Hi Meltingpot Readers,
Big news in the Kinky Gazpacho house. The older son just received his yellow belt in Karate this week. And now the little one has started. He balked at first, but as soon as he got his official Karate uniform, he was hooked. Now, it's my turn. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, yours truly is ready to enter the dojo. My first class is tomorrow.
I know, I'm the girl who gets all excited about stuff and then two minutes later, I'm starting something else. I admit it. When it comes to exercise, I am a major flake. But I have a secret to share. I LOVE martial arts. For real. Bet you didn't know that I have a green belt in Tae Kwon Do? It's true, I do. After college, I stumbled on to a Tae Kwon Do studio, run by a young, female, Afro-Canadian, Olympic champion. I fell in love with the forms, the workout got me in the best shape ever, and the atmosphere in that Brooklyn dojo was fantastic and really empowering.
I want that again. As it turns out, my kids' sensei is also a Black female, and she's fierce but friendly. As my boys say, "Sensei Pat is no joke." Well, I'm hoping Sensei Pat can kick my butt into shape and I can keep up with my karate kids. I'm so excited that we'll all be able to share this activity. And no, El Esposo does not do karate. He tried it once, but it wasn't for him. But that's okay. I'm kind of stoked that mom's the one doing this physical activity with the kids. El esposo does all the other physical stuff with them.
And there is actually another reason I'm entering the dojo. I'm working on my YA novel and my 15-year old female main character is going to fall in love with karate. She was a ballerina but karate saves her. So I need to strike up the love affair again within myself, so I can translate it vividly on to the page. So in some ways, even if I want to quit, I have to keep going because technically this is research.
So, just wondering. Any of you dear readers have a good martial arts story for me? I'd love to hear why you love it or any positive experiences you gleaned from the practice.
Have a great weekend! Ki-Ya!
Peace!
6 comments:
I did karate for awhile, stopped at green though =/ I loved the discipline and the great workout that was involved, but I was (am) too timid to loudly shout "HI YA!" And I couldn't sparr very well. Maybe I just don't have that instinct/drive?
I miss it though, I loved the order of the katas.
And I'm stoked for your YA novel :)
Karate was one of the things I wish I was involved with as a kid so if an bullies messed with me, they wouldn't mess with me twice.
Never did it though.
After the birth of my first child, I went to the closest karate studio, which happened to be American Kenpo, and studied there for a while. I lost all the weight I had managed to put on during the pregnancy (not going to blame DD for my overeating...) and actually found that all that kicking had created a small amount of definition in my backside (a body part that I had thought would always be woefully lacking).
I enjoyed the forms and the ritual of testing for belts marking progress. Also, the fact that I was concentrating on the various moves meant that I didn't notice the exercise as it was happening. Which, for someone like me who had never before enjoyed any of the exercise she had been subjected to by various school coaches, was quite a wondrous thing, indeed.
MissAttitude
I am totally with you. I hate sparring. I hate the idea of anyone trying to hurt me...on purpose. But I do love the katas and I can scream Hi YA like a woman on fire. In fact, that's probably my strong point in the class :)
I'll keep you posted about the book. Right now it's slated for a 2012 release.
Evelyn
It's never too late to start. (hint hint) You never know when you still might need to kick ass!
Riff,
I so feel you. Don't you want to start up again? Then we can compare notes.
I'm assuming you don't want to hear any sex with capoeristas stories, at least not on your blog. So I'll just say I did a handful of kickboxing classes (that counts, right?) and I loved it. And LOVED sparring with boys. You're going to have a great time...total confidence builder. If you think of it more as learning a different way of relating to another human being than 'fighting', it could help any aversion to sparring.
Novel sounds bad ass, though. If you want it translated into Spanish, holler!
"She was a ballerina but karate saves her."
Um, saves her from what? Being a dancer? Just wondering. . .
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