evergrey

I'm marrying my sensei, heh! So yeah, I'm for it. But beyond that, I've had the opportunity to hang out with my head instructor, and share stories and get to know each other in a non-formal environment, and I have to agree that it just strengthened the bond. We see each other as friends and family at my dojo. Even Shihan, who is very formal and who has that old-school "I don't get personal with students" thing going on? Totally family.

Congrats!

Oh, we do a lot of stretching. We do a lot of basics. A number of us are dancers and some do yoga as well.

Some reading to look up online- A health at any size blog called "dances with fat." An article titled "It's Time To Admit It: I'm Totally Back In The Eating Disorder Game -- But Not The One You Think"

Thank you for that. I think what I am getting at is that the culture of fat-shaming and judging people's personal habits based solely on their appearance is very hurtful and damaging to so many people. It encourages bullying. It encourages people who would be healthy to give up on themselves, as no matter how well they take care of themselves, if their appearance doesn't reflect what is "acceptable," everyone will assume that they are not "taking care of themselves." Yes, there are some people who are overweight because of their eating habits. No, it's nobody's business but their own. There are also so many other reasons why people end up overweight, and stay that way. For some people, there might be a metabolic condition that prevents them from losing weight. For others, diet alone won't change it (and something like 97% of diets ultimately fail... most "we're successful" diet claims are actually based on someone losing 5 pounds over a couple years, heh) and they have chronic injuries that prevent them from doing the extreme exercise that they would need to do in order to lose fat. Me? I have metabolic failure. I can sort of manage the weight GAIN by eating a very extreme, meticulously measured low carb diet... but comments like "oh it's just simple, you just need WILLPOWER! Intake less calories than you burn" is what lead to me starving myself for days on end, and when I did eat, having only 600 calories or less a day. At times it was as low as 200 calories a day. I would work out, HARD, for at least two hours a day. And I was still fat. I ended up seriously crippling myself as well, ending up with a back injury that will give me chronic pain for the rest of my life. That's why "harmless little comments" and "concern shaming" can become devastating. It's piled on overweight people every single day, from all directions. They're told the quality of their character is poor, simply because of their weight. They're told they're a "bad role model" and "encouraging obesity" simply by existing! Or doing something POSITIVE with their lives! People assume that they are lazy, stupid, greedy, selfish, bad, hypocritical (if they dare to do something active, especially daring to help OTHERS with doing something active) and dirty. And every little stab and swipe at them re-enforces this attitude. Bullying overweight people is seen as socially acceptable, because it's "for their own good" or because they're "costing the country money" or other such rubbish. Me, I don't think budo needs to be approved by Weight Watchers to be legitimate, but just for the sake of argument, let's say there's an overweight karate instructor, and he is preaching proper nutrition. What... if he PRACTICES proper nutrition? And is still overweight?

Yeeeeep and I eat an extremely careful and healthy diet. I'm still "morbidly obese." I'm not setting a bad example, and I have integrity. Don't assume an overweight person is "stuffing their face."

Well it seems to me that many people who live sedentary lives end up with crippling injuries as well. I figure I'll live my life to the hilt, doing what I love. My knee injury that required surgery was a result of my leg getting grabbed and twisted, and me losing my balance, and somewhere in there, my ACL snapped. If we didn't practice catching kicks at my dojo, I probably would not have sustained this injury... and kick catching isn't quite so common in modern Kyokushin dojos. We just tend to have a more expanded arsenal of techniques that we learn here, separate from training for knockdown tournaments. Sosai used to teach some judo stuff, in the 60s- I've seen video. :} Some of the stuff we do here probably comes from elsewhere though. I'm okay with that- we have a lot of officers learning stuff to survive on the street with. We also have unusually soft mats here, as we often practice throws and breakfalls. They were great three years ago when I started, but they badly need replacing now. WAY too soft and unstable. Even kata leaves my knees sore these days. But yeah, martial arts, especially when applied with contact, and with noncompliant partners, certainly carries a lot of risk of injury. I still love it!

I know that Mas Oyama commented on this, and felt that Judo was much harder on the body than stand-up karate. It's one of the reasons why he chose to move away from Judo. I don't know if it's true or not, however, not knowing many Judoka myself. I'll also say that I've had knee surgery, a number of people in my dojo have chronic knee problems, and some also have wrist or shoulder issues too... and we're Kyokushin, hah! I mean, the people in our dojo have a specific orthopedic surgeon we all go to, if that tells you anything... OSU!

Haha, Wullie calls himself fat though. The point is, don't judge someone's character or abilities just by looking at them. Also, Wullie rocks! OSU!

Relaxing! Haha. In training, in sparring.

There can only be oooooooone! *lightning*

Hard training, and hard politics, lol! Thankfully most of the STUDENTS aren't so hard with the politics. The internet gives me hope! Another thought- maybe sometimes people are secretive because, deep down, they are insecure?

