On Wednesday, Sensei said something that incapacitated me with laughter for a few minutes. We were working on 'shrimping' which is the technical term in Jiu-Jitsu for making space between you and your opponent when he has you in side control or in a full mount.
Here's how shrimping works: you stretch your body out as far as it can go with your hands pointed above your head and then, very quickly, you scrunch up like a shrimp with your knees to your chest and your arms tucked in and use the push-off afterward to propel yourself forward and out of your opponent's reach. You can even use their body to push off, along with your feet. It's hard to describe what it looks like in words, but there's a reason that it's call 'shrimping'. Shrimp are all curled into themselves. You have to curl into yourself as well and then quickly push yourself back into a straight position in order to get the momentum needed to free yourself from the mount. Sometimes you even have to do it a few times to get out!
Anyway, we were practicing shrimping across the room and suddenly, out of nowhere, Sensei yelled, "BACON! SHRIMP!" And I couldn't help it; I laughed so hard. I guess that when you're straightening yourself out, you look like a slab of bacon...versus when you tuck in and look like a shrimp. It was so funny, mostly because I wasn't expecting it.
The point of this entry is that martial arts can be a very serious thing, especially with the responsibility of knowing how to seriously injure people. But when people ask me why I do it, I tell them it's because I think it's fun. And that's 100% true. The self-defense and discipline and physical conditioning is great, but it's all just a bonus. The real reason I practice and study so hard is because it's so much fun. I probably laugh more during karate than I do during other activities that I'm involved in...not because I don't respect the discipline or the seriousness of what we're learning, but because I'm having a good time doing what I love to do.
It's important to do what we like. Other things are important too, but if we aren't laughing at least a few times a day, something isn't right. There are a lot of opportunities in martial arts training to be serious, and appropriately so...but there are at least as many opportunities to laugh. It's good for us to experience those as well.
Showing posts with label miscellaneous. Show all posts
Showing posts with label miscellaneous. Show all posts
Friday, April 1, 2011
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Thanks Giving
"With thankful hearts, offer up your prayers and requests to God."
-Philippians 4:6
This is our yellow belt verse at the Refinery. As a white belt, the first thing you learn is to show respect to the dojo, to Sensei, to your classmates, and to yourself. Respect for all of these things is needed before you can be thankful for them. I think this is one of the reasons why Philippians 4:6 is the yellow belt verse and not the first thing that new students learn.
Thankfulness isn't really a learned thing in and of itself. There are a lot of other lessons that must be learned before thankfulness can be truly possible. For example, as I mentioned above, respect for something is required before you can be thankful for it. If I don't respect someone, I'm probably never going to be truly thankful for them until I can find some part of them to respect. Granted, respect usually has to be earned...but sometimes it's easy to show a lack of respect for someone or something, even after they've more than proven themselves worthy of it.
Another thing is humility. I wasn't thankful the first time I got thrown. I was scared and slightly embarrassed to be on the ground while my opponent was standing. It wasn't long until I learned that arrogance has no place in training. Pride can be good, but arrogance and stubbornness are two obstacles that can get in the way of being thankful. Chances are, if I consider myself above someone or something, I won't be thankful for its presence in my life. Why should I be? If I am ultimately better than someone, THEY should be thankful for ME, right?
You can see how that attitude can get in the way of being thankful. Humility is needed for thankfulness because the humble mindset allows you to treasure things that you need to help you grow.
One more thing that has to come before thankfulness can be achieved is love--not just love for the person or thing that you are thankful for, but love for yourself, too. It might sound kind of crazy, but I think sometimes we don't ALLOW ourselves to be thankful for what we have. The mindset that society teaches us to live in is a mindset of always wanting more. This frame of mind also teaches us not to trust in ourselves, God, and other people in our lives and, in essence, teaches us not to love ourselves and the things that we should be thankful for. We must love ourselves enough to allow ourselves give thanks and trust that we'll be able to be happy and get by with what we have.
So in order for thankfulness to be achieved, we need humility, respect, and love. Putting it simply, we're humbly thankful for those people and things that we respect and love.
Let's do our best to be thankful today for health and friends and family and martial arts and pumpkin pie1 and whatever else we can think of. My pastor said something the other day at church that really struck something in me. She said, "Have you noticed that you can't be thankful without being happy too?"
Sounds like a hint to me! Happy Thanks Giving!
