Sometimes I feel very hesitant to give myself any praise, and even more hesitant to share my accomplishments. I'm sure I'm not alone when it comes to this.
6 years ago, I received my orange belt in Goju-Ryu. Shortly after that, I suffered a partially dislocated shoulder sparring in a tournament, though I didn't realize that's what the injury was until more recently. Despite being in agony, I continued to fight (because I'm stupid), winning that match and going on to take home silver in my division, but probably messing up my shoulder and arm worse than I needed to. That and a subsequent lower back injury related to a slip & fall on black ice sidelined me, and I gave up karate. My shoulder was never quite the same, and I constantly dealt with pain and reduced function in my left arm.
In July of 2021, with my back healed, and my shoulder feeling somewhat better, I returned to the dojo to continue training.
This coincided with the lifting of covid lockdown, and although we could work out and train, there was no contact, no sparring. Everyone was in rough shape after lockdown lethargy. Once sparring was allowed again, I enthusiastically donned my gear, and in my very first practice match, in exactly the same way as I'd injured myself the first time (my jab being stiffly deflected with an upper block), my shoulder was instantly popped out of the socket - full dislocation. I didn't know such pain was even possible.
Sensei put a makeshift sling on it before my spouse rushed me to the hospital. I'm extremely fortunate that the ER wasn't busy. I was seen within 30 minutes, put under within 90 minutes, and the doctor slid it back in with minimal damage to the capsule. I'm incredibly thankful for their skillful and efficient work, and for Canadian healthcare. I walked out less than 2 hours after being admitted, though I had a long road to recovery ahead of me.
This time, despite the injury being technically worse, I refused to let it stop me from going to the dojo, though my ability to train was obviously hampered and somewhat limited.
It took physio and a lot of hard work, and while I still have to be careful with it, my shoulder and arm are much better now. Ironically, because of the clean dislocation and skillful procedure to place it back in, I actually don't feel the constant sharp pain running down my arm that I did for years after the partial dislocation, which I never sought treatment for. (Again, because I'm stupid.)
Today I was graded for (and earned) my green belt. Yes, my head absolutely looks like a ripe tomato after that workout.
I know I'm not the most stalwart student at the dojo. Goju-Ryu is a constant battle with one's self. I struggle to retain Japanese terms and commands. I struggle to remember my kata. Sometimes, I struggle to simply motivate myself to show up.
But in the end, I guess that's what it's all about. As one of our dojo's Senseis put it, regardless of rank, we train each time like we're brand-spanking new white belts, because we never stop learning and finding ways to improve our practice. We push through the mental frustration, and the physical exhaustion, and never fail to come away a little wiser.
A short and simple Sanchin foot placement analysis.
I’ve been digging into Sanchin stance a lot lately, including talking to practitioners I know from other styles, reading recommendations on the web, experimenting with different concepts/methods, and reading The Way of Sanchin Kata by Kris Wilder.
I tend to agree with Mr. Gambrell in this video: I find it much better to keep the back foot straight. In testing both methods, as well as the degree of turn of the front foot (I prefer 45 degrees, but have been told both no more than and no less than), I find myself able to be much more stable with the back foot straight.
That said, I haven’t trained with it that way from the beginning, so your mileage may vary.
Obon is a Japanese festival celebrated to honor the spirits of their ancestors. Every year, it is observed from August 13th to 16th. I haven’t done anything special here. I already visited my grandparents’ grave in June.
My kids’ school started on Monday. My eldest daughter is now a middle school student. She is not a little girl anymore. She is 163 cm (5.3), and I am 156 cm (5.1).
Last month,…
After two years of learning karate, my kids received their certificates on Thursday.
Each karate association has different styles and rules. My kids are learning Goju karate. This time, they passed the test for advanced white belt. The next belt color will be green.
The Ranking System:
White Belt with no stripes :9th kyu
White Belt with 1 stripe :8th kyu
White Belt with 2 stripes :7th kyu
White…
History of #Goju_Ryu Karate style #Kanryo_Higashionna #Chojun_Miyagi #Delhi_Karate
Welcome back to our Karate world Delhi Karate (DelhiKarate.in). In our previous article we have discussed about History of Karate and its different styles of karate. Now we will discuss about its part. So, we start from history of Goju Ryu Karate Style.
Goju-ryu is a traditional Okinawan style of karate with an extensive history. Sensei Miyagi Chojun was the founder of the Goju-Ryu Karate.
Karate is a form of martial arts dating back several hundred years from India, later developed in Okinawa. Okinawa is a main trading island in Japan’s chain of Ryuku Islands in Western Pacific Ocean. The word “karate” is actually a term in Japanese – “kara” (empty) “te” (hand), meaning to fight hand-to-hand without weapons. In our last topic as we have learned about the history of Karate. Today,…
