I've always been interested in martial arts. Right from childhood. Looking back, I've been interested in a lot of things, never made them happen because of the lazy bum I was. So, one fine day I decided to go and join some martial art class, before old age got the best of me. I sat down googling different kinds of martial arts. I always had a fascination for kung fu. All those Jackie Chan movies I'd seen as a child was a huge inspiration. It was very recent that I had read about Bruce Lee and I saw only one movie of his. But what I read made more impact. But I knew right away that one needed a lot of stamina for martial arts and that is exactly what I lacked. To make things worse, I have mild wheezing and carry an inhaler with me at all times. So I found several dojos near my place. Karate, Kung Fu, Kick Boxing and even Muay Thai. I was tempted to join Muay Thai classes, after all I had seen Tony Jaa's 'Ong Bak' a zillion times. Okay, some exaggeration here. But I seriously saw that movie a lot of times, and I kept watching the fight scenes on YouTube.
Shortlisting just one dojo (because it was a stone throw away from home), I visited to see what it was all about. I kind of got excited because I sort of took some initiative to learn something useful. So I enter this place and seat myself at the isolated reception area. A class was in session and the door was closed. And I hear all sorts of noises from inside. After a while, several kids step out, some of them who are barely the same height as my knees. Looking cute in their uniform (karategi), full of energy after their class. Then comes the instructor who will be my sensei. I tell him I need to join and he explains to me what they offer, fees and timings. I find myself in a dilemma. Kung fu or karate? I always found kung fu more fascinating. I asked him the difference as he was a trained Black Belt in both. He told me kung fu is more of animal stances and both are actually kind of similar and have their own style and glamour. I was still thinking and my mouth somehow decided to utter 'Karate'.
So I fill out the form and am ready to join classes right away. I get given a new uniform and a white belt. Boy, that was exciting! I wore it and looked at myself in the mirror. Finally. That's a lot of achievement for today!
A class usually lasts one hour and the first day literally killed me (exaggeration again). The first 30 minutes is more of rigorous fitness exercises and warm up. Jumping jacks, ab crunches, bicycle crunches, wall sits, high knee jumps, bouncing, squats, leg lifts, leg splits and more. When I was asked to do push-ups, the maximum I could do was three and I fell flat on the ground. And when I thought it was all over, knuckle push ups and more sit ups. I was happy I didn't join the Army after all. Military boot camp would have killed me. Completely out of breath, I found a little motivation somewhere to complete the exercises. After the class, I realised it had been ages since I had actually had a good sweat. Before leaving for the day, the sensei asked me not to quit just after one class and come again. A lot of people do that, a lot of people just attend the first class and are never heard of again. Partly because it is exhausting and one thinks 'this is not meant for me'. But I was told, stamina will increase gradually if I keep attending regularly. And yes, it turned out to be true.
Even though I dread the first 30 minutes today, I find the second half very interesting. Getting to learn various punches, blocks, kicks and katas (forms of patterns and moves) is very enthralling and I find myself very enthusiastic to learn more. I also have to memorise many commands in Japanese which kind of takes a monent to set in before I execute it. But I have to be patient. I look at others with a higher belt and I'm like, 'Wow, that's cool, when will I learn to do that?'. But patience and practice is they key. I can't get the easy moves correctly most of the time and keep puffing and panting. Slowly slowly, I'm picking it up. After two months of classes, I had a test for the next belt and I passed with good grades! I find myself doing more push ups at a stretch! That's something for me at least!
I learn the 'shotokan' style of karate. Interestingly, my dad when he was my age, learned the same form, but gave up after three belts. 'Shoto' means "pine waves" i.e the movement of pine needles when the wind blows through them. 'Kan' means a "house" or "hall". Shotokan was founded by Gichin Funakoshi (1868-1957) and his son Gigo Yoshitaka Funakoshi (1906-1945). It was developed from various other martial arts and is quite famous. Infact Hollywood stars like Jean-Claude Van Damme and Wesley Snipes are all black belts under Shotokan.
Unfortunately, I will be moving to a different country soon and my classes will have to cease then. But I'm hoping to join new classes wherever I am and keep rolling with the punches!
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