A
Beginner’s Journey
By Robert Bradley
I opened the glass door and stepped through the
entrance with both fear and excitement. I had watched some of
the classes before and the thought of training again brought back
really good memories. From the time that I was first introduced
to the world of martial arts, I found that I really loved them.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to keep up consistent training
and so I tried learning on my own through books.
I had kept myself in pretty decent shape for
my age and despite the fact that I hadn’t been involved
in actual person-to-person martial arts for several years, I was
confident that I would adapt and learn quickly.
So, having changed into my gi, I jumped into
the warm up exercises with, what for me was reckless abandon.
From the jumping jacks to the stretches, I dove in without realizing
that I may need to pace myself. By the time we finished the warm
ups, I was so winded; I was praying that I wouldn’t blackout.
I had done that when I started taking classes before and did blackout
and so I apparently forgot that lesson.
When we started the “real” exercises,
I came to a startling realization; with all that I thought that
I knew, I really knew little to nothing. My teacher Sensei Sonny
Kim, from the beginning of class has made me aware that patience
and the practicing the basics (kihon) will be the foundation of
my journey through the world of Traditional Shotokan Karate. This
theme of patience and practicing the basics have been echoed and
encouraged by the other instructors and my new classmates. This
has been a real help, especially during the times that I seem
to forget my left side from my right side
As class ended, I understood that I had alot
of homework to do. My first month or so, I was sporadic in my
attendance, trying to practice what I had learned at home. That
came to an end when it hit me that I really enjoyed being in class
and I needed the face-to-face interaction that the class gives.
The fact that I
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couldn’t
advance the way I would have liked without the in-class contact
was a little hard to swallow, since most of my work and interaction
is online through computers.
So, I decided
that I will be in class, period. This decision has given me several
noticeable physical benefits, such as increasing my lung capacity,
lowering my blood pressure and giving me more strength and stamina.
Earlier I mentioned that I thought that I was in decent shape.
That thought came from believing that since I could roller skate
for several hours with no problem and I would periodically lift
weights and do push-ups, I had to be in okay shape. Little did
I know that the more I trained, the more body parts I would find
that could hurt; growth can be a painfully glorious process.
One of the
nonphysical benefits of determining to commit myself to being
in class has been the self awareness that it is giving me. I am
new to this and I can’t begin to fathom the things that
I’m going to learn, but I know that being patient with myself
is going to be a major lesson.
One of the
ways that this lesson is patience is occurring, is through the
school’s commitment to basics and fundamentals. I heard
about martial artists spending years on learning one move or one
form and now I’m starting to understand why. There are so
many ways to do a move wrong that it takes time and patience to
get to the point of doing it right. And this is what Sensei Kim
stresses; adherence to and understanding the importance having
a firm foundation in the basics.
As I move
on in my journey through the world of Traditional Shotokan Karate
at the Japanese Karate-Do, I already see that I have come a long
way in a short time, but I have a really, really long way to go.
It’s a never ending, always learning journey that I have
begun; a journey of learning patience and focusing on the basics
in karate and life.
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