Category: Martial Arts

Martial Arts

Believing in your children, believing in your students…believing in yourself

Morning,

Yesterday’s karate class was (as always!) quite an eye-opening experience. Ever since last week when our beloved sensei drilled us until exhaustion (but he didn’t break us!), my family has adored going to Wednesday classes. We view it as an Ultimate Challenge – will we survive without asking for a break? Will our warrior will beat that of our sensei? etc.etc.etc.

Anywhos, alas, yesterday brought a number of newcomers to the class, so the desired “Go ahead! You can’t break me!” test of wills didn’t happen. Wah! But! During one of our drills, we had to kick a pad down the room one way, and then back up the next.

My eldest daughter went against our beloved sensei…and when she threw her first kick, he….

Didn’t budge.

Didn’t move.

Just gave her a look that said, you honestly expect me to believe that’s your best?

It took three kicks before he finally did move. And he kept up that intensity the whole time….resulting in my daughter doing approximately 3 times the number of kicks the other students did.

Now, keep in mind the following. I had given permission for my kids to be tested at the toughest level possible….and wow oh wow, but my daughter finally gave a performance she didn’t realize she had in her.

Simply because….her sensei held her to a high standard.

I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to let kids know you believe in them…and to shun half-buttocked attempts and demand the very best they can do. My family is really lucky – all of our senseis at our dojo really know how to bring out the best in kids (adults too!).

So! The next time your child whines about something being too hard…and you know they can rise to the challenge – demand it. You might be surprised at the response.

Enjoy,

Barbara

ps – Need some good study aids? Consider:

I am Woman, I am Mommy, I am Me, hear me Roar!

Morning,

A few days ago, I experienced one of the most empowering karate sessions in months! Class size was at a minimum (6 kids plus yours truly – many parent teacher conferences), so our beloved sensei decided to drill us in hand techniques until ideally, our arms fell off.

Now, here is some background. We did the same thing last week only with legs, but because I cannot kick well, I wasn’t able to participate fully. But this time, hand techniques are my specialty, so I decided to ramp up the intensity by proclaiming, hah, you can’t break me!

30 minutes later everyone’s arms in class were quite aching, but nothing that was utter agony for me. But! Our next challenge was to do 10 punches and then 10 pushups, ….repeated a total of three times.

It never fails. If I’m preparing for a massive physical effort, be it pushups, sparring, fighting, etc., I mentally go into myself, the world fades, and all that’s in my vision is my goal that I must first conquer and then utterly decimate. My kids noticed me getting quieter and quieter and more and more focused, and when it was my turn, I …. whupped everyone’s rear with my abilities! :) In other words, I was the only one to successfully complete the challenge without collapsing; I knew I’d succeed and didn’t have to think about it twice.

That by itself was wondrous, but the next hour capped the physical exertion – it was kendo “let’s watch Mrs. Ling get toasted with her non-existent blocks!” time! Lots of the class was spent doing footwork drills and then during sparring, yet again, I felt the full power of one of our main kendo guys. But this time, no fear ensued – I simply learned from the experience and then thanked him again.

After that hour, I picked up my kids – they had wilted due to aikido and the earlier karate time, while I was pumped up and ready to spar anything that looked at me askancely. :) My gosh, have the times changed….I may be a weee bit older than, say, the last Ice Age, but wow, I’m doing peachy. It’s really quite an eyeopening thing.

Time to start the morning,

Barbara

ps – Being toasted can actually be a good thing! Consider:

Courage consists of hanging on one minute longer

It’s amazing what the body can do when the mind is in the zone.  Virtually the entire time at karate was spent by me repeating to myself, I can DO this… I CAN do this.   It was a mental struggle for me but I overcame it.  I think I’m getting closer and closer to the end of my rope; I really hope I can get my leg surgerized soon.

Witnessing my own deterioration is rather character-building, I must admit.  I view that I have two choices – I can either give into despair, or challenge myself to succeed (without damaging my bones, of course).   It’s truly amazing how you can discover wells of personal strength you never really knew you possessed…until it flourishes to your very being.

I survived both classes today, I’m proud to announce.  But the neat thing was when I walked out the dojo door, I noticed for the first time the big huge tree on the other side of the street.  The wind was picking up something fierce, and the leaves/branches were whipping back and forth with great intensity.  BOOM!  I was transported back to my college days, when I walked the golf course during a hurricane (betcha you weren’t expecting that!) – I had become one with the passion and fury of nature and simply gave myself up to the experience.

It reminded me of how when I was 14 years old, I used to roam the forests and lands around my home with my dog Buddy (a german shepard collie mutt, named for the first Seeing Eye dog back in 1927).  When emotions got tough to deal with, I used to “go to ground” in nature; I’d listen to the secrets whispered by the pines and learn the wisdom of the winds.   Fierce buffeting winds never frightened me; instead I saw my soul commune with the nature around me.

And now, decades later…I find myself still returning to my roots.  After coming home from karate and seeing how the wind picked up, I decided to do my circle walk one last time….and became one with the winds whistling through the trees.  Gosh it was cold, but my soul was quieted and calmed.

I can DO this.  I can, and I will.

You see, when the going gets tough and you want to give up, you simply have to repeat to yourself, I can DO this, and perhaps, courage consists of hanging on, one minute longer.  And then after that, one minute more.  And another minute, and another… and soon you’ll see you have overcome your challenge.

You are who you are…but you can also choose who you become.  And right now, methinks I’m on the right path for me.

Night night,

Barbara

One of the super awesome benefits to losing weight

Morning,

Yesterday’s Kendo class was beyond superb!

