Well, a bit of a hiatus with the blog.....but that isn't to say I haven't been training....I have, just not so much Karate, just some other stuff.
Returning to the Makiwara the other day turned out to be a very humbling experience.
Many of you who read the blog will already know that the variety of Makiwara I have are the nucleus of my training,together with just a few select Kata of Okinawan Karate
Plenty to work on then. More than will last me another 30 years and see me well in to old age.
For many Karateka, in my experience, there always seems to be a ' need more ' kind of attitude. With many whom I've met in the past constantly wanting to add more and more to the heaps that they don't already understand.
I however, like the less is more approach. There is more time to ' take a breath ' and study...
'Back in the day' as a guy in his late teens training 6 days a week in Athletics ( Discus ) , Judo and Basketball, I had to make a decision. Which would I focus on to achieve a higher level and, was I ok giving up the other two.
I chose Basketball and as a Rookie was picked up by a Premier league team. For many years I honed my craft and the rest, well, that's part of my history.
At a Karate Gasshuku in April 2019, I realized I was never going to hone my Karate as long as stuff was continually added to it. Stuff like weapons and different exercise drills that would put my body under undue stress. I find it strange that I would be expected to do something that I had little opportunity in doing correctly without causing an injury.
I digress... I already had nearly two decades worth of content to work on, so adding other stuff also seemed odd.
Of course I had been to other Gasshukus hosted by other groups where there would be a similar idea. Whether or not it was just about making the training different, I'm not too sure, but I do know an injury would often follow.
Now making the training fit my body and not the other way around, injuries are now a rare occurrence in my training, and I remember my last Sensei explaining that this is how it should be with karate....umm
My point is just this, make the Karate fit your body and you will have longevity in your training... If the Karate fits...wear it.
