January 2009
It stands to reason that anytime that one begins a new undertaking, it is usually wise to ask certain questions. Such as: “why am I doing this? What is my goal? Do I have the resources to achieve this goal? What path is the most efficient to accomplish this goal?” Once a person answers these questions, the “new undertaking” has a focus and a general direction by which one can more easily follow. As a home schooling mom, I am constantly asking myself these questions and often reevaluating my previous answers. A couple of examples would be: is my child’s goal to recreate the D’Nealian wall poster, or just to be able to write legibly? Do we really need to make the turkey painting with our hand prints for Thanksgiving again? Is it necessary that they know that Chester A Arthur was the 21st president and passed the first federal immigration law, or is it sufficient that they are just aware that he was a president of the United States of America? Since there are so many things to learn in 12 short years, I am constantly asking myself what things will bring me closer to my goal of producing educated thinkers who have a life-long love of learning and are prepared to be productive members of society.
The same questions regarding karate occurred to me a couple of weeks ago. This was significant because I have found it so much easier to just jump into karate without thinking about it. If I had thought about it, I’d still be watching from those chairs lined up against the wall. In order to appreciate this assertion, you’d have to know my tendency to avoid any type of competitive or combative sport, confrontational situation, or generally any circumstance in which I am likely to humiliate myself...over...and over...and over. (Of course, I cover this anxiety well with my sparkling sense of absurdity.
I was in the middle of a kata demonstration in front of more people since my high school graduation when suddenly I was confronted with the question of “why am I doing this?” Or more accurately, “what- the- heck-am-I-doing-have-I-lost-my-mind?!” At first, I thought I was referring to the actual kata that I was doing but since I could hear my instructor whispering the next move, I was pretty sure it was more of a psychological question. Without sufficient brain power to both remember what kata movement was next AND ponder my life-choices, I left that question for the break between demos.
There are a lot of reasons one would choose to take karate. It is an visually appealing sport, after all it is called a “martial- art” and a well done kata is a beautiful thing. It is a rigorous sport, incorporating exercises to improve muscular strength, endurance and flexibility and is very aerobic in nature; roundhouse kick a bag for just 60 seconds and you’ll see what I mean. It is a competitive sport with several tournaments throughout the year. It is a highly disciplined sport; a fact you will become well acquainted with if you decide to fight competitively. An added bonus of being able to play with weapons, well.... So many reasons to learn karate; so many reasons to love the sport.
So which reason did I choose? Why would I love to do this so much? My mother is bewildered, my husband is bemused and my friends are just befuddled...ok, they don’t really care and are really sick of hearing me talk about it, but they still don’t understand why I would choose the one sport that requires facing all of my fears (except spiders....and clowns).
Perhaps, it was because it was something Shiloh and I could do together and I could encourage her at the same time, because her primary motivation to go to class is my putting her in the car and driving her there. I think it does help encourage her and she helps me a lot as she catches on ever so much quicker than her mother. Maybe because I've always found martial arts fascinating. Perhaps because the intense physical activity gives me a reprieve from the bone-aching pain and immobility that comes with suffering with fibromyalgia.
After pondering the question a while, I had to admit all of those were reasons why I love the sport. For me it's a huge accomplishment: battling those fears and climbing over those obstacles. It's also an enormous challenge. EVERYTHING I do in that class is a challenge. And I do mean ev-er-y-thing. With scuba-diving, learning was effortless. Apparently, my true element is water. With karate, however, I’m like an ostrich doing ballet. No, really; you should see me attempt a spinning back-kick.... So when it was suggested that I consider entering semi-knockdown competition, (and after diligently searching for any sign of hysterical laughter) I considered that perhaps my katas are so bad that there is no hope of ever placing in a competition. At least, I can get the crap kicked out of me and still get points for competing. Naturally, I thought it was a novel idea. After all, at my age, how many challenges like that are going to come along. Everyone should push themselves. It is only by doing this that one can grow.
