You Deserve a Break

After writing my last post I went to help assist the children’s beginner classes.  There, even though I am helping, I always find I take a tidbit of information home with me as well.  What stuck with me after yesterday’s classes was the notion of ‘taking a break’.

Periodically through a class after the children have been pushed to run further and faster or to do more, Senpai may ask them to ‘breathe up’ and to ‘shake it off’.  Sensei stopped the class having seen that the kids today weren’t putting in 100% of their effort and told them that at this point, they should be feeling tired and that’s why they are given a short breather.  If they find that when they are given this breather that they don’t need it, that they aren’t sweating or their heart isn’t racing, then that should tell them to put in more effort.

On the drive home I had to stop and think about that.  If at any point in the day, if someone asked me if I could take a break, could I?  Was there something to take a break from?  I had just written a post about how I felt stressed and any time spent not studying was time I felt I had wasted, even if it was spent training.  But did I feel exhausted?  No. 

Mind Over Body ?

It is hard to watch videos of men pulling planes with their teeth and not believe that there is a certain amount of power that humans possess when they set their mind on a goal.

Recently, I was told that I may have to do 50 push-ups for a grading.  My eyes bulged out of my head!  I’ve been at it ever since and every time I get down there I fail to reach 40 let alone 50.  I told my best friend about my anxiousness and he said me that it is in my mind…  In my mind.  When he said this it brought up a battle between the mind and the body and being that this is a blog about my daily three battles I had to write it down.

Lately, I have moved away from focusing on ‘spirit’ in favor of focusing on the ‘body’ so  push-ups are completely applicable.  50 push-ups!  I give myself a good pep talk each time before I start.  I put on some good music and when I get down there I think to myself: “this is the time that you’re going to break through”.  I actually have to laugh at the whole thing after when I fail, once again.  As much as I believe that we as humans can do anything if we really, truly believe we can, every time I push myself back up for the 20^th time I feel like my arms are going to collapse on the way down for the next one.  So now I have to ask myself, is it that my body is too weak to do the  push-ups or that my mind is too weak to get me there?  How do you know when it’s your mind and when it’s your body?

I am definitely not qualified enough to know the answer to this but I’m putting it out there in case someone has an answer, and so later I can look back and answer myself.

Cross Training – Cycling in the Rain

If you recall I had a doctor tell me that I just don’t have the knees for running and that I should stick to cycling and swimming.  While I am able to do both I’m not a huge fan of either so that was wounding enough.

This morning I was given a challenge from Sensei.  When I woke up this morning and did a cardio warmup and stretch I didn’t know that today was the day I might discover I could learn to love cycling.

This entry is title cross training because before today, when Sensei spoke of  ‘cross training’ I always thought he meant ‘cross terrain running’ when in fact he told me that “karate is the base of everything, so when we lift weights or run it is ‘cross training’.”

I have always loved running because it pushes you to your physical limits and dares you to continue.  You feel your body aching and complaining, asking you to stop, and this is when you learn more about yourself when you see whether you are able to reach deep down and find that extra bit of strength and drive.  I never thought I could feel this way about anything else.  This is the only sport I feel safe and in control 100% of the time because it is your body, with no machines and really, no excuses.

When I run I normally have mini challenges for myself such as: run faster from here to that tree; run a block further than you originally planned, you’re not tired enough.  Today my mini challenges were to 1. never stop, and no matter what, never put your foot on the ground unless you’re at a stop light 2. don’t panic, keep your pace.