My introduction into Karate came by chance, I was visiting
one of my clients and as we do, we started talking about our interest. I mentioned to him that as a 63-year-old I
still try to keep active, playing squash and regularly going to the gym. I also mentioned how boring gym work was,
doing the same routines 2-3 times per week.
He mentioned his interest and explained he was a black belt in Karate; I
was interested in talking to him about it as I thought it was all about
breaking pieces of wood and shouting loudly!
After explaining what is was about I thought that I would be interested
in trying it, but still had some concern due to my age and the demands that
would be needed to actively participate.
Showing an interest my colleague Googled looking for venues near me and
came across Zenshin Dojo.
Having the contact details, I emailed explaining my
situation and concerns and had a reply from Rob stating that he thought it
would be a good fit for me and that it offered in his opinion, a good blend of
exercise for both body and mind. He also said it can be intellectually
stimulating as well as physically challenging and presents a really good
alternative to traditional “keep fit.”
I decided to give it a go and during a few taster sessions I
decided to join the club. The first
couple of sessions seemed straight forward enough just a few stances and
blocks, what could be easier. However, a
few weeks on I did start to find it difficult as there appeared to be no
connection from my brain to my limbs, why was I going in a different direction
to everyone else? This became a very
frustrating time, why could I not do what seemed to be the simplest moves and
there was a time during Kihon when I was completely lost and at the end of the
session felt very low.
I guess if everything was easy we would all be doing
everything and there would be no challenges, no mountains to climb, no journey
to embark on. I wasn’t finished yet,
time to reappraise, could I do what was being asked of me? Of course I could,
it just takes a little bit longer and lucky for me I am a patient person. Time to step things up and although I still
attended the gym I needed to mix things a bit more and try other classes and
more practice; not just in the Dojo, the gym, living room and even the bedroom where
all practice grounds.
Cotham, sessions with Greg and messing with my head, doing
things in reverse, then to Keynsham with Nick’s class, going giddy doing kicks
in a circle, then to Warmley with Phil (why such early starts!), trying to
exhaust everybody and that’s just the warm up!
Then the Friday morning session started and a good chance to grab two
regular sessions a week and although the new class was mainly for beginners it
was what I needed as I realised how I had not grasped some of the earlier
concepts. Staple Hill continues to be my
regular practice venue as I continue to move on slowly.
I see Karate as being a jigsaw; I don’t know how many pieces
there are or the picture I am building.
However, in order to build up a picture I need to first look for the
straight edges and corner pieces, these are the blocks, strikes and stances
(Kihon), as I start to build the puzzle I look for more matching pieces, these
are the Kata’s. Next, as the pictures
builds I hope to add more pieces, the techniques and applications. I still don’t know where my journey will end
or what the picture will be, but when I see the blue edges of the puzzle pieces,
I will know that the sky is the limit.
