June 9, 2009
Relief
Last night Big I auditioned for a play. She did one of these productions two summers ago and it was grueling. They practice Monday through Thursday, 6-9 and the director is very serious about the play. Although the kids love her when it's all over, during the actual process of getting ready, even the parents are sometimes on edge. It's a lot of work and it's a lot of stress.
When Big I did it before, it felt like our summer was gone. After five weeks of non-stop rehearsing and then a weekend of performing, we had a month left before school started. Still, if Big I enjoys acting and singing, then I thought I shouldn't deprive her of the opportunity.
Auditions started at 6 last night and after dancing, singing, and acting portions, she was finally finished at 9 p.m. It was a very long night.
I took her to the audition and they started with dancing. The only thing I could compare this part of the audition to, would be like someone showing you a kata two times and then asking you to do it on your own. The poor kid had trouble following along and I wanted to just whisk her off the stage and erase her memory of it. Fortunately she wasn't the only one having trouble. Dancing like a marionette isn't going to happen after a mere 10 minutes of instruction.
Then came singing. I stayed for half of it and then headed out to the dojo. Mr. BBM said her group of four did well and for that I was relieved. Mr. BBM said she also did well reading her lines for the acting portion. He said she read every word perfectly and you could hear her, but she didn't really "act" it out so much. Keep in mind that the youngest allowed to audition is eight. Big I is eight.
On the way home from auditions, she told Mr. BBM she had a dilemma. She knows that if she does this play, she can forget leisurely evenings at the pool. She can forget doing tennis or swim lessons; and she's going to have to miss a week of ju-jutsu too. She decided that she's not going to do it this summer. Instead she thought she'd audition for the spring play. To say I'm relieved would be the understatement of the century. The month of June is already packed for us; rehearsals every night would just about kill us.
I have to give the kid props though. I doubt I would have had the guts to get up there the way she's done twice, once when she was only 6 years old!
I'm relieved that we'll have our summer back, but now I'm looking for relief of another kind.
Yesterday, I was looking for something in the basement, moved a box without moving the ones in front of it and tweaked my lower back. If I'm standing I'm fine. If I lay down I'm fine; but sitting is a different story.
I walked in to karate last night and told Big I's Danzan Ryu Ju-Jutsu instructor who was teaching downstairs that I was hurting and he disappeared outside to his car. He came back in with a chinese analgesic that you rub on your sore spot and wait to dry. He gave strict instructions for me to pass along to Mr. BBM when putting it on me, "Don't touch your eyes and don't 'adjust' yourself until after you wash your hands." I woke Mr. BBM up last night when I rolled in from the dojo around 11 p.m. to put it on me.
Today I feel slightly better but not much. Sitting is still killing me. What I love about Big I doing ju-jutsu is that Danzan Ryu practitioners learn how to hurt people, but they also learn the healing arts. It's an interesting combination and one that Big I's Sensei takes very seriously. He told me that if I'm not better soon, he'd work on my back a bit.
In Kyoshi Bill Hayes' book "My Journey with the Grandmaster" he talks about training hard and then going to get fixed back up with long soaks and massage. I can't help feeling like this should be a crucial part of modern day training. Maybe those sore spots wouldn't happen as often and maybe that was the key to longevity in the arts.
If I could just convince Mr. BBM to go get certified in the healing arts. . .
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I remember a neighborhood Karate school that used to have an on-site hot tub.
Man, that’d be the way to loosen up after a workout, eh???
Danzan-Ryu has always intrigued me. In my book, it is a genuinely American martial art, albeit one with the strongest of Japanese roots. Henry Okazaki did all of us a huge favor when he agreed to teach non-Japanese. To this day, I’m not sure the martial arts world in general fully appreciates the impact of what he did.
2 weeks ago, Porsche Peanut saw a first grader do karate at my school’s talent show. She was impressed. Last night she asked me, “Mama, when do I get to do karate?” Good thing she can’t read your blog or she’d really be hooked! This is the first activity she’s asked to try on her own. (Usually it’s me saying do you want to try dance, do you want to try swimming lessons?)Is 4 a good age to introduce martial arts?
Thats a loaded question. The answer isnt a simple one. Youll need to do some good research and make sure youre enrolling your daughter in a program thats not a belt and money mill. My school has a great program called Safety Kids and its designed for little ones and teaches them some karate and also basic safety stuff that every kid should know. Once they go through this program, and are older, they can start regular karate. Be cautious about schools that have very young black belts. Be cautious of strip-mall schools that dont have a particular style and cant tell you about their lineage. Big Is ju-jutsu program just started and her teacher made us both aware that she will likely be a white belt for years. Were both fine with that. Shes in it for the long haul and not for colored belts. Look into some local schools, drop in unexpected when you know theyre having class and dont sign anything until youre absolutely sure. 😉 I hope that helps.