What makes a martial artist?

Learning techniques does not make one a martial artist. Hmmm, that's a bold statement isn't it? But, it is true. I learned that lesson last night the hard way. I had one of the hardest classes I've ever had and left class distraught and frustrated. Let me explain what happened.

We were doing a class on self defense; real life scenarios. What do you do in a confrontation and at what point do you actually engage an attacker to defend yourself? Learning martial arts you have a responsibility to your attacker because of the knowledge that you have. Your job is to gain control of the situation and maintain control. Control could be walking away, diffusing the situation with words, or in worse case, gaining control using physical techniques to submission.

I was feeling uncomfortable, but thought to myself, "I can do this". I had been feeling pretty good about my training in the past 2 years, however God certainly has a way of humbling you.

Initially, each student squared off with another to practice the worse case scenarios. I was concerned about keeping control of my punches, kicks, etc and not hurting a fellow student. I was afraid emotion would take over and I would not pull back enough or if I kicked in the wrong place someone could be hurt. One kick to a knee can do tremendous damage. In the first situation, I simply walked away. That was easy to do since I was faced off with my son. The next couple of times I worked with the younger kids. Let me tell you, they kick pretty hard.

When faced with an adult male who tried to grab me my first thought was a wrist lock but his hands were so large I didn't get it and I just stopped. My mind went blank and I didn't know what to do. You would think that with all of the techniques that I had learned, something would take over automatically, it didn't. The tension in the room by this time was in a very heightened state and there was a lot of yelling and chaos. This is by design by our Master Instructor.

My last set ending up me being with two of our adult male students pretending they were going to take me with them. We had just finished discussing pressure points and my mind was focused on trying to get one of them with a pressure point and force the other to back off but I couldn't get my hands on either one. I was so focused on that one technique all I could do was move around and try to stay out of their grasp. One of them slipped behind me and put his arm around my neck in a tight choke hold cutting off some of my air. My mind panicked and went to the recces of a similar dark time in my childhood. I was no longer with other students but in the past and fear took over. I didn't have the wherewith all to say stop and all of my training went out the door. When Soke saw that I didn't know what to do, he paused us and told me to focus on one of the attackers and not both. He instructed me to do a hip throw on the one holding me. I heard him as if I was in a tunnel and tried to process what he was saying. I tried the hip throw which I've done many times. I couldn't even do it correctly. My brain had shut down at this point and pure panic and fear was there instead. I was able to get out of his grasp and thankfully at that moment class ended. I had to leave the room as emotion overtook me. You may have heard of females that have been abducted that knew martial arts and wondered why didn't they defend themselves? I know understood why with complete clarity.

Remember my opening statement, knowing the techniques doesn't make you a martial artist, applying what you have learned does. Martial arts is not only a physical art but a mental art as well. Can you keep control of yourself in order to control the situation? As a female, can you keep your confidence and your wits about you to control the situation? And for me, as a child from an abusive background can you control the panic and fear?

It was a tough lesson. This morning I can sit and think, "Why didn't I do this or that?". I am frustrated that I didn't perform any of the things that I have learned over the past two years. In our intermediate classes Sensi often tells us, "You have learned the technique, now it's time to do it with speed and fluidity."

Last night showed me that I have such a long way to go and I'm far from being what I consider for me, "a true martial artist".



Love and Merry Christmas,
Lisa

ps. (Scott, we need to finish our demolition downstairs and get the gym back together, I have some training to do!)

Overcoming fear

Have you ever tried something new to get over something you are afraid of? I use to do a lot of rock climbing. Sounds like fun right? Well, not if you are terrified of heights. The first time I went, my friends put me in a climbing harness, hooked me up with ropes and off I went. I actually did pretty good, because I was terrified of falling. Once I was about 50 feet in the air I found a ledge I could stand on and I was stuck! I was so afraid of falling all I could do was hang on and wonder what on earth I was going to do. My friends had to talk me down and it took some time. After that first climb, I learned that I had to climb up a few feet and then let go. This allowed me to gain the confidence that the ropes would hold if I slipped, and I could continue my climb.

