Self- disappointment

I entered a kata competition on Saturday - the Northern Open Classic, and came home feeling very deflated and disappointed. This wasn't because I didn't win my category, I didn't particularly expect to. I think the reasons are more complex than that. Firstly, it was nearly a two hour drive each way to get to/from the competition so I was pretty keen to do it and therefore had fairly high expectations of myself to put in a good performance. After registering (a tedious half hour stand in a queue just to get your name ticked off on a list) I was keen to warm up and practice my katas. It was about another 2 hours before my category was called and I was managing to stay pretty focused and warmed up in that time.

However, when my category was called and asked to report to area 3 I was quite phased by the fact that there were only 2 of us to compete. This was a category that covered women over 16yrs, 9th - 4th kyu grade and open to all styles! I started to lose my focus at this point as I realised I was going to get a medal for just turning up. I was selected to go first and it was all over before I barely realised what was going on. I then watched my opponent who, though very young (no more than 18 or 20), remained poised and focused whilst she executed her kata with accuracy, style and precision. She was a deserving winner. Even if I had done my kata as well as I could have, I would not have beaten her.

My disappointment therefore relates mainly to the fact that despite all my preparation and enthusiasm, when it came to my performance I allowed myself to lose focus and all energy out of my kata simply because I was distracted by my dismay at there only being 2 of us to compete. I had 'too many minds' as they say in The Last Samurai. I should have taken time to re-focus, regained my poise, taken a few deep breaths, been patient - whatever it took to be able to concentrate properly again. Had I performed the kata to the best of my ability I would probably have felt quite proud to take the silver medal home but performing it without full concentration and effort (I was lucky not to have made any mistakes - it just lacked energy) I don't feel I deserved the medal at all.

So what have I learnt about myself from this? Well, I've learnt that I value my performance more than I value the medal which I think is a good thing. I've learnt that I have a way to go before I have developed the mental discipline and attitude needed to consistently do my best. I have also learnt that I am not as physically good at kata as I would like to be for the stage that I am at (or as good as I sometimes think I am if I'm totally honest). I've also started to feel for the first time that maybe, just maybe, age is ever so slightly against me here - not something I've liked to admit to before! I was more than twice the age of my opponent and I think it showed. She was able to execute her moves much more crisply and quicker than I can (even at my best). I'm starting to think that older limbs just can't move as quickly as younger ones - or maybe it just takes longer to get them up to speed? If you have any tips or training exercises to help speed up muscle reactions please let me know.

Where do I go from here? There is no doubt that my self-confidence has been dented a little by this self-disappointment and I'm feeling a little negative at the moment. However, I will get over myself fairly quickly and think about what I need to do to improve. I certainly need to focus on both the physical and mental aspects of karate and perhaps have more realistic expectations about what someone of my age (mid forties) can achieve. So if anyone has any useful advice or can point me in the direction of any good books I will be very grateful.

Thanks for listening.

Kids and Karate

Sensei asked me to come in early last training session to help teach some kata to the junior class. When I arrived he asked me to take a young girl (aged 7) through pinan shodan as she is grading on Saturday. She basically knew the routine but performed it with a heavy heart and very little effort. She did it with me once and then refused to do it again. I asked her what was wrong and she said, 'karate's boring, kata's boring, I don't want to do my grading.' I asked her if her parents made her come to karate and she said yes. She had been told that she couldn't drop out until she had done two more belts. I actually felt very sorry for her (she's very cute) as she stood there looking the picture of misery.

Why do parents insist on making their children do hobbies that they don't want to do just because they think it will be good for them? I have seen several children in this predicament and they clearly get very little out of it. Many of them misbehave or talk when they should be listening and they often look miserable or bored. This is not sensei's fault , he works hard to keep the children occupied and varies the activities to keep the class varied and interesting. He is not afraid to rebuke particularly naughty children and will discuss their behaviour with their parents. But still these children get brought back to class week after week.

Martial arts is often sold to parents as 'instilling discipline', 'character building' or 'confidence building'. Lets face it, these claims are far-fetched. One hour per week is not going to instill discipline into an undisciplined child. Discipline has to start at home and any child coerced by their parents into doing a sport or hobby that they don't enjoy is going to have their confidence undermined, not promoted. Surely it's the characteristics that a child (or adult) bring into the dojo that determine their success. An eager, disciplined self-motivated person will do well in martial arts. They will bring life and enthusiasm to the class that may well rub off on less confident students and enhance the experience for everyone. The disinterested, poorly motivated student will be a distraction that can sap the energy from the whole class.

I had started to form the opinion that young children just weren't ready or mature enough to study martial arts and maybe shouldn't start training until they are about 11 or 12, but then you occasionally meet a child who is particularly good and inspiring - I have seen such children in competitions - and I think it would be unfair if these children had not had the chance. What is your experience of children in the dojo? Do you think 6yrs is too young to start?

To end on a positive here's some video of some excellent karate from some enthusiastic, well motivated children:

Ways of life: Karate-do and Chado

Photo: Japanese Tea House. Supplied by Stockvault.net

Like many martial artists I have an interest in 'things Japanese'. Particularly traditional Japanese culture. One of the things that fascinates me is the traditional Japanese tea ceremony. On reading about the ceremony I was struck by the similarites it has to karate (and no doubt other martial arts). Let me explain...