True, alas, the person who flattened me last week didn’t bring his armor, but hey. That’s okay; I was able to spar against other extremely talented folks as well. And also true, alas, I was rather, ahem, not exactly skillful….but! I was able to lose myself a bit and counter a good number of strikes that came down on my head.

In other words, I did ‘way better than last week!

This morning, I awakened to a beautifully tinted bruise on my side. The colors are most engaging! :) And my first thought upon spying it was….pride. Not so much, pride that I’m black and blue, but pride that I’m in good enough condition that I can throw myself wholeheartedly into a young person’s sport…and make it my own.

This is a super side-benefit to losing weight! I’m so self-confident now that I adore pitting myself against challenges that would have left me whimpering last year.

You know, you can hear until the cows come home how wonderful it is to get healthy and lose weight….but until you actually witness the magic and see it manifest itself in your reflection, you just have no idea how truly superb this realization can be!

Which brings me to the point of this post. Losing weight and getting healthy isn’t only about being thin. No sirree! It’s also about letting out the inner you – that self-confident person whose courage has been stilted by that little voice of shame and fear. There’s even a discussion going on about that very topic here.

What do you think?

Best wishes,

Barbara

ps – One of my favorite treatments for muscle pains are below!

Fighting past the fear part II

Well! Today is Kendo class, my favorite martial arts weapons activity.

Last week, I was beyond utterly decimated in sparring; I was toasted past recognition. It was quite a character building experience, and I did make certain to use it to teach my kids rather valuable ideas about fear, bravery and the like.

Today, I have committed to myself that I will participate with 110% enthusiasm again. I have been analyzing my lack of skills, and realize that I need to improve my speed and coordinate. Towards that, I took a cane with me on my 2.4 mile circle walk, and practiced over-head strikes during the majority of the distance.

Yes, even I couldn’t justify swinging a wooden sword out in public. :)

So my arms are quite tired but hopefully the muscle memory is building. One of my kids loves nunchaku, another lives for sais…I’ve decided that the sword will be the martial arts weapon that I shall master. You heard it here first. :)

Enjoy,

Barbara

ps – Kendo hails from the Way of the Warrior or the Samurais. Check out these neat things:

Acupressure, muscle rub, weight lifting and karate, oh my!

I’m intense.

Yes indeed, I finally have accumulated enough self-knowledge to realize, I throw myself in 110% whenever attempting new and/or challenging activities…to the point one simply has to wonder about my sanity.

Take yesterday. Please. Yesterday, I took my boys to Sesame Place and let me tell you, discovered that what is easy as pie to small boys is agonizing torture to dignified mommies like myself. I refer, of course, to the Bridge of Eternal Doom, otherwise known as the Nets n Climb – a delightful (she said, snorting her coffee in disbelief) 3 story structure made of ropes, nets and various assorted knee-bruising extras. My boys happily scampered thru this monument of shoe-lace knotting, requiring me to dash in after them.

So! You know those cute little rope tubes? Did you know there’s corrugated metal that supports them? And while little boy knees stay happily above this ferocious metal beastie, buff mommy knees produce metal-attraction-sensors that magically attracts black and blue marks?

No?

Aren’t you glad you’re reading this posting and learning? :)

That by itself wasn’t too agonizing. It was today that did me in, it was. This morning, I figured, golly! I didn’t get enough exercise except for bruising my body yesterday! Why not do my beloved 2.4 mile circle walk but add the unmitigated thrills of jogging 1.8 miles of it! Wheeeeeeeee!

Even that, gentle reader, was peachy. I was still alive and bleeping! But no oh no, I had to realize that today is ‘bash the body day’ (ie, become one with the iron at the gym), and tra-la-laed my way there with me hubby.

Now that….that…..that…..was utter exhaustion! So much so to the point that I dropped my intensity down 23 notches…which still wasn’t enough. My trapezius muscles were in utter fatigue, so I stopped my workout and applied some quick-fix acupressure. That provided some relief…and I completed my workout.

After I crawled to the locker room, I had enough sense to slather my body with menthol muscle-rub and give myself permission to slow down. Muscle rub and acupressure are truly gifts of the gods when your energy level is flatter than a steam-rollered breadcrust.

Which brings me to the point of this blog posting!! Acupressure rules and massage! Never be afraid to stop your workouts or your karate or your whatevers to take good care of your own aching muscles – that can grealy alleve pain and give you the fortitude to continue.

Here are some great acupressure and massage resources:

I’m lucky; I’ve learned one heck of a lot about acupressure and massage over the years, and can take care of my family/friends whenever pains get too much. It’s something you should learn too! Your loved ones will thank you for it.

Enjoy,

Barbara

ps – some neat acupressure goodies are:

Kendo sword practicing builds strong arms!

Morning,

Yesterday I finally taught myself the 8 basic cuts while my kids were riding their bikes outside.

It’s *really* annoying to see teenagers completely whip your rear during practice…so I decided enough was enough.

As taken from USA Dojo:

The main cuts or thrusts that may be delivered in kendo are limited as follows:

  • (1) oshomen – a downward cut aimed at the center of the forehead;
  • (2) hidarimen – a diagonal cut to the left side of the face mask;
  • (3) migimen – a diagonal cut to the right side of the face mask;
  • (4) migido – a diagonal cut to the right side of the breastplate;
  • (5) gyakudo – a diagonal cut to the left side of the breastplate;
  • (6) kote – a cut at the right wrist or lower forearm;
  • (7) hidari kote – a cut at the left wrist or lower forearm; and
  • (8) tsuki – a thrust at the throat.

The neat thing about sword practice is it really does seem to build up your arm muscles. I really want to build muscle memory so I’m not so utterly devastated the next time I go up in sparring. Hey, perhaps I’ll be able to survive longer than 6 seconds! :)

Barbara

ps – The Martial arts are quite cool! Check out: