Hi KarateMum, Just like Flatfish, I started up because of my children - I took my two boys to Karate and watched them for years, now they've grown so much, they moved into the adults class - and I finally gave in and joined them when I was 43...... That was 4 years ago and I'm still loving it! I recognise myself in a lot of what you say; I still ache after sessions, I'm not very flexible and learning Kata is an utter nightmare (I have real difficulty getting them into my head), and yes, I have also punched and kicked instructors and students by accident and been mortified - this has always been taken in good grace as everyone's done it at some point. On the plus side, I'm now very fit from training and the power you are looking for does eventually come as your technique and strength both increase. Everyone I've met has been really helpful and are happy to correct my technique when they spot a mistake. (although I sometimes wonder if my continual questions about what comes next in Kata, makes my children think I'm special needs!) You also get to enter competitions as a 'veteran', which still makes me and my wife laugh! All the best and keep practising! Rich
Hi BikerRich, I had to smile at the comment above. Only last night one of our black belts told me that I would be surprised at how quickly I would start entering competitions and winning medals, in, you've guessed it 'Veteran competitions'! Like yourself, this has caused a certain amount of hilarity. Surely we can't be 'veteran's' in our 40's? Maybe in our 60's, but in our 40's ??? (LOL - I can't believe you guys don't have a laughing smiley!!). Mind you, I must admit I hadn't even considered that I might, one day, be in a position where I am asked if I want to enter to competitions! I don't know if I ever saw myself doing karate 'competitively'. At the moment I'm just in it vying with myself to see how well I can do it and to have some fun. Anyhow, I'm enjoying this thread. It's great to see that other's have been where I am now and have gone through the same thoughts/ :-D
You can enter a tourney anytime you want! Aside from local events you may hear about, there are plenty advertised on tournamentinabox.com-or just google "karate tournament". Normally, all you have to do is pay a small entry fee. The last one I entered, the cost was 3 cans of food (charity tourney). You'll only be competing against folks at your rank, most likely, so no stress. I thought the tourney experience was pretty good. Gives you good motivation.
matveimediaarts you make it sound so 'plausible'. However, I think it will take a lot of courage to volunteer to enter a tournament. I am rather too competitive in that sort of situation and may take it tad too seriously if I lose. At the moment I think I'll stick to perfecting my Kata's. Thanks for the encouragement though and I guess, lets never say 'never'. ;-)
Another Update: OK, I've just been away skiing for a week and I am amazed at the difference I have in the strength of my legs and my overall fitness. OK, I haven't seen a commensurate reduction in weight :-(, but I know I could ski further on the same set of legs than I have been able to do for a long time So I am going to stick the Karate down as the reason for this - I' can't think of anything else that would have made the difference. Back to the Dojo this week, and starting to remember the Pinan shodan as well as Pinan nidan. We also had a go at some of other senior ones and although you wonder how you will ever learn them once you get to grips with the first (Pinan nidan) the others seems to fit in with similar facing movements and it isn't as difficult as I thought it would be to learn them. Some members of the Dojo had been to Peter Spanton's presentation of his 9th Dan and it was interesting to hear about this. He sounds a really great person and I think it is brilliant that even at his level people can still go and train with him. There are people from our Dojo going on a full week course this year. I always have great admiration for someone that gives so much of themselves for something they enjoy. Anyhow, it was good to be back training - I must wean myself off things fattening and then I might become a lithe karateka (in my dreams!!). I think I'm still enjoying the kata more than the sparring though - I don't think I'll ever be a fighter - I don't think I have the correct mentality.
Never say never! Most people are uncomfortable with sparring to begin with, it can take a while to begin to settle into it, and it's still very early days for you. A few people naturally thrive in such circumstances, but most of us have to slowly condition ourselves to it.
Hear, hear! Totally agree. Krotty sparring is the easiest sort I've ever encountered. Outside of your classmates in the dojo, you'll only be paired against people at your belt level. Just focus on learning the kata and do kumite drills anytime you get the chance. Remember, the "toolbox" of techniques designed/legal in tourney kumite are in the kata. The forms are sort of like shadow boxing. You'll want a teacher to demonstrate the meaning of many of the kata though, as they can be abstract with many layers of application. For example, kihons are pretty basic multi-direction defense/attack. However, it's possible to combine those techniques into grappling. It's pretty neat, and I wouldn't have thought of it unless someone had shown it to me.
matveimediaarts, David Harrison; Thank you Sensei often stops the Kata and explains it - he uses a term he calls Bunkai - Looking online - disassembly, yes? About how it is to stop a number of would be attackers and that if we understand the attack the move is supposed to mitigate it will help us to make the action more deliberate in the kata as we will visualise what the move is trying to accomplish. I think he is correct and this is in line with your suggestion matveimediaarts :-D It is good to see a coherent approach in teaching strategy/advice even across the net :-D We looked at one Kata move this week that could potentially break an attackers elbow!!!!! Ouch!!! I think the problem with sparring is when you have been raised for 40+ years and have always been told that it is wrong to hit people, then you go to Karate classes and find that it is actively encouraged at the right time. It's a difficult mind-set to change.
