Half train or give it up?

[Brian King]

How do you feel about students not taking the whole class?

I personally have zero problems if a student steps out of class or a drill for health or safety reasons. In fact, I actually appreciate it when students act responsibly in regards to their own health and self-care. It is a sign of maturity and that the student takes their responsibilities of training seriously.

Karatemom3 – I hope that you do not mind me sending you some encouragement. You have been training for 24 years (has it always been in Shotokan?). If your journey has been like most there have been high and lows during this period. If you take a moment and look at the bottom of your right bare foot – do you see an expiration date? How about the left foot LOL. You are still breathing, do you feel that inhaling and exhaling. What does that tell you? It tells me that your job here on Earth is not yet finished. God’s plan for you has not yet been completed. I do not have to tell you that not all lessons are easy or even obvious at the time of learning them and that not all ‘instructors’ are the black belt at the front of the formation. As a life-long learner who knows how to take care of herself you are/will be setting a positive example for the younger persons training alongside of you by not only knowing how to protect yourself but taking the harder step of actually doing it. That willingness to demonstrate in front of your peers, seniors, and other witnesses, your taking of that measure to step off the floor to take care of yourself might be the very lesson that protects a fellow student or even an instructor from injury or aggravating an injury into a permanent crippling injury.

Training, why do we do it? Obviously, because we still have lessons to learn, improvements to ‘master’. If you can train your art without aggravating or worsening your injuries even if you must train for shorter durations or in a different manner, then do so without guilt or embarrassment. If you do not think that you can adjust your art to fit your ‘new’ body or your new body to fit your art, you may wish to start exploring alternative arts and/or training methods. We live in a fantastic day, there are a plethora of arts to explore, and how exciting is that?!?


Good luck Karatemom3

Regards

Brian King

 

[karatemom3]

Thank you all for your responses. I have discussed this with my Sensei, my doctors and physical therapist. They all say just to do what I can. But now I realize I am not happy "half training." I can't do the repetitions needed to improve techniques and embrace forms. So I have signed up for a trial of Tai Chi. Thank you all again. I appreciate your encouragement. Joan

 

[JowGaWolf]

Are you talking about coordinate your body movement with your breathing?

Nope I'm not talking about coordinating the body movement with breathing. That is only one aspect of the system.

I train it with Jow Ga to help balance me out my "soft and hard techniques" Jow Ga has techniques that often require tension in order to train so after training I'm usually pretty tense. In addition Jow Ga has both hard and soft techniques within the system. For example, we can use one technique as a hard strike or as a soft yield or redirect. For the soft version we have to do the technique as if we were doing tai chi.

There are some other aspects such as improved balance, driving power, health benefits. I had a neck problem for about 20 years and Tai Chi got rid of it. Improving relaxation, leg strength and awareness are additional benefits. For me relaxation is a big plus. It's the only activity that I do during the entire day where my main goal is to relax, while moving.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

It's the only activity that I do during the entire day where my main goal is to relax, while moving.

The Pigua "arm swinging" doesn't involve with any muscle tension. Your body is always in 100% relaxation. It helps to

- loose up shoulder joints,
- expand chest, and
- stretch your body to the maximum,

that you don't get from the Taiji training. If "relax" is what you are looking for, Pigua is better IMO.

It has good foundation training.

 

[Dylan9d]

I'm 61 years old [female] and trained continuously in martial arts for 24 years. Since last spring I have not

been able to train due to shoulder pain. I had rotator cuff repair, torn biceps tendon repair and bone shaving

a few years ago.

I now have arthritis and some small tears but nothing that can be repaired. I've done PT, acupuncture,

Vitamins/supplements etc. and seen a chiropractor. I can train at home for 15-20 minutes but have to stop

due to muscle fatigue and pain. I do warm up and stretch before I start.

I've tried going to class and doing what I can and stopping when my shoulders got too tired but I felt like I

was disrupting the class when I couldn't keep up and disrespectful bowing out of class.

How do you feel about students not taking the whole class? I am currently studying Shotokan Karate:

purple belt at this time.

