Tough

I train with tough people.

Yesterday, in karate class, fight training began in earnest.  And, although this may or may not be a regular aspect of this portion of training, the rest of the kyu grades joined in to fight during the earlier class.  I fought semi-knockdown to prepare for shodan testing later, so I had the privilege to watch and instruct a bit.

One observation hit home:  they're tough.

At least early on, barring previous or concurrent martial arts experience, heart and the will to wade in and fight are the major virtues that develop almost right away.  I'm fully aware that not all of the students enjoy fighting, but to see sparring in class, you wouldn't be able to tell which ones!  The matches were full of smiles mixed in with intense "I'm gonna get you with this combination" looks that warm the heart.  Remember when I said it takes a special person to hit and be hit in class?  Karate breeds it right there, at white and yellow belt.  Technique comes later, and like forms, combinations, basics, breaking, conditioning, etc. etc. etc., these skill-sets develop at different paces for everyone.  But, in that moment, they're fighting, having fun, and participating in a fundamental aspect of our "Actual Fighting Karate's" identity.

Then, after the basic class was dismissed, a different sort of fight training began.  To be honest, this portion of my training is only going to get tougher and tougher.  The blackbelts (Sensei Hofmeister, Sensei Bishop, and Sensei McCandless) scaled to level of fitness and fighting skill--I'm ok at this point, but I'm still very much an eager student looking to fight a little better each time.  Yesterday, we did 6 2-minute rounds with a short rest-period under semi-knockdown rules.  For the uninitiated, that's full contact with pads and a specific rule-set.  Over time, we'll be scaling up to 10 2-minute rounds, and probably trimming the break time a little towards the end as well.

I was generally pleased with the result.  There's a lot to work on, but this is a good start.  My happiest realization yesterday was this:  I wasn't as cardio/wind-tired as I normally am when fighting.  Now, after a few rounds, I was quite tired from a muscular standpoint, but that's definitely to be expected with the intensity I started with the last two weeks.  Usually, I feel like my lungs will explode after about 2 nice, hard rounds.  My souvenir from yesterday is a nice little egg-shaped welt where Sensei Bishop blocked a leg kick--it may sound crazy, but those little bumps and bruises are temporary keepsakes from really good fights--just part of the fun (no irony here, I mean it!).  There were good things that I was able to execute in each fight, and for each of those, there were at least 5 clear things to work on.  It's a good start.

To the white, yellow, and blue-belt kyu grades, at least for testing purposes, you'll have semi-knockdown rounds starting at your test for 4th-kyu green belt.  Don't be afraid; you can do it.  The first few semi-knockdown matches are "wade in, punch and kick" sort of affairs.  Here's the surprising part:  a good strong body or leg shot does hurt a bit, but it hurts significantly less than you might think.  Your opponent will scale appropriately to you, and everyone there is looking out for you, both from a safety perspective and from an enjoyment standpoint.  It's a bummer I won't see a lot of you test this next week, but I'm pulling for you and I'll see you after vacation, ready to move forward with training!

In closing, toughness is a good start.  It reinforces such a great self-concept in training, and I'm proud to train with some tough people.

 

Note:  Today's feeling like a two-post day.  I'll write a little later with some thoughts on the last 2 precepts and a summary of the week's workouts.  Musing a bit about toughness was just so timely, though.