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.