This, Too, Is Karate...

The very first day I started learning karate, my teacher, Sensei Michael J. Rosati, told me something I have never forgotten. He said that learning karate would change the way I do everything... the way I walked, the way I drove my car, everything.


I had no idea how right he was.


Today's workout was running, not strictly a Martial Arts workout. However, I took the suggestion of one of you readers out there and bought the book Chi Running by Danny Dreyer. Essentially the book is based on principles and practices the author developed from applying what he learned practicing Tai Chi to his running. It advertises itself as "Effortless and Injury-Free Running". From what i can tell, that is right on the money.


I was not surprised but certainly pleased to find out how consistent his approach is with what I know about good body mechanics from my practice of karate, both from my many years with Sensei Rosati and from my more recent work as part of Kishaba Juku.


The lessons here are so many and varied, I expect I will be writing about them for a long time. But let's begin with the idea of form and alignment.


Maintaining an upright posture is central to Chi Running. It is a cornerstone of both seated and moving meditation. And, in karate, it is the foundation from which all movement flows. As I was running, I was concentrating on maintaining good form, engaging core muscles and larger muscle groups, relaxing smaller muscles I didn't need to perform the task at hand. The fact that running is a simple set of natural movements gave me plenty of opportunity to scan my form: shoulders relaxed, head up but chin tilted slightly forward, elbows back, core engaged, etc. 


The two things that were the most challenging for me were making sure I landed midfoot and keeping my calf muscles relaxed. Since i like to run in 1 minute Run/30 seconds Walk intervals, I used my 30 second Walk breaks to shake out my muscles and keep them as relaxed as possible.


Of course, I couldn't resist the temptation to experiment a bit. Once in a while, I would contract my back muscles somewhat more and slightly release my abdominal muscles to create what KJ practitioners might call a forward-directed arch. Arches in the body store and direct power. Did it work for Chi Running? You betcha. Which just goes to prove the truth of two of my favorite things to say in class: "Good body mechanics is good body mechanics " and "What works... works". Apparently, I have a gift for stating the obvious.


All in all, it was a wonderful run. Just as the book promised, I didn't feel as if I worked as hard physically as I usually do and my breathing was natural all the way, even though a few times I chose to keep running through my 30 second Walking breaks, just to see how it would feel. Piece o' cake.


And, of course, it was an excellent exercise in moving meditation, as is just about anything we do when we focus without judgement on our what is happening in our bodies.


The real challenge will be learning how to bring that non-judgmental attitude, often called "Beginner's Mind" from my running and my meditation back to my karate practice.


Fortunately, Sensei Rosati was also right about something else he said that very first day. He said: "Don't worry. You have a lifetime to learn this."


It might very well take me a lifetime, but no worries. I plan on squeezing out every sweet drop of it.

Beginner's Mind, Eureka Addiction and Naihanchi

Slowly, very slowly, my voice has been returning and, with it, my strength and ability to concentrate and work out. Interestingly, running came back to me much more easily than karate. Running is a much harder physical workout but it requires very little mental or emotional investment. I have managed to sustain a healthy relationship with it so far. Any effort feels worthwhile.

Karate, on the other hand, is an art form and one in which I invested a great deal. So I have expectations. 

For example, my expectations of my students are that they show up and make an effort. That they be respectful and honest. And that when it is time for them to move on, that they will have the integrity and confidence to look me in the eye and say goodbye. 

I used to think that was not a lot to ask. I have learned that it is.

As for myself, I am still trying to figure out what my expectations are. All I know is that they are high. High enough that I often have to drag myself up to the dojo to practice. With no colleagues to hide among and no students to teach, I'm all alone there on the dojo floor. Me, my perfectionism and I.

Lesson #1: Beginner's Mind is NOT... avoiding practice knowing you'll always fall short of your own expectations.

This week I had the privilege of substituting for one class of a Karate/ Martial Arts Instructor Course. The Head Instructor asked me to teach about my style. Once i accepted, it didn't take long for the demons to catch up with me. 

How could I possibly represent my style? All I could do was run mental clips of George Donahue, Paris Janos, and Chris Walton, not to mention Shinzato-sensei and think: "Look at that. I can't do that. I'm still a Beginner (6-7 years later); how can I show them anything?"

After far too much time worrying,  I finally got to teach the class: relaxed, enjoyable. No problem. 

I started with a little history of Okinawan karate to help them understand the context of the art, in particular how it is related to Shotokan karate, the style most of them represent. We ran through some concepts: moving from and through the center, koshi, Figure 8s, arches, compression, torque... and did some exercises that play with those concepts. And I threw some of Sensei Rosati's Yakusoku Kumite at the end, just for fun. 

In other words, there are, in fact, some things that I know and some things I can do. I don't know them or do them nearly as well as my teachers, but I still have plenty to show to people who either don't do them at all or haven't had the opportunity to focus on them as I have.

Lesson #2: Beginner's Mind is NOT.... insisting that you still don't know anything.

So, today, I was ruminating about what to practice. That's Something you don't have to worry about when you run--- Just turn on the music and run. And it's something you don't have to worry about when you go to class. Someone else does the worrying for you. When I finally managed to skirt around all the obstacles I threw in my path and got upstairs to practice, I decided to practice Naihanchi. And Naihanchi. And Naihanchi. And Naihanchi....Over and over again.

Not my first kata. Not my fanciest kata. Not even a wall-to-wall run-through of all of my kata. Just the one kata that, according to Kishaba Juku, serves as the basis for rediscovering and revitalizing them all.

I think I  may know what I am looking for every time I climb those stairs up to the dojo. I'm looking for a mini-epiphany. I have had so many of them since I began to practice Kishaba Juku that I am thoroughly addicted. I expect at least one every time I practice. Totally unreasonable. What teacher could possibly meet an expectation like that? And, because I am alone, the teacher that I expect to be that brilliant every time s/he steps on the deck...is me.

So, I have plenty of meditation and spiritual practice ahead on taming my Ego. Tormenting myself doesn't seem to work. Neither does selling myself short...

And, about that epiphany? Yeah. I had one. Something about the looseness of the arms, the snap it creates and changing directions. I've already started worrying about whether I'll be able to remember what it was next time I practice.

Addiction-1, Reasonable expectations-0. And counting.

On One Foot

... So there I was running along the grassy median, ostensibly to provide extra protection for my joints, when I stepped off the curb and... owww! 


And being a True Warrior, the second thought to enter my mind--the first is unpublishable-- was " Damn! Rohai!".


Now, for all of you non-Shorin Ryu-people out there, Rohai is the name of a Tomari-te Shorin-ryu kata. Its name means something like "Vision of a Crane". You know. The kind with feathers.


The Crane is one of the Five Animals of Southern Chinese Kung Fu and Chinese Medicine. Okinawan karate is an amalgam of a native Okinawan fighting called "Te" and Kung Fu transmitted through forms or "katas" that arrived on the island from China via travelling merchants.


Anyway, the point is that the signature move of this kata is a pullback into a one-footed stance. What goes up must come down, so the foot we lift has to get back to the floor. For that, we have basically two choices: the smart way and the lazy way.


The smart way is to bend the knee of the supporting leg, loading it like a spring, and to gently place the foot down. The lazy way is to slam the foot down as quickly as possible and get on it. 


Guess which way most of us do it.


Now guess how I injured my foot when I stepped off the curb.

Today's workout involved a bit of Passai and, needless to say, a lot of Rohai. I was pretty limited in  turning and direction changes because of the pain in my left foot, but I figured it was worth it to do it slowly and reinforce doing things the smart way as opposed to the lazy way.


And then I noticed it. It had never occurred to me that all four times in the course of Rohai that we do that one-legged stance, we raise the right foot and use the left as the supporting leg-- which hurt, by the way, but that is not the point. 


The point is that I can do Rohai from now until Tuesday and not learn to lower myself by bending my right leg so my left leg will land softly. That kind of learning doesn't cross from one side of the brain to the other. I either have to do a mirror version of Rohai that forces me to reverse my stances (as if I am aware of when I use my left and when I use my right) or find some other section of some other kata that helps me reinforce the right habit.


And that's one heck of a bad habit to tackle. As a right-footed runner, I have lived my entire life pushing off with my right and leading with my left. As a new runner, I haven't slammed down my left foot and caused myself nearly enough pain to have learned my lesson that way. Not yet, at least.

So what's the solution? Just unmitigated, unrelenting mindfulness? AGAIN?? Just sort of makes me want to bury my head in the sand... But that's a bird of a different feather...

6 Steps To Running Like A Warrior

When I took my run yesterday, i was reminded of how completely things can change. For the last 40+ years of my life, I have been telling people how much I hate running. I played all kinds of sports, but running? Not for me. "I only run to things and away from things," I would say. 

Then, this Spring, at the age of 52, I started running and I have been running three-times-a-week ever since.

Basically, the truth is that I never understood what running was. I thought it meant racing a stopwatch to meet some arbitrary standard. Or pushing yourself with your lungs exploding so you wouldn't be teased the way the last kid in your class to cross the finish line always was.  

This Spring I discovered that running, with a warrior mindset, can be an addictive and healthy personal challenge. It requires no special preparation, has meditative qualities and can do wonders for lifting your mood and working off stress.

So here are six lessons I have learned for running like a warrior:

1) Start Slow: I followed the Easy 12-Week Walk/Run Program! GET ACTIVE! and found it easy and satisfying. Whenever I missed a run or if I didn't feel ready to move on, I took the time I needed to stay on track and within my limits.

2) Consider Barefooting It: I fell in love with Vibrams Five-Fingered Shoes after buying my first pair for practicing karate outdoors. Then I went to Al Derech Burma and tried on my first Komodo Sports. I stood up and practically ran out of the store with them. Vibrams free your feet and allow you to use muscles in your feet and legs you never knew you had. 

3) Try Nasal Breathing: Are you a natural overachiever like me? Then try doing your runs while breathing only through your nose. This will leash your natural tendency to overdo and stimulate your parasympathetic nervous system, calming the mind and rejuvenating the body.

4) Think Form: As in the martial arts, good form maximizes efficient use of power and minimizes the chance of injury. Keep your head slightly tilted forward, eyes on the horizon, shoulder blades down, hands unclenched, lats dynamic and body upright. Shorten your stride to get maximum use of your body's large muscles- the quads, hamstrings and glutes and minimize pressure on your knees and lower back. Lift your knees only as high as you need to to keep moving forward and keep them soft (i.e. slightly bent) always, always, always.

5) It's About Time: I run for time, not for distance. Running for time means I can run and walk as hard or as soft as I like, uphill or down, wherever I choose. It means i can pay attention and adjust to how I feel. It keeps my eyes on the prize, a long-term commitment to my physical and mental health, and not on pushing myself or competing with others. 

6) Make It a Discipline: Making running a regular part of my life, with plenty of rest and room to adjust to my ups and downs, has added a great deal to my life in general and to my warrior identity in particular. Karate is primarily an anaerobic activity, the eye of a hurricane punctuated by powerful explosions of motion. Running, at least the way I do it, is practically the definition of aerobic . Practicing karate is all about concentration and the details. Running is the "big picture" to music. Maintaining the balance between these two disciplines, helps me maintain my inner sense of power in balance.

The third part of this triad, meditation, I will discuss at a later time.