So, what does this have to do with martial arts? Well, for me, the same holds true with ukemi. When you watch someone being thrown it looks painful! But, if you know ukemi it really doesn't. However, I have somewhat of a mental block on throwing myself on the ground. It takes me being thrown a couple of times for my brain to remember that I can do it and it really isn't bad. We were practicing a wrist lock into a throw the other night and the first time I had to be thrown I was really wondering if I was going to be able to do the roll correctly. After I had done it one time and realized I really can do this, I was fine. But, it took doing the first one for my brain to register, "hey, you can do this".


I write this to encourage you, if you are learning ukemi and it seems a little imtidating keep working on it. It gets easier the more that you do it and when you do land from a fall or throw you will find it really isn't as bad as it looks!


Keep practicing!

Lisa

It's not just for kids

When my family started martial arts 6 years ago, I would always tag along and watch; secretly wishing I could do what they were doing. I was pregnant at the time and after the baby was born, I continued taking the kids to class and watching each class. To stay involved with the kids, I began doing some administrative work for our instructor. It was fun to be a part of what they were doing. I would still watch the kids and wish I could do what they were doing. They looked like they were having so much fun. However, I never thought that I could do it, and as a perfectionist didn't have the courage to try. If I do something, I want to do it well and I just didn't think I could do martial arts.

Soke would often ask me when was I going to start class and I would just laugh at him and say, "well I have the baby so I can't". In January of 07, Soke hired a babysitter and I was out of excuses!

In the beginning, I was terrified that I would look stupid trying to do some of the things my children perfected. They made it look so easy. I was so afraid that I would embarrass my husband and children because I couldn't even run one lap without stopping. But I kept at it because I wanted to be a part of what they were doing.

One of the coolest moments I ever experienced was during my white belt test and I heard my kids yell out, "Come on Mom, you can do it". Usually I was the one cheering them on. There have been many great moments since and the friends that we have made will last a lifetime.

It's been two years since I started and I have earned my green belt. I am still doing the administration for the school and loving each and every class. The interesting thing that occured to me lately is that I'm no longer doing it for my kids but for myself. I don't mean that in a selfish way, but in the aspect of furthering my development as a person and a martial artist. I love our classes and learning the things we are learning and it's exciting to begin helping others get started.

Martial arts isn't just for kids. It's for anyone that wants to try. Don't worry about how you look, or how much you can do. Just go for it; If I can do it so can you.

Lisa

Tournament Preprations

My kids do alot of prep prior to a tournament and the results of their hard work show. I have 53 trophies and medals in my hallway upstairs from the past 4 years. Ok, I'm bragging on them a bit, but a great deal of it is because of their work. They practice daily for weeks prior to a tournament. This dedication shows in class when they are practicing and in demonstrations. As with all things, they have alot to learn but I'm always so proud to watch them compete. They don't always win, and they are ok with that. It makes the ones that they do win all the sweeter.

Are you preparing to compete in the upcoming tournament? Are you as excited as they are? I hope so. It is a wonderful experience, although a bit nerve wracking. I competed once in our team demo competition and I was so nervous. I was terrified I would do something wrong and let the team down. Thankfully it went well and we won first place.

Tao Hsieh Wu Shu was never designed for competition. However, our students do so well and our forms are so beautiful we have a great record so far. We can thank Soke Geniesse and the others that helped put the forms together for this. Our system is different and each level is more technically changeling than most martial arts systems and in competition; it shows.

In class we spar to submission, and in tournaments it is point sparring, but due to the way we block we do very good in the sparring as well.

The next tournament is going to be different and I think all of our students will be challenged more than in the past. We cannot do any inverted moves in our traditional forms competition. Forms 3 and up all have some type of inverted move, so changes will need to be made. Otherwise, our students will need to compete in the XMA division, will we measure up in that division? You bet!

There will be a new section for our students to compete in this year: grappling. This will be an entirely new event for us to try. My oldest son is very excited about this.

I can't wait for this next tournament. It is going to be a lot of fun and I confident that all of our students are going to do great regardless of winning or not!

Good luck to everyone and I hope you are practicing.

The art in martial

Prior to beginning martial arts, I did not think of it as an art form, but merely a way of fighting. As I continue to learn, I see more and more of the art form in the movements that we do. Just as in dance, the smallest of details can change the look of a form (kata). The position of your hands, where you are looking, and the depth of your stances all make a difference. Watching my daughter perform her form is like watching her dance. Her fluidity and grace are beautiful to watch.

A weapons form can be the same thing. Have you ever watched someone performing a form with fans? Beautiful....

