for over 30 years and as such, I’m a bit set in my ways as it relates to adaptability. This sucks, because variety is the spice of life and one should never be bogged down or restricted by only one style.
With that in mind, I started training with a local karate dojo located in Regina, back in 2016. Although it’s a different style with significantly different techniques and ways of doing things than I’m used to, the camaraderie and ambiance have been just what the doctor ordered to keep me motivated and practicing. What’s nice is that there’s been some exchange of knowledge between our respective styles, so everyone learns.
However, as with most things nowadays, COVID-19 stuck a needle in my eye by closing down the dojo. We were having virtual classes for a while and then even those stopped. When conditions lifted in Saskatchewan last September, everyone was overjoyed to return to the dojo in person and get some training in. Then conditions and health regulations changed once again at the end of September, leading the dojo to close its doors again. this was mostly due to the requirements imposed by the martial arts association it’s a part of. but I digress…
With nowhere to train and my martial arts muscles twitching, I sought out different schools in order to find someplace new to get my kicks (pun fully intended). Last Monday, I visited a local school, here in Regina. Since perspective is extremely important in the martial arts and all of this is strictly my opinion, I won’t name the school or even the style. Suffice it to say it would have been something completely new for me.
Considering how long I’ve been doing this, i have a particular set of expectations when it comes to dojos and martial arts schools. Not everyone agrees with them and it often restricts me in the sense that I’m viewing this place with that narrow lens instead of considering what I could learn. This is the issue I faced last Monday evening when I attended this new school.
Class was scheduled for 7:00 pm and was only for an hour. This is my first red flag. Class minimum was always two hours when I trained back home and even then, we had difficulties walking out without showering Sensei with questions and asking about techniques for at least twenty minutes afterwards. It’s pretty hard to truly get into in-depth training with only an hour to work with. But in the interest of having an open mind, I reserved my opinion in favour of seeing what they’d offer in only sixty minutes.
I walked in at 6:45 and was greeted at the entrance by a few students who were standing there waiting. This took me aback a bit, as it’s important to stretch and warm up before training. Everyone was very friendly, introduced themselves and asked me what I knew about their style. I was told that the lead instructor was providing a private session and that class would start promptly at 7. Prior to class start, the students as well as the instructor tried their best to have me join in as opposed to watching. I politely declined, stating I wanted to observe a class first.
I couldn’t help but notice that the lead instructor was wearing a hooded sweatshirt and a baseball cap. I thought maybe this was just for the private session and he’d change into something appropriate before class started, but that didn’t happen. He was also wearing rings and a metal bracelet, which is frowned upon in most martial arts schools as you can injure yourself or others while training.
The class started and one of the students led the class in about 20 to 30 minutes worth of stretches and warm-up, which should have been done independently by the students prior to start of class. But again, this is simply an opinion. At the halfway point, everyone paired off and started practicing techniques. It should be noted that the instructor has done nothing at this point, other than walking around the group. Techniques were practiced in a cursory manner, with no precision or correction and EVERYONE was chatting while they trained. Not about the material, moons you. They were chatting about personal matters.
At the end of the hour, everyone bowed out and immediately started exiting. No follow up, no questions and most importantly, no one had broken a sweat and the instructor had not participated. He was extremely polite and invited me back to start taking lessons. I thanked him for his time and said some goodbyes to the students I had met and made my way home. I haven’t returned.
This is where my opening comment about being an old dog comes in. Where I was trained, the student was responsible for arriving a minimum of 15 minutes before start of class and stretching appropriately so that everyone was ready to jump into it once class started. There’s also an expectation that everyone works hard and everyone sweats. The expression is “blood, sweat and tears,” not “tea time and socializing.” There’s a time and place for students to come together and chat, but during class time is not it.
Another issue is the instructor’s lack of involvement. This is a red flag, as the instructor SHOULD be involved in training, as much if not more than the students. I’ve heard of some styles that believe that “black belts don’t sweat,” but that’s utter bullshit. A true martial artist’s training never ends, so there needs to be an active involvement.
I left the school that night a little sad and disappointed. As I said earlier, I haven’t returned. But on the other hand, the school may have great value to its students for what THEY need. The takeaway is that it simply wasn’t for me. And this is an important lesson. Martial arts is very subjective thing and the style and habits of the school are integral to ensuring the student and/or practitioners are getting what they seek from their training.
As it stands, the search for a place to train continues. And that’s fine. Considering how much I train on my own and the fact there are over three dozen schools in Regina alone, I’m sure I’ll find something. Persistence is key. But for all of you trying to find a place to train, make sure you know what you want to get out of your training. Be honest with yourself and with the instructor about what you want and what you expect. This will save significant amount of unwanted difficulty later on. ☯️
I found this little gem some time ago while wandering the World Wide Web. As it pertains to martial arts training, it suggests a pretty important lesson. That being that the more you push yourself and sweat in training, you’re less likely to get the shit beat out of you in an actual fight. How nice of me to make the lesson so much less elegant, eh?
But I think this could definitely apply to just about any situation in one’s life. Work, personal relationships, exercise… everything! The point being, that if you put in your best effort in the here and now, you’ll likely save yourself some negatives results and/or outcomes further down the road. A quick and easy lesson for today. Food for thought…☯️
The Blogging Buddhist 