Walking through the dojo door is the hardest part

That’s why our Sensei and many other high-ranking black belts said to me last night.  I torn my shoulder in Jan 07, then broke my leg in May 07, spending the entire summer on crutches.  The irony is that we won a world karate tournament back in Oct 2006, but there’s no way you would have known if you saw me last summer driving around conferences in a scooter.  sigh.  argh.  (yes, each link is its own adventure)

For those of you who just tuned into my blog via Tip of the Day, I’ve been practicing shotokan karate since i was 14, including both JKA and FSKA branches.  And as a blogger, i started a karate feed to talk about karate, why i do it (for the art, not the martial), and what i get out of it.

I have to stand during the opening and closing ceremony, something i’ve never had to do before, even.  this is when everyone kneels, does a brief meditation, and listens to the instructor for goals for the class.  But since my leg is only at 60-70%, i still have a long way to go, but just walking through that door was the hardest part.

The most important thing i learned from last year is a saying by the Shotokan style founder (with my personal additions to it) that karate (or any exercise for that matter) is like a pot of warm water.  You don’t want to boil the water, because at some point nothing will be left and you’ll end up with a broken leg and torn shoulder, but you don’t want the water to get cold either.  so you have to train using moderation, something i swear i’ll learn this time.

And now back to the day job…