Lessons Along the Martial Arts Path

Seattle got its first taste of snow for the year, and as usual when it snows here, it makes travel really dicey. As a result, I've stayed home the last two days.

While I love being at home, it is entirely different when I'm "stuck" at home. The compact snow and ice in my neighborhood made for a tough drive this past Sunday (I did a 720 degree spinout), so I didn't drive at all until today.  I got a lot of things done while at home....website updates, plans for next year's curriculum, etc.....but I wanted to get out of the house.

Is this what they call "Cabin Fever"?

I'm here at my studio now, wondering if I should cancel tonight's Wushu class. It took me more than an hour to get here from my home (usually a 30 minute jaunt), traversing the snowy rutted streets to get here. All because I wanted to get out of the house.  But now I'm wondering if my desire to get out, will make my drive home a little more dangerous later.

For all my Seattle friends....drive safe if you're out there!

"Awareness" is something I try to teach my martial arts students. "Be aware at all times of what your body is doing....pay attention to your technique and posture....be self aware..." is what I usually say. "If you are not aware of what your body is doing in space, how can you adjust yourself when I'm not around to correct you??"

What's funny, though, is that many times, I am just as unaware as anybody could be.

Until the sweet odor of antifreeze reminded me to "wake up"!

Yesterday, my car overheated and steam was seeping out through the the front of my hood. I thought "Crap, need more coolant". Luckily since my car did not get to redline temperature, I went to the nearest store, bought some distilled water and coolant, and put a 50/50 mix of the stuff in my radiator.  I ran the car for a minute or so, then checked the fluid level again. I was good to go.

However this morning, while idling at a stoplight, I smelled a very  faint odor of antifreeze again. I didn't think anything of it....I thought it was just the coolant burning off a hot surface in the engine compartment....I had spilled a little of it while filling my radiator.

But the odor hung on. Now I couldn't ignore it. I pulled over, got out, looked under the hood....all looked okay. But, out of curiosity, I looked under my car....

Spash....drip....there was fluid dripping from my car!  I backed the car up, dipped my finger in the stuff and smelled it......antifreeze.

Luckily, I was able to get my car to a repair shop, and I found that an intake hose that blown out. Everything is fixed now, but I ran the risk of blowing out a head gasket if my engine had overheated to critical temperatures.  I had to replace my engine two years ago because of a blown head gasket that caused irrepairable damage to my engine. I sure don't want that happening again.

So, lesson learned: Pay attention to the "Little" things. What I thought was merely just coolant burning off a hot engine part, would have resulted in engine damage had I not listened to that little voice that said "Check under the car, even though all the hoses, thermostat, and fan belts you can easily see are okay".

Whew. I doled out $200 today instead of $2500. Whew.

At my martial arts studio, there is a "Rabbit" action figure that my business partner received as a birthday gift.  When its paw is pressed, it plays the song "I want candy" and dances around. Its a cutesy type of thing,....in small doses.....

So far, the "Candy Rabbit" action figure has stood in the midst of all the trophies, making new students wonder why there is a rabbit doll with the trophies. I'll bet they wondered if it was a prize at a tournament!  Yesterday, however, a child in my "Mighty Mites" class (who had known the action figure was there all along) actually went up to the Rabbit, pressed its paw, and was pleasantly surprised when it danced around and played the song.

As a result, the other little kids squealed with delight, and each took turns pressing the little paw and all danced around to the music.  Granted, the music played over and over for about 15 minutes before class started....and the kids did not grow tired of it.

I wonder though....what would happen if I somehow found a way to change the tune that the action figure plays when its paw is pressed.  You know, maybe throw in the tune "Kung fu fighting", the theme song to the Bruce Lee movie "Enter the Dragon".......maybe tweak the mechanism a bit to make it do a back flip or a breakdancing spin......

You know what would happen? The kids would come to the studio, wondering, "I wonder if the Rabbit has a new tune today", and press the rabbit's paw to check if anything new happens.

Although admittedly, I began to get a little annoyed by the constant "I want candy" tune yesterday, I realized that novelty indeed is a motivating factor.   We all know that in Martial Arts classes or everyday life, encountering new and fresh concepts, drills, ideas, etc, is interesting. It helps keep the peak in our interests.  However, in martial arts, "repitition" is also a mainstay of our practice. To learn a routine and perform it correctly, one must repeat the correct movements over and over to gain proficiency....no shortcut around that.