When I began learning form 1 my focus was: a. remembering the direction I should turn and which hand to use (I still get confused!), b: putting power and intensity behind my punches.

The number of movements in form 2 were greater but the focus for me was still on getting the kicks and punches correct.

Form 3 added more movements from many of the different systems that we learn in Tao Hsieh Wu Shu and some of the movements were definitely more artsy.

Form 4 begins to look like a dance with many of the movements flowing from one to the other. You can truly see the grace in our style when watching this form.

This leads to question do our forms add more grace as they get harder or is the student beginning to gain an understanding of the movements? Soke Geniesse will often tell us to flow like water. I believe by the time you are learning form 4 this concept begins to sink in.

Amazing....

Plantar Fasciitis

Well, I've learned alot about feet in the past 3 months, and I really don't like feet! But, I have been struggling with plantar fasciitis and I've learned more than I ever wanted to.

First, let me explain what plantar fasciitis is, just in case you don't know. It's pronounced "plantar fash-eee-eye-tiss". This is the condition that occurs when the long fibrous plantar fascia ligament along the bottom of the foot develops tears in the tissue. This creates pain and inflammation.

Plantar fasciitis causes the inflammation of the plantar fascia ligament which runs along the bottom of the foot. The plantar fascia ligament is made of fibrous bands of tissue and runs between the heel bone and your toes and stretches with every step. Inflammation develops when tears occur in the tissue.

The pain can be a burning, stabbing, or aching. It is particularly painful in the morning when you first step on your foot. The ligaments tighten during the night and in the morning when you put pressure on it, the ligament stretches and creates an unbearable pain. After walking and stretching, the pain will subside until you have been on your feet awhile, then the pain returns.

Athletes most commonly develop this condition. Excessive running, jumping, or other activities can easily place repetitive or excessive stress on the tissue and lead to tears and inflammation, resulting in moderate to severe pain. Athletes who change or increase the difficulty of their exercise routines are also prone to overdoing it and causing damage.

One of the factors that contribute to plantar fasciitis is wearing incorrect shoes. In many cases, shoes either do not fit properly, or provide inadequate support or cushioning. While walking or exercising in improper shoes, weight distribution becomes impaired, and significantly stress can be added to the plantar fascia ligament.

This is exactly what happened to me. Usually, I go see my buddy Jeff Rainwater at the Big Peach Running store for my running shoes, but this time I opted to save some money. I went to the local wallyworld and bought cheap shoes, but justified it by buying some nice inserts. Later that Friday I went running with Sensi TJ and guess what, my foot began to hurt that night and hasn't stopped since. Lesson learned, don't run in cheap shoes even if you have good inserts.

I have struggled for almost 10 weeks now with my foot hurting! It has been frustrating because I feel like it has slowed my training down. I passed my green belt test with my foot taped, but let me tell you, I was in tears trying to hold the monkey stance because my foot hurt so bad!

So, what is the solution? ice, rest and new orthodic's for my shoes have helped. I'm still on the road to recovery and after the cost of the orthodic's I really wished I had just gone to see Jeff in the first place.

Lesson learned, shoes are very important! Don't make the same mistake I did. If you are getting shin splints, or your feet hurt while you are running or training trust me, your shoes have something to do with it. Find a shoe store that specializes in running and get properly fitted with a good shoe. You will be doing your feet a favor and you will save money in the long run.

Keep training,
Lisa

A little bit of fun

I had the coolest epiphany last week. I was watching a fellow student's yellow belt test thinking how well he was doing when I realized, "Hey, I passed that test too! I really can do all of the things he's doing". It was a really cool feeling.

Granted, I don't have the finesse and speed as many of our younger students, but what I lack in finesse I certainly make up for in enthusiasm. I really enjoy all of our classes. I have so much fun doing things I never thought I would ever do. Me doing a jump double roundhouse? Yea, well it wasn't pretty, but I did it and it was a lot of fun learning how to do it.

Isn't that what it's all about? Enjoying what you are doing. Life is short and we each only have one day at a time. I hope today that you smile when you are doing what you are passionate about. Share the enthusiasm. It is incredibly contagious and in today's times, we need a little fun. So whatever your fun is, indulge today. I plan to punch on our kicking bag awhile, what are you going to do?

As I tell everyone, if I can do martial arts, anyone can. If you haven't tried it yet, go for it! What have you got to lose, a little fun?