First of all respect for you, for still training at that age.

I'm not to familiar with Karate but in Silat I always teach my students that the system adjusts itself for them and not the other way around.

I have people with limitations which I need to work around, got 2 guys with bad knees ( one of them has a fake knee even).

I'm not sure if the same thing is possible with Karate.

 

[MI_martialist]

Training is training. If one is training, and leaving it all on the training floor, then there is no HALF TRAINING! HALF TRAINING does not exist!! It does not matter what you train in, you give 100% of what you have for training.

Take the "half" out of your vocabulary and never use it again!!

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

When you were young, your tornado kick can be high and fast.

When you get older, your tornado kick can be low and slow. You can

1. try to jump, or
2. change jumping kick into non-jumping kick.

IMO, for old age people, 2 > 1.

 

[JowGaWolf]

The Pigua "arm swinging" doesn't involve with any muscle tension. Your body is always in 100% relaxation. It helps to

- loose up shoulder joints,
- expand chest, and
- stretch your body to the maximum,

that you don't get from the Taiji training. If "relax" is what you are looking for, Pigua is better IMO.

It has good foundation training.

You know I'm going to pass on that one right? lol. There's just a lot of that that just isn't going to happen at all. As for as the shoulder joints being, chest expansion, and stretching the body. I get all of that with the Jow Ga training. What I don't get from from one system, I get from another, which is probably why almost all the Jow Ga schools in the U.S. teach both systems. It balances us out. There were a lot of long fist movements in the Piqua videos that posted.

 

[JowGaWolf]

When you were young, your tornado kick can be high and fast.

When you get older, your tornado kick can be low and slow. You can

1. try to jump, or
2. change jumping kick into non-jumping kick.

IMO, 2 > 1 for old age people.

I can do both and I actually like the non-jumping tornado kick better than the jumping tornado kick. I guess that makes me Old By choice.

 

[Grange]

I've talked to my sensei about my shoulder issues in the past. I am healing up from tendentious in my right shoulder and had a difficult time with grappling. He had no issues with helping me modify my training as I work through my shoulder issues. At least you are still coming through the door and willing to train.

 

[JowGaWolf]

tendentious

rarely very serious but it's so easy to irritate it and cause swelling and for most people it's not a fast healing injury.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

I can do both and I actually like the non-jumping tornado kick better than the jumping tornado kick. I guess that makes me Old By choice.

When you are

- young, you should jump, flip, dance, run, and enjoy your life.
- old, you can move slow, or standing still.

IMO, it's better to be able to jump than have never jumped in your life.

 

[Paul_D]

I'm 61 years old [female] and trained continuously in martial arts for 24 years. Since last spring I have not

been able to train due to shoulder pain. I had rotator cuff repair, torn biceps tendon repair and bone shaving

a few years ago.

I now have arthritis and some small tears but nothing that can be repaired. I've done PT, acupuncture,

Vitamins/supplements etc. and seen a chiropractor. I can train at home for 15-20 minutes but have to stop

due to muscle fatigue and pain. I do warm up and stretch before I start.

I've tried going to class and doing what I can and stopping when my shoulders got too tired but I felt like I

was disrupting the class when I couldn't keep up and disrespectful bowing out of class.

How do you feel about students not taking the whole class? I am currently studying Shotokan Karate:

purple belt at this time.

If you still enjoy it do as much as you can and then stop.

 

[JR 137]

If you're doing everything thing you realistically can (and ensuring you can continue past 'today'), you're not half training. Half training is cutting it short because you don't feel like putting the work in.

If you're only physically capable of training for 20 minutes once or twice a week, you're not half training if you stick to that. If you're not training kicks because you physically can't without having to take a month off, I wouldn't consider not training kicks half training.

If your teacher can't accept your limitations, find one who will. Karate (and most other martial arts) is supposed to be a life-long endeavor. No one stays in their prime forever.

Make sure you've consulted a surgeon who specializes in sports medicine rather than one who doesn't. Same with a physical therapist.