So....yesterday's "I want Candy" episode reminded me that my classes can still practice its repetitions of movement and not become bored with it, so long as I  1) keep the drills fresh and new each time, all while keeping the main concept of practice in play.  and 2) keep the class wondering "what's gonna happen in class today?"

I was taught to keep each class "fresh and new"....however sometimes rote repitition does sneak its way into the mix. Students never complain, but I'm sure that "repitition disguised as "new" concepts is funner than most repetitive classes.

Take a look at your everyday routine....what are some ways you can make it more interesting and less "routine"???

Me: Butokukan Karate (inactive), Wun Hop Kuen Do (Kajukenbo), Eskrima, Wushu, Tai Chi (yang style, chen style), Kyudo, Iaido.

And you?.....I'd be interested to hear......

Remember that old TV series, "Six Million Dollar Man"? With that character "Steve Austin", the astronaut that was severely injured in a launch accident and put back together with bionic abilities by Doctor Rudy Wells?....

I used to watch that show, along with the "Bionic Woman", religiously when I was a kid.....I was intrigued at the possibility of technology giving people superhuman powers, and I wanted to be bionic, without having to almost die in an accident to do so!

Well, you know.....in a way, martial arts has been the "bionics" of not only myself, but in many of those whom I've shared Martial Arts with. 

Being transformed from a "regular" human to a human with enhanced abilities.....that was what my 10 year old mind latched onto when I watched the "six million dollar man" or "bionic woman".  The trials and tribulations that Steve Austin and...what was her name...."Jaime Sommers!"....had to go through with their bodies in this "new" state. I remember one episode of "bionic woman", where Jaime was suffering the effects of her bionics being rejected by her body....the hallucinations, the lack of control of her new strength, the hyper-sensitivity to her new "hearing", etc.  It was a great daydream of mine, to be "bionic".

As the years went by in my martial arts studies, I realized that I too, was going through trials and tribulations. There were times where my body just didn't want to do what my mind thought would be no problem. I would get extremely frustrated at myself, even thinking of quitting entirely because I thought "I'd never get it". I went through situations where I thought I would not be able to spar that one more person during belt exams, because I was so exhausted and on the verge of falling down....but I stayed up and sparred that one-more person, then two, then three....

There were times where I lied to myself, in order to make my percieved lack of progress justifiable to myself. In some cases, I would convince myself that everybody else was just more athletically inclined than I was, and that it was okay that I stay right where I was. (of course, that only resulted in me not putting 100% effort in anything I did for a period of time)

During that time, my teachers helped me see that hard work is what makes results. No one was going to hand me a black belt just because I showed for class.....

As time went on, I realized that as my skills grew, so did my expectations. It wasn't that I wasn't progressing.....I simply set my sights higher and when I didn't see that my skill was up to that expectation, I saw it as "non-progress".

After I got my first black belt....I felt....."bionic"! I felt transformed, as if I had indeed been through the wringer and back (yes, my first black belt test was was the hardest things I'd ever done as a kid at that time).   Afterwards, however, I felt that sense of  getting used to a "new me"....as easy as it may sound to most people, I found it sort of difficult to "live up to" the black belt rank. I was only 15 years old......adult Karate students didn't quite take me seriously because I was so young, kids my age saw me as a peer instead of a teacher. I grew frustrated that some people did not see the work I put it in, nor the challenges of being a martial arts teacher.  On top of that, I was going through the usual teenage angst. My oh my, what a period in my life.

I think, in a way, we're all "bionic". Steve Austin and Jaime Sommers had to go through incredible odds in order to be put back together as transformed people.  We too, in studying Martial Arts or pursuing any other passion will go through these types of struggles. Allowing the transformations to happen, is the key.

A couple of weeks ago, I was driving our studio's assistant instructor, Marina, home, and as we neared the location of our old studio building (that is slated for demolition), I decided to stop and see what was going on with the building.

"The roof is gone...." Marina said.

