Way of a Swede (from 8 kyu to...)

[aurik]

Congrats to both of you! Watching your kiddo get a promotion is as or more rewarding than earning one yourself. I had the privilege of awarding my son his stripe for nikyu at his last promotion. It was a really awesome feeling.

Keep training and moving forward!

[Wayofaswede]

Thank you very much, Aurik

Just have one thing I need to get off my chest: I had a surprising, scary, and painful experience yesterday during our first kumite training in a long while.

Trying to come to terms with what happened, trying to learn from it and see what positives can come from the challenge, from what I then experienced as negative and almost insulting.

I got kicked with a kick I thought wasn’t even OK to use in such a way by a higher graded student and my CI congratulated my training partner to a good technique and said I should defend better.

It hurt, it scared me. And to be honest, it annoyed me. It left me with a thousand questions and shook my pleasant, comfortable karate castle to its very foundations.

What happened was unpleasant, my feelings and reaction to what happened wasn’t what I wanted it to be. For a moment the way ahead seemed elusive, unclear.

I’m still shaking (not literally of course) from what happened.

Just had to put it all out there. Almost miss my green belt days. At least now I know that such a kick is allowed and can even be expected. But all those feelings that arose…my pretty castle is still shaking (not literally of course)…

[bushido_man96]

Try to look at this moment as a turning point in your training. You know where you've been, and now you have an inkling of where you could get to. Use it as motivation to continue on that path, so that you don't have to feel that way again.

Not all of the "Aha!" moments are pleasant.

[Wayofaswede]

Thank you very much bushido_man, exactly what I needed to hear as I carry on

It is indeed often the most painful and disappointing moments that teaches us the most valuable lessons for the road ahead

[sensei8]

Indeed, it was a AHA moment, of course it won't be your last. Of which the MA journey is riddled with many AHA moments, some mild and others not so mild. I do agree with your CI's instruction for you to "defend better", which will come as you become more mature in your techniques.

I do want to encourage you to not be dissuaded in your training in any way over this situation because it'll serve no purpose whatsoever. Learn from it.

Train hard and train well.

[aurik]

I understand your frustration, Swede. As you move up in the ranks, you get new things thrown at you, and sometimes you don't even know to expect those things until they smack you full on in the face. Fortunately our CI is really good at explaining what the valid targets are for students of different ranks. For example, the head is not considered a valid target until a student is at least at the green belt level. Likewise, kicks to the leg are not permitted for students under a certain age (mainly because they tend to kick the knee, and not the leg).

Personally I am a big fan of kicking the outer thigh and foot/leg sweeps. Kicking the thigh can be devastating to someone who hasn't conditioned for it, and that distraction can set you up for other techniques. Likewise, a well-timed sweep to the foot or leg can at the minimum unbalance your opponent and give you the opportunity to get a few strikes in while they catch their balance (I've even caught my CI with a foot sweep before. Caught him right as he was about to put weight on that foot, and while he caught his balance I stepped in and caught him with a few strikes to the head and midsection. It only happened once though).

Keep in mind these lessons on the sparring floor may be a little painful, both mental and physical, but take them for what they are. Now you know that technique is considered legal, so learn how to defend against it, and (better yet) learn how to use it effectively on your opponent.

[Wayofaswede]

Thank you sensei8 and aurik, your words are beacons as soon as the path leads through a slightly less lit area. Grateful to have you both, bushido_man and all the collective wisdom in this phenomenal forum along for the daunting journey. Happy I decided to write about such a challenging experience

Edited April 29, 2023 by Wayofaswede

[DarthPenguin]

Maybe it is worth having a quiet word with your instructor about laying out what techniques are legal etc at each level. They might have thought you would all be aware. There are likely other people who are unsure and that kind of difference could lead to someone potentially getting hurt

[Wayofaswede]

Thanks for the advice, DarthPenguin. I think one explanation is that we have had very little focus on kumite - I haven’t even been required to perform kumite during testing for my latest grades. So I think CI deliberately wants to step things up a notch, he did say ”use any technique, as long as you take it easy and it’s controlled”.

I did talk to CI after last training and told him it was a good lesson that such a technique had to be expected and he once again pointed out that it’s easy to miss defense against it, but that it’s really easy to defend against once you’re aware it can occur

Today it’s club training again, so I’ll get ”back up on the horse” and will be much more ready and aware this time if we do kumite - especially if my training partner is known for good and lightning fast techniques

I have decided to look at what happened and the challenges ahead as if it was the starting point of a long testing cycle for a potential black belt. I have never reached such an advanced level as this in any MA before, so I’m in unknown and daunting - but interesting, fascinating and exciting - territory from now on.

Thank you for all wise and supportive feedback

Edited June 3, 2023 by Wayofaswede

[bushido_man96]

Keep up the hard work! You're at the point where the rubber meets the road; you can see why some people start to drop out at this point. But you've resolved yourself to see it through; good for you!