Life lessons from the dojo

[eveglass]

Life lesson #19: Showing up is the hardest part

I admit, I've been a bad little karateka lately. I missed last Wednesday's class because it was too bloody hot, last Saturday's class because I was taking Marc to the airport, and probably three or four more classes in the two weeks previous to that. So I fully intended to go to karate class yesterday. Fully intended to... until I woke up. And then the bed was so warm and toasty, and the dojo seemed so far away and so much effort to get to. In short, it was one of those situations where I didn't want to go, but knew if I went I'd appreciate it later. It took a lot of effort to get out of bed, and even more effort to get out the door. But once I walked into the dojo, I felt worlds better. Really, the biggest challenge of the day yesterday was just deciding to go. Once the class started, it was smooth sailing (at least mentally).


Life lesson #20: Embrace the pain...

Karate, like many sports, is hard on the body. I'm not talking about getting kicked or punched, either, since Shotokan at the white-belt level is pretty much non-contact. No, I'm talking about things like doing moves with energy and power, maintaining good form, and most especially keeping your stance low. Oh, karate stances, the bane of my current existence. Until you get your body used to them, stances are hard. They hurt. It's the good hurt, but my legs are almost always sore and wobbly after a karate class. But sometimes, standing there in a low stance with your leg feeling like it's on fire, you've just got to give in. You just have to close your eyes and say, "Yep, this sucks. It'll be over in a minute or so. Just gotta get through it." And the amazing thing is that once you say that, it gets easier. It really does. At least for a while, anyway.


Life lesson #21: ...but know the exceptions

Some pain isn't just normal muscle soreness, and it's good to differentiate. Towards the end of the class, during the cool-down, we were doing yoga-esque stretches on the floor which used our arms as stabilizers. I don't know what I was doing wrong, but at one point I felt a snap in my right arm and pain lanced up it. Not the normal, "I'm stretching and feeling the burn" pain, but an "Oh, God, I think I just pulled my tricep" pain. So I stopped and massaged my arm for a while. There was no point continuing. I wouldn't have been able to hold my form with a sharp, shooting pain in my arm anyway, and there was no point trying to be heroic and struggle through to the end. That's how little injuries become big injuries. I'm pleased to note that it's pretty much healed today, and I credit this to not doing anything stupid like trying to continue the exercise. Unlike normal soreness, which I generally try to push through, some pains are worth stopping and paying attention to.


And that's it for now. Hopefully I'll be posting these more regularly as I start attending the dojo on a more regular basis.