"Gone? You mean falling in? They started tearing it down?" I asked.

"The roof is gone....you can see up into the sky from the inside".....

We went to the rear of the building, knowing that Jerry, the local homeless guy, was living in our old storage shed. Jerry is a great old guy....he was always there to drive away anybody that would loiter in the back parking lot.....

Jerry let us in the building through the back door, since it was unlocked. What a huge mess. The roof was indeed gone, and it was all laying inthousands of pieces on the floor. It was a sad, bittersweet moment. In the moonlight that shined into the shell of the building, Marina and I saw all of the little items that we left behind when we moved.....paint cans, leftover office items like paper clips and binder clips, the big can of sand we used for sand bags.

Then, walking upon the old training floor, we saw a couple of the patterns we painted on the floor, for footwork training. I almost cried. We spent hundreds of hours stripping the whole floor of 90 year old tile, being on our hands and knees for a week straight chipping off pieces of tile that wouldn't come off with the big tools, sanding and prepping the floor, spending long days laying careful coats of white paint on the floor, and more days on our knees or in squatting positions painstakingly measuring, taping out, and painting the footwork patterns....

.....And now, the only things remaining are the colors of the few footwork patterns that weren't buried under thousands of pounds of musty roof lumber. It was an odd sight, the red triangle-footwork shape and the blue box-step diagram peeking out in the darkness, highlighted only by moonlight.

The building smelled so old that night. A hundred year old building that housed a longtime grocery store, a butcher shop, a deli, and lastly our martial arts studio....now carried the musty odor of time, a previous fire that was built over, and old plaster that hid behind the walls we built over it.

I wanted to just sit there all night and re-live the many memories that we made there. We brought up many generations of skilled martial artists, and became a fixture in the West Seattle area. I will miss the neighborhood greatly...but moreso, I'll miss that old building very much.

Thank you West Seattle. Since my early days as a young Karate Instructor, the neighborhood provided a wonderful home for me...from my first days teaching at Southwest and Alki community centers, to my first commercial Karate studio, to teaching Kajukenbo with my business partner, to continuing the Wushu lineage of my Wushu and Tai Chi teacher. Many people earned their black belts in West Seattle.

My goal, is when a space opens up in West Seattle, I'm jumping at it. I'll be back one day, that's for sure!

I guess I should instead ask : "Any martial artists out there that also ride motorcycles?"

For me, motorcycling is alot like Martial Arts....Its an activity than involves good coordination, whole body awareness, high awareness of surroundings, and sensory skills.

Before I swing a leg over the saddle, I get my gear on, I do a pre-ride check on the bike (fluids, making sure all mechanical parts are working correctly, checking tires and tire pressures, checking chain, etc.), and check my helmet for dings or dirty faceshield. This, for me, is like preparation for martial arts class.....making sure my uniform is clean and neat, fingernails/toenails clipped, hair pulled back, belt or sash tied securely, and that I have all my equipment and weapons for class.

Then, when I start the bike, the sound of the engine prompts me to put myself into a different mindset. Spacing out, dwelling on the stresses of the day, or inattentiveness has no place while on a two wheeled vehicle with no protective "cage" surrounding you (as with a car). I remind myself that total awareness is important if I want to return the bike (and myself) to my garage in one piece.

Similarily, entering the Dojo or Kwoon while leaving your "bag of junk" at the door, is important. Leave that stress from work or school at outside the front door. Don't bring in that fight you had with your spouse or family member. Leave those worries outside. That way, full attention and full focus will be in your martial arts training during your class.  When you leave class, you have the choice of picking up that "bag of junk" and taking it home.....but most times, you'll find that your bag of junk isn't there anymore!

I've had some non-riders ask me "What's the point of riding a cool motorcycle if you're paying so much attention to not getting hit by cars and keeping so hyper-aware? How can you possibly enjoy the ride?"

Here's my 2 cents.....Just like any skill....martial arts, gymastics, skateboarding, anything....body focus and awareness of surroundings becomes natural after consistent practice. The skill becomes part of you after a period of time.

Only then....will you really enjoy the ride.

So, let's hear from you! What martial art do you do, and what bike do you ride? Are you enjoying the "ride"??

A Quote for the day....