1. My mom just finished baking a homemade pumpkin pie and it smells great! I love pumpkin pie, it's my favorite. I have a feeling I'm about to be even MORE thankful in a few minutes. Not sure about next week, though. I wonder if I'll still be able to do the flying side kick after this week! Haha.
-Philippians 4:6
This is our yellow belt verse at the Refinery. As a white belt, the first thing you learn is to show respect to the dojo, to Sensei, to your classmates, and to yourself. Respect for all of these things is needed before you can be thankful for them. I think this is one of the reasons why Philippians 4:6 is the yellow belt verse and not the first thing that new students learn.
Thankfulness isn't really a learned thing in and of itself. There are a lot of other lessons that must be learned before thankfulness can be truly possible. For example, as I mentioned above, respect for something is required before you can be thankful for it. If I don't respect someone, I'm probably never going to be truly thankful for them until I can find some part of them to respect. Granted, respect usually has to be earned...but sometimes it's easy to show a lack of respect for someone or something, even after they've more than proven themselves worthy of it.
Another thing is humility. I wasn't thankful the first time I got thrown. I was scared and slightly embarrassed to be on the ground while my opponent was standing. It wasn't long until I learned that arrogance has no place in training. Pride can be good, but arrogance and stubbornness are two obstacles that can get in the way of being thankful. Chances are, if I consider myself above someone or something, I won't be thankful for its presence in my life. Why should I be? If I am ultimately better than someone, THEY should be thankful for ME, right?
You can see how that attitude can get in the way of being thankful. Humility is needed for thankfulness because the humble mindset allows you to treasure things that you need to help you grow.
One more thing that has to come before thankfulness can be achieved is love--not just love for the person or thing that you are thankful for, but love for yourself, too. It might sound kind of crazy, but I think sometimes we don't ALLOW ourselves to be thankful for what we have. The mindset that society teaches us to live in is a mindset of always wanting more. This frame of mind also teaches us not to trust in ourselves, God, and other people in our lives and, in essence, teaches us not to love ourselves and the things that we should be thankful for. We must love ourselves enough to allow ourselves give thanks and trust that we'll be able to be happy and get by with what we have.
So in order for thankfulness to be achieved, we need humility, respect, and love. Putting it simply, we're humbly thankful for those people and things that we respect and love.
Let's do our best to be thankful today for health and friends and family and martial arts and pumpkin pie1 and whatever else we can think of. My pastor said something the other day at church that really struck something in me. She said, "Have you noticed that you can't be thankful without being happy too?"
Sounds like a hint to me! Happy Thanks Giving!
1. My mom just finished baking a homemade pumpkin pie and it smells great! I love pumpkin pie, it's my favorite. I have a feeling I'm about to be even MORE thankful in a few minutes. Not sure about next week, though. I wonder if I'll still be able to do the flying side kick after this week! Haha.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Surprise Punching Bag
This is a true story!
I woke up last Friday and as I walked into the kitchen, my dad was sitting at the table, reading a book. He looked up at me, smiled, and said,
"Hey Becky, go look in the garage."
Naturally, I was suspicious. My parents don't surprise me often, so I assumed that maybe I had forgotten to clean up a mess I had made (I forget sometimes) and was now expected to do so. I stood my ground, however, and asked why I had to go into the garage.
Of course, Dad just smiled, and said,
"Go look!"
It was early and cold. I was still groggy. But when I opened the door, the morning grogginess went away immediately. Or at least quickly.
The garage was clean (that's enough to make my jaw drop, in and of itself) and in the middle of floor were a bunch of puzzle mats, a punching bag, and sparring gear. I was VERY excited about the punching bag. I had been thinking about what it would be like to have one...and then...there it was! I thought I was dreaming and said something like,
"Whoa! Oh my gosh!". It was quite an interesting situation to wake up to. It was like Christmas; like the story of the kid that wanted a cocker-spaniel more than anything and, on Christmas Day, opened the box to find the dog in there.
Okay, maybe that's a little over-dramatic; a punching bag's probably not as big of a deal as I'm making it out to be...but now I have a target to practice on at home. And I also have more of an incentive to focus on specific details and to practice longer, overall. I suppose I shouldn't really NEED incentives, but to be honest, I like having targets. Practicing in the air only gets you so far, after all.
