I Did It!

I did it. I am now officially a 4th Gup orange belt. What a day. Martial arts is the only sport I know of where bruises are a badge of honor. As I sit reflecting the day, I am covered in bruises but they were hard earned ones and I’m proud of them. This probably sounds like a contradiction to most people. But if you have ever worked for months on obtaining a goal then what ever you went through to reach that goal was worth it in the end!

One key item I have learned in training for this level:

1. Why we do forms or kata’s:

In the beginning, I had no idea of why we do this. I just thought it was a series of movements. Yes, we are suppose to visualize attackers but it still didn’t make any sense to me, I just did what Soke Geniesse told me to do trusting in his leadership. Now I know, not only does it help sports challenged individuals like me learn their left from their right, it helps develop coordination even at the age of 43. In addition, it creates muscle memory. In an unexpected situation, you will always fall back on your muscle memory. It’s like riding a bicycle. You may not have ridden in 10 years but when you get back on it begins to come back to you. In memorizing and practicing your forms if you are ever in a position of being attacked your body will begin to do the things it has memorized. I now understand why they should be practiced daily.

In our form one, it gives you practice in pivoting, breathing and controlling quickly your emotions. This is key in so many of the things we do. Form two, carries it several steps further in practicing specific strikes, kicks, how to look for your opponent, and when to gather your strength.

The ukemi was still hard. I had a pinched nerve in my shoulder. But, I learned that I can push myself even further than I have before. Soke had told us, “Mind over matter”. He was correct.


Truthfully the hardest part of the day was watching each of my 3 children that were testing struggle through certain aspects of their test. Each of them persevered
and words cannot describe how proud of them I am.

I have several people I want to thank if you will bear with me:

Thanks to Mr. Van for his cardio classes. I still had a hard time. However, I don’t think I would had made it if not for his help increasing my stamina.

Sensi Fernandez’s advise on some of my techniques made a huge difference. He has the ability to spot things I could not have. As well as, his words of encouragement during the test.

Sensi Kendall’s steady presence and consistent teaching has been a plus in helping me learn over the past several months.

Soke Geniesse has the ability to make me believe that I can do more than what I think I can! Thanks Soke.

The best part was listening to my kids encourage me as I struggled with certain parts. Hearing, “You can do it, Mom”, can really push you to do more and last but not least to my precious husband for the back rubs and adjustments!

Thanks Zack for being my ukie today. You did great!

This all goes to show, that you are never to old to try something new!

Have a great night. I’m off to a hot bath to soak these tired muscles.

Ous! (means I can do)

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Perfectionist

One of the most difficult things for me in martial arts is my own perfectionism. As I am preparing for my orange belt test I struggle in feeling ready because I feel have not absolutely perfected all the the techniques. Can I do them? yes. Are they perfect? no.

Where do you draw the line? What determines that your ready to move to the next belt? Those are questions that loom in the back of my mind as I prepare to test.

I really want to move forward to that I can continue learning. However, I can still see areas that need improvement. I don't have the flexibility that I really want. My cardio isn't quite there yet and as I mentioned in a previous post, ukemi is really hard for me. As well as, my kicks could be so much better!

My kids are telling me to go for it. My husband went through all of the techniques with me tonight and said I was doing well. But the perfectionist in me says, "are you sure?"

I'm not sure that I'll ever conquer the perfectionist in me so I'm going to go for it. I really want to be in the intermediate classes. They are learning such cool stuff and I can't wait to try it.

It was fascinating watching my kids tonight working through scenarios of a bully or attacker coming at them and how they would handle it. I was in awe watching them throw leg sweeps, kicks and punches. Truthfuly, I'll never worry about my 10 year old daughter again. She kicked butt against adults twice her size!

I can't ever imagine being as good as my kids but I'm sure gonna try!

Mom to 5

Mind Over Body

One of the most difficult things for me to learn is throwing myself on the ground. Yes, you read that right. One of the things that we practice in Tao Hsieh Wu Shu is throwing ourselves on the ground. It is called, "Ukemi" and it is the art of accepting the ground. Sounds like an oxymoron doesn't it. I mean why on earth would you want to throw yourself to the ground?

Approximately 8 years ago an orthopedic surgeon wanted to do back surgery on me to remove a bone spur in my lower back. I refused to have back surgery! I have been managing it with exercise and stretches ever since. However, I have had times when I was in the floor for three days straight because it hurt so much. So you can imagine my face the first time I was shown how to do a rolling back fall. My first response was, "you want me to do what?"

The point to Ukemi is to learn how to land properly in the event you are thrown. Sensi Greg (our Ukemi guru) tells us it is going to hurt when we land but not near as much as if you don't land properly. Let me tell you, he speaks the truth. I've landed before and didn't tuck my chin properly. As my head snapped, I could feel my brain swishing back and forth in my head. When I stood, my instructor was reminding me to tuck my chin, as I'm trying to clear the birds from flying around my head and the spots in front of my eyes! I think I just nodded and mumbled, "Yes Sir".

In my next belt test I have to do a rolling side fall. My oldest son has been instrumental in helping me learn. We started on the trampoline. Believe it or not, it was actually easier to do on the pads. Of course, my son is an over achiever and kept saying, "Come on Mom, five more", as my head was spinning from rolling and my body began to ache. One of our instructors Mr. Van patiently helped me perfect the fine points that Luke began with me and now I'm beginning to feel ready.

It just goes to show that you can overcome your fear and if I can do this anyone can!

Yes, I'm crazy

Sometimes I feel crazy beginning martial arts in my 40's. I've never done any kind of sport. I didn't have brothers or sisters to wrestle with growing up. So you've got to wonder, what on earth am I doing?



Well, I have 5 children and 4 of them have been taking a mixed martial art called, Tao Hsieh Wu Shu. It means, "The Way Of Unified Martial Arts". It is a mix of 8 different martial arts styles blended into one. My kids and my husband always made it look so easy! So, when Soke asked me when I was going to start, I would always grin and say, "when the baby is old enough". Well when the "baby" was three, Soke hired a babysitter and I no longer had any excuses.



I had been very involved with the school up to this point in helping out with the administration, video taping all the belt test and tournaments so I wasn't a stranger to some of the concepts. However, trying to get my body to do what I had been watching was something else! Now, I don't consider myself to be very athletic, in fact, I'm about 30 lbs over weight. After 5 kids and hormonal changes - well you get the picture.



So, here I am 7 months later still trying to figure out my left from my right but having a grand time doing it. Is it hard? Yes, there are many nights after class that I come home and take 4 Ibuprofen and a hot bath! Am I learning? You bet! I've actually earned 2 belts and am preparing for my next belt test on August 23rd.



My favorite part has been doing the class with my kids and hearing them encouraging me, instead of the other way around. Each of them has had a special part in helping me learn and prepare for each level as I have progressed. We also have a grand time watching martial art movies and discussing what is going on.



I am slowly getting in better shape. I certainly have better cardio (thanks to Mr. Van's MMA cardio class) and I am gradually becoming more flexible. If someone had told me a year ago that I would be able to break a board with a front snap kick or hip throw my 220lb husband, I would have laughed at them! But I'm thrilled to say, "I can actually do all of those things".



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