September 19, 2007
It’s the Little Things
I was exhausted from dealing with a sick toddler, so when I got to karate last night I was already dragging. To top it off, last night was probably one of the toughest classes I have ever done. I thought it was just because I’m still getting back into shape, but the consensus after class seemed to be the same: we worked.
We spent a lot of time in stances: seisan, nai hanchi, fudo dachi, cat stance, etc. By the end of the two hours, my legs were feeling like lead. It was the perfect time to start another bout of "brown belt syndrome." There is just so much to know, so much to learn, and so much to prepare.
I never realized how much was involved with getting into a proper nai hanchi stance before. I didn’t realize that you were supposed to drop your weight, reach out with your foot, and then transfer your weight into nai hanchi. I also never thought about curling your hips up under your body to make a proper stance. It makes a huge difference in your stance, just doing that one thing.
So you take just those two minor things and then think about transferring them into every single thing you do. Every kata that you thought you knew you’re now adding to. This is nothing new. As you learn, you’re constantly adapting and adding new things into your kata, your stances, your overall technique. Maybe it’s the six week break, but I’m feeling like there aren’t enough hours in the day to work on everything I need to work on.
It doesn’t help that my neck is feeling more sore than usual, which is just so frustrating. I don’t want to hurt; and I don’t want to take anymore time off. Yes, this is a dichotomy that makes perfect sense to me (if you recall my syndromes post). I have appointments coming up with my chiropractor and massage therapist and I’m hoping they can get me fixed up again and fast.
We also worked on self defense last night. It’s not like riding a bicycle. If you don’t do it, you start to lose it. I was fine with wrist grabs and lapel grabs. But when one black belt came up and choked me, I didn’t react, I thought about it instead. Thinking is not good when you have just seconds to get those hands off your neck. I got him off by twisting his one hand off my neck, but I had parts of all these other techniques floating around in there and just didn’t move fast enough.
When I came home last night I could barely life my legs up the stairs, but I took about 15 minutes and worked through some different self defense scenarios with Mr. BBM. I need to make it part of my routine if I want these techniques to just be there inside of me, without thought.
***A long-time reader, commenter, and internet friend Deryck is having a very rough time of it lately. His daughter Persephone has been in the hospital for quite some time and is very sick. If you’re the praying type, please remember Persephone and her family as they could use all the prayers they can get right now.
***Thanks to KarateKim for making a donation to the Humane Society. It’s not too late. If you’d like to help out too, see the left sidebar or click here.
***My other blog, Birth Story, is in desperate need of some new material. If you’re a mother, father, whatever, and you have a birth story to share, please see the submission guidelines on Birth Story and send it on in! I know I have a lot of male readers; and I’d love to have birth stories from the daddy perspective, so please get writing!!!
***Hey ladies, are you in the market for new shoes? See that ad over there on the right hand side from RYKA? Well, they really are giving away shoes, because I registered and won a pair of $70 sneakers! WOO HOO! What are you waiting for? If I can win (the person who wins nothing-evah) then you can definitely win.
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Things You Could Care Less About
Legs get stiff,
muscles hurt,
technique stays
improvements stay.
Keep it up, bbm.
Well, I don’t know about birth stories, but I have a lot of fat baby stories.
Karate sounds so exhausting and yet so enticing…
No birth story from me yet, but you just wait till the turn of the year! =)
FYI: guess who got her site back up, LOL. Took me long enough.
I know exactly what you mean. I hate it, but I know it’s the only way to improve. EVERY time I start to think I’ve got something down; a kata, a stance, anything – there is something new to learn and correct. I love learning new things, making what I do even better – but that doesn’t make me any happier at adjusting everything I’ve been doing. Muscle memory is HARD to change – and, lately, it seems like everything I’ve learned is wrong, everything needs to change.
So good, and bad. There are ALWAYS things to work on. THat’s why I started this – but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt!
Sounds like quite the challenging class, but don’t worry, I’m sure things will go more smoothly as time goes on. 🙂 (At least now you know exactly what you have to work on)
Oh, BBM, I am so there with you. I fell on my right knee about 3 yrs ago and the pain flares up every so often. Well, that coupled with what I think is arthritis in my feet & maybe knee (and I have flat feet too!) has made the past 2 wk agony for me. Couldn’t practice much. Did what I could but even spinning around in a kata hurt my knee. It is feeling much better now but still a little twitch of pain here and there and I have karate tonight and to be honest, am a bit worried. Of course, I’m going to do it anyway and just kind of be guarded when putting full weight on that knee. But after all that jabber, my point is – I know what you mean about hurting and pushing through it and the frustration of when you know you have to rest your body and you just want to practice so badly. I will not give up my martial arts. That’s all there is to it. Hang in there, BBM and I’ll do the same!
Ahh… Now you are really starting to learn the true secrets of efficiant body movement. This is what the internal arts teach– extend the foot,then transfer the weight to it–empty and full. Tucking the hips and pelvis up and foward, but relaxing and not tensing. “Stacking” the upper body on top of the lower body.
All these things will make your Karate better and give you deeper levels to study.
D.R.
All I ask is that you don’t beat me up. But i’m pretty sure that’s not what karate is all about. This I’ve learned from karate kid. 🙂
Hmm, yes, the frustration of not getting it quite right, of feeling like your body is just not there with you. I empathize with you, BBM. Karate is hard, karate builds character, karate is never ending. You get the techniques down, then you have to get down how to do those techniqes with umph, then you have to take out everything you learned and just let it happen. That’s what I find so beautiful about all of this. You eventually get to a point where it all becomes a body thing. The brain is there, but not taking control. All of the elements of moving with grace, with power, with kime just happen. Of course I’m not there yet, but whenever I get frustrated I just remember that there is always something to correct, always something to learn.
Keep it up, you know you love it.
Karrie
Oh,no, I didn’t even know there was a brown belt syndrome. I can see it though..so close and yet so far, plus by then you’ve got a TON of material to keep up to par. Our school has three different brown belt (plain, middle stripe, half brown/half black. I hope there aren’t seperate syndromes attached to those too! 2 hours, wow! My classes are rarely physically demanding, but my brain barely lasts our hour and a half. Besides skilled, you are turning into quite a powerhouse too!
In Isshinryu we do Naihanchi with kiba dachi – narrow stance with toes pointed in slightly and knees out. It’s as awkward as it sounds. Not a very strong stance, but I suppose it’s good for mobility and those those side-to-side transitions. The tricky part for me is going from one move to the next without losing that kiba dachi. Is this how it’s done in Okinawa Kenpo? Some styles use different stances for Naihanchi.