A funny thing that happened as a result of the punching bag's appearance in our garage was the appearance of my dad's long-dormant Taekwondo experience. I somehow got it in my head that since Dad has to survive a two-on-one sparring match (for a police officer certification test), I should help teach him how to fight two people at a time, since I'm starting to get more teaching experience at the Refinery. Well, I soon found out (that very morning, in fact) that Dad doesn't need any help. In fact, he remembers everything about two-on-one sparring from his TKD years. And what's more is that he's much more experienced than I am and is in many ways much more knowledgeable. He's about twenty years out of practice, but he knows what he's doing.1
Needless to say, I felt rather silly when I gave the bag my best roundhouse kick and he said,
"What, that's all you got?".
Anyway, the appearance of this punching bag is like getting a puppy or something. My sister even started to get excited about martial arts again when she saw it. It's funny how much of a change it's causing in our household. Our garage is so full of energy now.
November is the month to give thanks. Tonight I'm thankful for punching bags.
1. I never really thought about it before, but every single one of us has studied martial arts. Mom and Dad studied together until Mom got pregnant with me. And KC, my little sister, is the main reason why I now train at the Refinery. We've all studied. I never before realized that we have that in common. I am still the most obsessed, though. Hands down.
I woke up last Friday and as I walked into the kitchen, my dad was sitting at the table, reading a book. He looked up at me, smiled, and said,
"Hey Becky, go look in the garage."
Naturally, I was suspicious. My parents don't surprise me often, so I assumed that maybe I had forgotten to clean up a mess I had made (I forget sometimes) and was now expected to do so. I stood my ground, however, and asked why I had to go into the garage.
Of course, Dad just smiled, and said,
"Go look!"
It was early and cold. I was still groggy. But when I opened the door, the morning grogginess went away immediately. Or at least quickly.
The garage was clean (that's enough to make my jaw drop, in and of itself) and in the middle of floor were a bunch of puzzle mats, a punching bag, and sparring gear. I was VERY excited about the punching bag. I had been thinking about what it would be like to have one...and then...there it was! I thought I was dreaming and said something like,
"Whoa! Oh my gosh!". It was quite an interesting situation to wake up to. It was like Christmas; like the story of the kid that wanted a cocker-spaniel more than anything and, on Christmas Day, opened the box to find the dog in there.
Okay, maybe that's a little over-dramatic; a punching bag's probably not as big of a deal as I'm making it out to be...but now I have a target to practice on at home. And I also have more of an incentive to focus on specific details and to practice longer, overall. I suppose I shouldn't really NEED incentives, but to be honest, I like having targets. Practicing in the air only gets you so far, after all.
A funny thing that happened as a result of the punching bag's appearance in our garage was the appearance of my dad's long-dormant Taekwondo experience. I somehow got it in my head that since Dad has to survive a two-on-one sparring match (for a police officer certification test), I should help teach him how to fight two people at a time, since I'm starting to get more teaching experience at the Refinery. Well, I soon found out (that very morning, in fact) that Dad doesn't need any help. In fact, he remembers everything about two-on-one sparring from his TKD years. And what's more is that he's much more experienced than I am and is in many ways much more knowledgeable. He's about twenty years out of practice, but he knows what he's doing.1
Needless to say, I felt rather silly when I gave the bag my best roundhouse kick and he said,
"What, that's all you got?".
Anyway, the appearance of this punching bag is like getting a puppy or something. My sister even started to get excited about martial arts again when she saw it. It's funny how much of a change it's causing in our household. Our garage is so full of energy now.
November is the month to give thanks. Tonight I'm thankful for punching bags.
1. I never really thought about it before, but every single one of us has studied martial arts. Mom and Dad studied together until Mom got pregnant with me. And KC, my little sister, is the main reason why I now train at the Refinery. We've all studied. I never before realized that we have that in common. I am still the most obsessed, though. Hands down.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
I Love My School
This is a miscellaneous entry.
I'm sure that every martial arts student who is privileged enough to train at a dojo that is well-suited for them probably feels the same way about their school as I do about mine: I wouldn't want to train anywhere else. I imagine the issue of changing dojos rarely comes up for people who are committed to training, but it very recently became a possible future event in my life.
Before I decided to change my plans for college (I was originally going to transfer to a university which is about an hour away from here) I felt really rushed in my training. I felt like I had only a very small amount of time to learn as much as I could before I had to switch to a new dojo that was located somewhere closer to where I was going to live. Thinking about that whole transition really made my head hurt...and my heart.