Both karate and the Japanese tea ceremony are 'do' rather than an 'art'. In other words they are ways of life rather than just a collection of skills. Karate is often described as karate-do (way of karate) and the Japanese word for the tea ceremony is Chado (way of tea). Both are learnt over a long period of time in a school under a master. Both are practiced in a special environment, karate in a dojo and chado in a chashitsu (tea room). Special dress is required for both, a gi for karate and a kimono for the chado and both are performed bare foot.

Both contain very ritualistic components, learnt from simple to more complicated forms. In karate we call these forms kata and in chado they are called chanoyu (tea ceremonies). Etiquette that involves bowing is very important in both kata and chanoyu. In both types of school there is a process of progression for students. In karate this is obviously the belt system where increasingly more complicated forms, stances and kata are learnt, each stage being rewarded with a different coloured belt. In chado students start by learning the very basic components of a ceremony, such as opening and closing sliding doors, how to enter and exit a room correctly, how to bow and how to prepare and wash equipment. They then progress to learning increasingly more complicated chanoyu. After each chanoyu is mastered the student is rewarded with a certificate.

The final points of similarity between karate and Japanese tea ceremonies rest on their surprisingly similar philosophies and principles. I say surprising simply because one is a fighting form and the other is a rather genteel tradition and you would not necessarily expect them to share common principles! Sen no Rikyu, the most well known and still revered figure in the history of tea drinking in Japan lay down these principles for the tea ceremony that are still followed today: harmony, respect, purity and tranquility. In Shotokan karate, the 5 guiding principles believed to have been laid down by Gichin Funakoshi are: Seek perfection of character, be sincere, put maximum effort into everything you do, respect others and develop self control. I think there's a lot of overlap there!

I may continue my research into other types of Japanese ways to see if they also follow similar structures and principles - I'll let you know if I find anything interesting. Meanwhile, why not watch this video of a Japanese tea ceremony in progress:

Competition results

Just a quick post to let you know how the competition went. Hubby and I were in the final category of the day so we had about a 3 hour wait before we competed, but this gave us plenty of time to practice! The sports hall was divided into two by a curtain and one side was the competition area and other side was a practice area. This worked extremely well as it meant that the people actually competing had no distractions from people walking around or sitting and talking - something that happens at the bigger competitions!

There were 11 people in our category, 3 black belts, 5 brown belts and 3 purple belts. There were 4 rounds: 11 to 8 to 5 to 3. We were allowed to do the same kata for each round if we wanted or we could do different ones. I chose to do Annunko in each round I was in.

It's quite nerve wracking having 4 judges watching you from all angles plus the rest of the competitors watching you as well. But I managed to do my kata without any mistakes which I was pleased about as I was making lots of mistakes during the practices! Clearly I focus much better under pressure.

So, how did I do? Well I was very proud to come 4th out of 11 - especially as I helped to knock out 2 black belts and 4 brown belts. I just missed out on getting a trophy, but my husband came 3rd so we still brought some silver home with us. Two of our teenage members took 1st and 2nd places ( black belt and brown belt respectively) which they deserved.

Sensei organised the competition brilliantly - it was the first one he has organised and so my congratulations go to him, everything ran like clockwork. There was a professional photographer at the event who will be uploading the photos onto his website. When I have been notified that they are ready I will put a link on my side bar so that you can view us in action in you want to.

The picture at the top of this post is me practising.

EKC - Inaugural kata competition

This Saturday is our clubs first ever inter-club kata competition. Sensei runs three clubs under the same name and has invited all 160 or so club members to enter the competition. I think 48 of us have accepted the invitation and registered to enter. This is a really good result for our club as generally only a handful of us enter larger regional or national competitions. I am hopeful that as a result of this experience more club members will be encouraged to enter the bigger competitions. It would be great to get a team together and have someone else to go with!

We have been busy the last two weeks preparing for this competition with lots of kata practice, including performing our katas individually in front of the class under competition conditions. This has enabled us to experience what it is like to perform under pressure and learn to control our anxiety.

I find learning new kata one of the most enjoyable aspects of learning karate. It requires total coordination of mind and body. You can't do it properly unless you give it your full attention which means shutting out the outside world and really focusing on what you are doing. In that respect it has a meditational quality to it and allows you be introspective and 'alone' with yourself. This contrasts with other aspects of karate, like kumite or self-defense techniques, where you need to be alert and aware of what is going on around you and cooperative with a partner.

That's not to say you practice your kata in some dream-like state. Far from it. The kata demands you to fight an imaginary opponent and so you need to try and imagine he is really there. Sensei is constantly trying to drill into us that each time we turn in a kata we must turn our head to look first at that 'opponent', then prepare to turn by moving the feet into position ready to turn swiftly straight into the correct stance. At the same time he gets us to prepare the arms ready to do the block as soon as we have turned. So it's a case of 'look', 'prepare', 'turn'. It reminds me of 'signal', 'mirror', 'manoeuvre' in driving! I think it's this attention to detail that turns a kata performance from an aesthetically pleasing 'dance' to a demonstration of an effective fighting form.

So between now and Saturday it's practice, practice, practice!