I'm sure that even one year of martial arts training would be enough to change anybody that dared; I've done about 10 and I thank my parents for forcing me to go through with it those first few months. What happened after those first arduous months of training? I couldn't help myself, I had to have more, though at the time I'm sure I still blamed my parents for staying in training.
Of course now I'm proud of my training and though I don't tell many people about it I'm always happy to share stories with others who've trained. So to keep this entry short for now let us start with a short entry about how I got involved and why I still enjoy training.
I was about 10 years old when we got the first flyer advertising PAL martial arts and baseball programs at a gym establishment. My parents showed me the first flyer but I threw it away, at least that's what I remember, and my parents forgot about it until the second flyer came in reminding them about my pending decision. I had already played baseball during recess at school so I chose something new: martial arts. Classes were held in a basketball gym and we bared our feet to the floor during every class leaving them filthy with dirt at the end. The deal with my parents was that I would try it for the duration of the summer program and that'd be it. The first class wasn't at all bad. My grand teacher at the time was a funny man who for those first few days made me laugh more than anyone I had met. Everything he said was funny, even the insults. After those first few days I got my first asthma attack during class. That became the first obstacle in my training and we all know that at the first obstacle we all feel a bit deflected.
My natural response was no more training but no, no, no, no. There was the deal with my parents. They suggested that I take my inhaler to class as a safeguard against the attacks and so with no more excuse I headed back with my inhaler. I don't exactly remember when it is that I stopped using my inhaler and I'm glad I don't.
One day "more" another black belt came into class! I hadn't even thought about there being more than one! Mr. Simon Nurse. He had come from some mysterious place I didn't know about and he became the intrigue of that class. With him was another young man, Jermaine. I'd forgotten his last name but that makes him no less important. Jermaine, however, was a purple belt but you have to remember that up until then all I had seen was the instructor, who in my head by default had to be a black belt, and the other students who were white belts like me. Actually, we didn't even have uniforms so we were no-belts. Looking back at it now they did nothing special except do push-ups on bare floor with fists instead of flat hands and hold chairs with arms outstretched for minutes in a stance, kiba dachi, that I had never seen before. They were amazing and I needed to be like them!
At the end of the summer I tested for my yellow belt. My parents were willing to pay the fee for Shinsa. I don't remember how many people tested, how long I was there, nor what I did exactly. I know that I must've done the three beginner taikyoku katas, and some ippons but other than that the only real thing that stayed in my head was the moment I received my yellow belt through the "traditional" smack on the head. Happy as I could be, I went home that night content and wanting to keep on this path.
As far as why I still like to keep training...it's addictive. When your body can do things that you never thought it could you want to find out what else it can do. When you can't do what you know your body can do you want it back! Being loose and limber is something that at a young age is natural. As a result of my training I've been able to maintain it. I can almost do a split and I can kick at a good height. "Normal" people my age can't even lift their legs hip height without crimping their faces in pain. The day after a workout where my legs have been worked I get to feel what the pain is like but I'm always glad to know that the soreness will go away; that I'll be able to "lift" my leg again another day. Sometimes even "normal" people look handicapped to me. They're not handicapped in any way of course but if all you can do or you want to do with your legs is walk then I wouldn't want to be you.
That's all for now. Stay sharp!
December 18, 2006 1:04 PM
1 comment:
That other young man would be Jermaine Spradley of Hempstead, who made Brown Belt before leaving for college. He was team captain of his high school's division-winning football team, and credited his Karate training as a major aid to his football skills. He is a published writer, and was a Newsday Impulse reviewer.
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