After you've trained somewhere for a while, you gain a certain kind of loyalty to that place and the people whom you train with. It's really hard to envision myself learning martial arts somewhere other than at the Refinery. And while I realize that I could train somewhere else if I really had to, I don't want to. I am absolutely content with my school; I wouldn't change a thing. I was prepared to drive an hour every other day to continue to train there, but being a job-less college student (and a music major, no less) was going to make that very difficult for me. It worried me a lot because I didn't want to stop training, but I didn't know where else I could train that would be...well...good enough.
I don't mean to come across like I don't think that there are good schools in San Marcos, Texas...but I'm pretty sure that my school is the best school for me, at the moment. Like I said...I don't want to train anywhere else. I love it there. I love the people I train with, I love my sensei, I love the small class-size, I love being versatile in my technique, I love teaching, I love the atmosphere...I love everything. My school has done so much for me. I can't even begin to explain how grateful I am toward the people there, even in this blog. I hope that for the time being, my loyalty is a good enough placeholder for that explanation...which I will give someday when I have words for it.
Anyway, I've changed my college plans. I decided to transfer to the local university: UTSA. Martial arts wasn't the main reason that I made the change, but I'd be silly not to admit that it WAS a reason. I'd also be silly not to admit that I'm extremely happy that I don't have to train somewhere else. Sometimes change is good, but I'm very glad that I get to avoid this one. I don't feel rushed anymore.
Maybe if every karate student felt this way about training at their school, there would be a larger number of skilled karateka in the world. Don't get me wrong: I definitely train for me. Karate is one of the only things in my life that I do simply because I love it...but I also train because I love my school and my sensei...and I know that the best way to give back to Sensei and my classmates is to give my all at everything that I learn from them.
Anyway, to sum it all up: I love my school. If given the choice to train anywhere in the world, with any teacher, in any country...I would stay right here and train and teach and learn from my sensei and the people who have helped me re-learn what it means to be a martial artist.
I'm sure that every martial arts student who is privileged enough to train at a dojo that is well-suited for them probably feels the same way about their school as I do about mine: I wouldn't want to train anywhere else. I imagine the issue of changing dojos rarely comes up for people who are committed to training, but it very recently became a possible future event in my life.
Before I decided to change my plans for college (I was originally going to transfer to a university which is about an hour away from here) I felt really rushed in my training. I felt like I had only a very small amount of time to learn as much as I could before I had to switch to a new dojo that was located somewhere closer to where I was going to live. Thinking about that whole transition really made my head hurt...and my heart.
After you've trained somewhere for a while, you gain a certain kind of loyalty to that place and the people whom you train with. It's really hard to envision myself learning martial arts somewhere other than at the Refinery. And while I realize that I could train somewhere else if I really had to, I don't want to. I am absolutely content with my school; I wouldn't change a thing. I was prepared to drive an hour every other day to continue to train there, but being a job-less college student (and a music major, no less) was going to make that very difficult for me. It worried me a lot because I didn't want to stop training, but I didn't know where else I could train that would be...well...good enough.
I don't mean to come across like I don't think that there are good schools in San Marcos, Texas...but I'm pretty sure that my school is the best school for me, at the moment. Like I said...I don't want to train anywhere else. I love it there. I love the people I train with, I love my sensei, I love the small class-size, I love being versatile in my technique, I love teaching, I love the atmosphere...I love everything. My school has done so much for me. I can't even begin to explain how grateful I am toward the people there, even in this blog. I hope that for the time being, my loyalty is a good enough placeholder for that explanation...which I will give someday when I have words for it.
Anyway, I've changed my college plans. I decided to transfer to the local university: UTSA. Martial arts wasn't the main reason that I made the change, but I'd be silly not to admit that it WAS a reason. I'd also be silly not to admit that I'm extremely happy that I don't have to train somewhere else. Sometimes change is good, but I'm very glad that I get to avoid this one. I don't feel rushed anymore.
Maybe if every karate student felt this way about training at their school, there would be a larger number of skilled karateka in the world. Don't get me wrong: I definitely train for me. Karate is one of the only things in my life that I do simply because I love it...but I also train because I love my school and my sensei...and I know that the best way to give back to Sensei and my classmates is to give my all at everything that I learn from them.
Anyway, to sum it all up: I love my school. If given the choice to train anywhere in the world, with any teacher, in any country...I would stay right here and train and teach and learn from my sensei and the people who have helped me re-learn what it means to be a martial artist.
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