Pinan Katas

Remarkably, I have my first grading approaching in a few weeks. If I pass, I get to trade in my white belt (called obi) for a yellow one and become 8th kyu. I get the impression that this is more a marker of staying power than skill at this stage, but I'll be pleased to be rid of the white belt. Additionally, I now know what type of karate I'm doing - Shitoryu/Shukokai. This is a big breakthrough since I can now google the combinations and kata moves I cannot remember. The internet is a wonderful resource! 

This is a club website which I found to have excellent basic resources - lists of the combinations and U-tube kata demonstrations.

Essentially, all I need to know for the grading is combinations 1-5, but I think there is a bit of pad work (punching and kicking the padded block or pad) and by now I'm expected to know pinan ninan - the first kata - and pinan shodan. Towards the end of the class the katas start. Sometimes nine or ten, one after the other, starting with the simplest first. By number three people are dropping out until only three or four people remain. The last is always spectacular with aerial turns and high kicks. As well as being good to do, kata is fantastic to watch, especially when performed simultaneously by a group. It speeds up then slows down, is powerful then graceful and always controlled. It has all the beauty of dance, but with a purpose.

Perhaps what has surprised me is that I find karate, and kata in particular, very relaxing. To an expert this may be a cardinal sign that I'm doing it wrong and I haven't confided this to anyone at the class, but it works for me. The repetitious practice of punches and kicks at the start of the class have a similar effect on me. It's like yoga with meaning. The thing with kata, at least for me, is that I really want to understand what I'm doing and why. I want to know exactly what it is my imaginary opponents are doing to direct my moves. Many people don't seem to know this and I'm amazed that they can learn a string of moves which have no apparent purpose. Most of the senior belts know and the instructor knows everything. However, talking in general is not permitted, so it's not always possible to ask. What I'd like to find on google, is a kata with the opponents fighting as well, but in slow motion - not much to ask. 

Fighting - Not All Bad?

There are a number of reasons why I don't like fighting:

• I could get hurt
• Someone else could get hurt
• I've been taught since childhood that's it's wrong 
• There are more constructive ways to resolve differences
• I'm not any good at it and have no expectations of ever being so

However, there is a time an a place for fighting. If not, then why all the expenditure on defense? Why are we proud of our Armed Forces? Essentially if someone, usually a man, is prepared to put themselves at risk to protect me and my family, I'm grateful. On reflection, it is only indiscriminate, abusive or disproportional use of violence that is wrong. By extension, it cannot be wrong to prepare for combat under appropriate circumstances. 

If I set aside the comedy image of a middle aged, slightly overweight, very unfit woman 'preparing for combat' - since this is ridiculous - and consider a more plausible example, then I can begin to see the that fighting is an art. To fight someone involves the automatic, rapid, physical recollection of complex skills - a far greater variety than for a game of tennis. For most people, this knowledge in itself will take years to acquire. However, it's application needs to be instinctive and this will involve predicting the opponents behavior while being several moves ahead yourself and continuously adjusting for change. This is also true for sports like tennis, except the speed, close quarters and stakes are greater in combat.

It's this second part of fighting that deserves admiration, since this is what makes fighting an art. We can all learn skills, physical or mental, given enough practice. 10,000 hours is generally the time it takes most people to become an expert in something - that's about five years of working a 40-hour week. However, the application of the skill is a different matter. In most areas; teaching, plumbing, nursing, playing the piano etc., 10,000 hours will do it. You may not be fantastic, but you will be competent. Unfortunately, being an average fighter would mean that you would be injured or killed by half of your opponents. In this situation being competent is not good enough. 

On he other hand, something is better than nothing. If I were ever attacked, any fighting skills might give me a chance to get away. If fighting is as hard to master as I suspect it may be, then the best someone like me can hope for is a head start.

Combinations

Combinations are are a set pattern of moves referred to by number, e.g., combination 1a; step in, punch to the face and thrust. Combination 1b - as per 1a, but with the punch performed balancing on one leg for reasons that aren't clear. So it goes on up to ten and beyond. I can't remember these. I have improved a little; I can now remember them for the class, but not by the time the next class comes around. Even by the time I get home I've forgotten. This has brought out the student in me and I've surfed the internet (u-tube mostly) in an attempt to find them demonstrated clearly by number. Unfortunately, just as karate is only one martial art, there are also different styles of karate. I don't know which one I do which is not helping the search - I did ask, but I quickly forgot the Japanese reply - but I do know it's not Shotokan. It seems that each style is afflicted by it's own, individual combinations and these continue to remain a secret. To add to my discomfort, the children in the class (the more talented children are allowed into the 'adult' class) pick these up really quickly, effortlessly it seems.

I suppose one expects children's brains to be brighter and faster, but I'm feeling challenged by the other end of the age spectrum. Most the brown and black belts are older - 50 plus, some in their 60's. Obviously, they are highly skilled practitioners of The Art, but what is amazing is how quick they are. Unless I've been doing nothing but drinking alcohol and injecting drugs for the last 20 years, which I haven't, my reflexes should be way faster than theirs, but they're not by a long way. It's amazing what training can do, because these older people defy the normal rules of physiology!

So I'll just have to keep working at it. I enjoy the movements, the combinations and katas. I still don't enjoy the fighting; it feels unnatural and awkward. Perhaps, I am a little fitter, but regardless I'm very glad I'm trying something new.

Exercise Can Effect Your Mind

When I first started to exercise it didn't feel very good. Admittedly, I was pleased I could manage it at all, but each class was accompanied by the odd ache or pain and I felt tired and a bit shaky afterwards. Now I'm comfortable that I can get through the class without too much difficulty and the heartburn has stopped. So I'm back to having a drink. However, something new has happened - I feel good. Not stronger or fitter particularly, the seven flights of stairs at my workplace still pose their usual challenge, but I do feel happier. This seems to be the first positive thing to come from my journey into fitness. I hadn't expected this and I remain slightly skeptical. Is this a genuine effect of increased activity or just coincidence? If real, the effect is mental rather than physical - nothing much has changed physically. This is not surprising since I've only been doing any exercise at all for a fortnight. I still weigh the same and have no hope of fitting into two of the three pairs of jeans I own (the third most be worn with a baggy top to avoid displaying an unsightly role of fat bulging over the waist band), but today I thought I looked better in my swimming costume. I don't of course, but I feel like I do. This is powerful deception and I attribute it to my happier state of mind.

link to a short article on the psychological benefits of exercise

   

As a consequence, I also want to exercise now. I'm still embarrassed about being middle aged, out of shape and a novice at karate, but I care a little less about these things.