I have to take some issue with this. An obese person can also be "fit." An obese person can also have a great deal of self discipline and self control. You don't know why they are obese just by looking at them, or what kind of a person they are. All you know is that they are obese. That's it. Perhaps consider that the "example" they may be setting is that people can have health at any size, and that anyone can and should follow their dreams and do what they've always wanted to do. Perhaps the example they may be setting is that no one should feel ashamed for how they are shaped, and no one should "punish" themselves by denying themselves their joy because they are not an "acceptable" weight. Maybe they aren't giving the message "hey, you shouldn't take care of yourself, why bother?" Maybe they are giving the message "we are all human beings, regardless of a number of a scale or a certain aesthetic, and we should all be respectful of one another, and not judge based on appearance?" Maybe they are giving the message "I am worthy and I can do things too." Maybe they are giving the message "health and fitness should be for everyone, and movement is healthy for everyone." I would like to tell you a little bit about someone who you might say, by looking at him, has no self-discipline. His name is Wullie Rodger. He has a double chin. He's a big guy! He lives in Oban, Scotland. A few days ago, Wullie, who is, I believe, in his 40s, completed his SECOND 100 person kumite. By doing this, he raised a thousand dollars for a charity that sees to the care of wounded veterans. He fought 100 fights in a row, no breaks. ONE HUNDRED FIGHTS. NO BREAKS. He fought Kyokushin karateka, kickboxers, and MMA fighters. Full contact knockdown, and kickboxing, and MMA rules, depending on who he fought. He finished out with some broken bones and a lot of bruises, but he FINISHED. How many thin people do you know who have done the same? Perhaps it is not so safe to assume that someone's self-discipline, fitness, and abilities can be gauged by their weight! OSU

My Sensei is a Nidan, and an excellent instructor... he started training before I was even born, but had to take a long break due to military service and injury. It's best to judge, not by rank, but by the feeling you get from the instructor, and what you actually observe in the class, in my opinion. I think one class a week would drive me nuts too.

Haha very true, and something that we do try to live here as well.

Thanks! Yes, after a snapped ACL I have become a lot more careful. ;} I'm a 5th kyu now but I still consider myself to be a beginner. Soooooometimes I am calm and relaxed while fighting. Except with that one guy who decided to snitch on me about something he didn't understand, and get me in big trouble, LOL! It's very bad to hold a grudge in the dojo or fight one's dojomates with anger. I know this, but last time I sparred him, I did sort of turn into a little Dalek.... "extreerminaaaate!" Not trying to cause injury, of course, more snarling and hurling myself at him. Too bad I'm not a good fighter yet, haha! Or maybe it's a good thing. I just got an "Evey, try not to fight looking so ANGRY" from my Shihan for that one though.

Thank you everyone for the great advice and discussion. :}

OSU! Very well done. I can't wait to hear more!

Yeah, I have a pair. I put them on when I'm under orders to... but honestly they make it harder for me to make a nice solid fist, and I feel like I'm "declawed" in them. Useful for some things though. Good for bagwork when you're using a communal bag and you don't want biohazard grinding into your knuckles...

When I was growing up, my family had a basset hound. As a puppy, her ears dragged on the floor, and when she got too excited and started running around, she would trip on them! In the dojo I think I often end up with overenthusiastic puppy syndrome. I want to do well SO BADLY! I try so hard and get spastic, lol, and trip over my own metaphorical ears. I do try to improve my technique and learn, but I know, I know, I often try to fly before I can walk, haha! And then I get an asthma attack and cannot breathe, but I just... can't give up! Well, I just won't! Until things start to go grey, then I know I have to stop, but I get really annoyed and want to go back to it! I tend to see the failings of my body as an inconvenience. Probably some of that is ego. Some of it is stubbornness. Some of it is just... hyper-focus in a strange way. My instincts and my heart and my spirit just want to push through it, to endure it and keep going, keep going, keep going. I often get this fierce look on my face. Maybe the kids see that when I'm fighting the black belts, and they think I'm so furious and angry with my partners, or so mean, but actually I'm battling myself... Oh man what it must be like for the poor black belts I'm fighting. "Argh that puppy is nipping at my face again and jumping all over me!" LOLOL Anybody else like this? I will throw myself at anyone, no matter how scary of a fighter they are, or how high rank... if we're facing off on the mat, I might know I'm going to get trounced, but I still just go for it with all my heart, and end up bouncing around like a spaz. Re... rehuuh.... rheeeluuaaaax? Relax? What is this thing and how do I find it?

Oh goodness. I think my goal this coming year is going to be "learn to relax and have patience with, and compassion for, myself!"

Hey, are knuckles supposed to have skin on them? Actually half the time we do wear MMA gloves in my dojo... but that half of the time, we do face punches. Er, my Sensei and I might have hit each other in the fact last night, even though we weren't using mouthguards or handpads... MAAAAYBE.

One positive thing about training with a lot of LEOs- I ask them "oh, so you've never had a woman on meth come at you with a knife?" "Ohhhh yeah, good point!" Hehe!

LOL yep! But I'm really proud of this blue belt. For the first year he was here, he was always flinching and backing away. Now he's gotten a lot tougher, a lot braver, and his talent is really starting to shine though. his voice has dropped a couple octaves too, lol! I had a brief flying lesson last night too, come to think of it. I remember hearing my Shihan say "nice, very old school!" as I was sailing through the air. I guess a lot of other women go to the mall or something for fun?

My response is actually sometimes, with really hard to crack cases, to hit them hard enough times that they lose patience and hit hard back. And when I grin and say "GOOD ONE" instead of acting like a victim, they realize it's okay, and relax and treat me like "one of the guys." You have to get your instructor on board for that, though, or that person will get in trouble when they are actually showing you respect as a fighter and a martial artist!