Tournaments are about putting yourself in an environment where there is stress and pressure and having that experience mold you into a better MAist. IMO, if one is doing it just for medals, they are missing the point. If you want to see how well you can do and have fun, tournaments are perfect for you. Because that is the attitude one should have about them. Funny, my school just put up a clip about tournament experiences this morning. Note the guy in this clip coming up from his wheelchair to participate. I was in that ring. What the guy says in the clip about that- THAT is why tournaments are so important! But they are fun too! Go for the experience and have fun! [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUd6pBumjbU&feature=em-subscription-upload"]White Dragon Martial Arts | Dragon Cup 2014 - YouTube[/ame]
aaradia thanks for the video, there was, indeed, a lot of fun going on. That gave the appearance of being quite a big tournament, yes? They had made quite a spectacle of it, even down the dragon dance, and there seemed to be lots of different forms of MA occurring. I don't know whether the same sort of things happen in the UK. You are right about the attitude of those being interviewed though - it is about the taking part and not the result as with most sports. Hopefully my confidence will grow with time. At the moment I am going through a phase of being worried about doing something wrong - I think it stems from that accidental wallop I gave our instructor the other month. I've also got an issue with the sparring that I'm encouraged to keep my guard up to help prevent an attack, yet when I do so I then can't initiate anything. Then my opponents find a way in and I get good naturedly 'duffed up' every time. I'll no doubt sort it all out in due course, but at the moment I'm finding the sparring frustrating and I am still pleased when they announce that its the time of the evening when we can do kata :-D
This is my school's annual tournament. For members of our school's nine locations. It is large. We have 20 rings going on for a whole day. Well, at the end some of the rings taper off.......... Over a thousand participants , many doing multiple events. Three forms of MA occuring. Choy Li Fut, Tai Chi Chuan, and submission grappling. But lots of events based on it. Depending on how advanced you are and if you do both CLF and TCC, you can end up doing a LOT of events. Choy Li Fut divisions- Hand form for your level Techniques for your level Weapon form for your level (intermediate or advanced) Two Person form for your level - (advanced) Open form division (form learned in last GM seminar) Sparring Stick fighting Tai Chi Chuan Divisions- Hand form for your level Weapon form for your level (not at first few levels) Open form division (form learned in last GM seminar) Push Hands Submission Grappling Now, what I need to be doing is getting involved in a tournament or two outside my school and Federation. I have never done one, and I really do want to test myself against people outside my Federation/ school.
The way for your confidence to grow, is to get experience. If you do something wrong, learn and grow from it. My very first tournament. I went up to do my form. a bit into it my mind just went BLANK- I mean blanker than it has ever been. I couldn't remember if I was at the beginning, middle, or end of the form. So I just closed up. It felt TERRIBLE. But in retrospect, I am so glad I goofed right at the beginning of my MA tournament experience. Guess what? I lived through it! I talked to instructors and Sifu afterwards. I learned how to deal with tournaments. What threw me off was I watched the performances before I was called. I started comparing myself "well my chin nau is better, but their stances are lower, etc" I got so into comparing myself that it totally threw me off of my focus on myself and what I had to do. I learned that I cannot watch other people before me in tournaments. I haven't ever since. Guess what else? After learning and having that failure prompt me to grow, learn and do better, I did it again a few months later at our GM's tournament. And I got a gold medal! Which felt particularly awesome for having overcome the failure from before. In retrospect, I am glad I choked in my first tournament. I got the worst out of the way and could move forward, knowing complete failure was not the end of the world. You will live if you do something wrong. The important thing is to not quit. To learn and grow from the experience. To let it make you tougher and stronger mentally. Another story. Once during Tai Sifu class, I was teamed up with Tai Sifu, I messed up and chopped his throat with a driving chop. It was light, but I actually made his throat swell up. He said it was messed up for a couple of days. He said he went to lunch with our school founder and it hurt so much he could barely eat and our Founder asked what was wrong. Man, he jokingly razzed me, , about that in Tai Sifu class for about a year afterwards. I felt horrified that I did that, but guess what? I lived! I joked with him that I would never pass another test as he is the one who passes someone in a test. He joked back that such an effective hit meant he should automatically give me my next sash level! Things happen. As long as you don't purposefully hurt someone, or do it through negligence or lack of respect, or ego, people forgive you. We all make mistakes and we are in an art where things happen. I also learned that even a light throat chop CAN be a very effective strike. I really hit him very lightly, but it was right on target. I also used to think- seriously - that I was the absolute worst sparrer in all 9 locations of my school. But I stuck with it, and guess what? I am getting better! I am not the best by any means, but I am better than I ever thought I could be. And it gets more fun the more you get used to it! I promise.( Oh, and I still have a problem with dropping my guard with one hand when I strike with the other.( Just keep at it! Don't skip class! I hope my experiences tell you that your feelings are common in beginning a MA and you are not alone. Just keep at it!:hat:
Hi aaradia, it is very helpful to know that I am not alone in going through these thought processes or dojo 'incidents', I think I perceive my self at a disadvantage due to my age and am inclined to think that what happens to me is unique because of that. Your stories and the reassurance of others on this forum certainly help to show that this is not the case and it is merely something that many newbies experience. As you say, it won't kill me and it probably will teach me good lessons along the way - in fact it might help to quench the perfectionist in me which will no doubt be helpful. Maybe I just need to swallow some pride and learn to laugh at myself! Thank you.
You are never too old! The oldest Sensei's we have are in their 60's, and the oldest student we have training with us is 74 years old and still going strong. Never doubt yourself, and keep on training. One of the biggest criticisms my club gets is in regards to its sparring. Because we are a non contact club (that doesn't mean no contact at all, it just means that in class, when sparring, its not encouraged for lower grades as they don't have the control to direct and stop their strikes) we often cop attacks from other clubs who want to know how we can possibly learn to defend ourselves if we don't learn to smash the humour out of someone. We are also taught to only use our karate in self defense - so we can't go up to someone and hit them just because they said something mean, they have to raise a hand to us first before we can respond.
By the way don't focus on your weight as that muscle your building weighs more than a thing it replacing. Focus on your shape if anything, it's a better guide
So I'm still working at it, and the new news is that on Thursday I am going to be graded for the first belt change, in our Dojo that is from red to white. Apparently we only have to perform 9 moves, but it was only tonight that we were first formally shown these. Linked together with turns etc. at the end of each run. I do wish we had been practising these very moves for the last few sessions as I am not sure I can remember them. I still have a hellish problem with muddling my lefts and rights up. To be honest I think I would rather not be graded than fail, but I guess I will go along with it as everyone seems to expect me to do so. In a way I am glad the belt system exists as it will at least show if I improve, but the flip side is that I don't cope well with failure!..........
Yay! IMO, you shouldn't be so afraid of failure. (especially if the test fees aren't too steep) Karate senseis also typically don't invite students to test unless they're quite sure the student will pass. You'll probably at least get a stripe. That's what I got between white and first kyu (orange). As long as you go to class regularly and practice some at home, I'm sure you'll pass. I expect to hear about your new grade in the celebrations forum soon!
matveimediaarts, many thanks for that. Luckily the test fees are not at all steep (I was quite surprised). I'm hoping to have a practice tonight with my son (who is better at remembering than I am - I think its his younger mind and he often needs to learn a sequence of moves in other sports). I find that I can probably do all the necessary moves individually, but where I have a problem is when they call them all out as a sequence and we have to be able to perform them - one move leading to another. I get in such a muddle until I've been up and down a couple of times and get the sequence worked out. Once I've got there, I think I make a fair fist of it, its just the muddle I get in until I get it sussed.
Take every "failure" in your MA journey as an opportunity to learn from it and get better. A couple of my biggest growth spurts in MA were because I took a failure and learned what I needed to do to get better from it. One example being not doing well in our founder's seminars with leg strength and slow motion kick exercises he had us doing. Not doing well in front of our school's founder and being embarrassed by that made me determined to never let that happen again. I have been doing slow motion kicks and serious stance training ever since. My stances are lower (or my crane higher), my stability is better- it is really - slowly- but steadily - improving my MA overall. 11 years and I didn't take these aspects of my training as seriously as I should have. One of the few times I didn't listen to my instructor enough. It took failing to give me the kick I needed. So, it turns out that that failure is one of the better things to happen to me in my growth as a MAist. If your test isn't perfect, learn from it. Make those "failure's" a focal point in your training. That said, I am sure you will do fine! :kick:
