Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Hello, kata my old friend....


The summer hiatus is over.
My brief time contemplating what aspects of training I hope to focus on next in my studies was redirected this week--almost instantly--to the contemplation of sore muscles from hard training.
And I'm glad.
But it's funny, really, as I have recently thought so much about what I feel I should be working on next, that I stepped back into the dojo and was quickly reminded of the fact that it is largely Sensei who determines what I should be doing (I can surely think for myself, don't get me wrong, and I can ask questions and suggest things, but he has his opinion, too. And I value it.).

So, however reluctantly, I spent two hours of intense kata when I had in mind many other ideas of what my first class back might be like (Kata is a double-edged sword to me... I feel it's benefits but also resist it on all occasions...).
But what I decided long ago is that I am handing my trust over to my teacher. I trust him to hone what skills he thinks i need to, and also keep in mind that I am sharing his wisdom with other students that may need different areas of focus than myself. However, the message I recieved from such an intense kata class was that Sensei decided we needed a good humbling and to cast off the rust that so quicly accumulates from time off.

And believe me, in all my soreness, message recieved....

3 comments:

  1. The early part of summer, we were focused on kata and kobudo because we had two students preparing for shodan testing. Immediately after testing, we changed focus and began working on flow drills. It feels like forever since we had an intense kata session.

    Perhaps it is time...

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  2. i still hurt....three days since....

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  3. Right there with you. There are strange noises coming from me every time I get up or sit back down. They sound like groans...

    Kata really is a double edged sword. I suspect there's some secrets to be learned in there, but I'm not always sure I want to look for them.

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