Modern Warrior Vision
My modern warrior vision? Hmmm… I fight constantly against myself. I want to stay in my nice cozy little cave and veg out. So getting off my duff and into the dojo is a victory. Once I’m there I fight against fatigue, my bad hair day, and whatever else I’ve dragged with me. And that’s just meditation at the start of class! Then I fight to perform just a little bit better today than I did yesterday. I fight self doubt, pride, anger, and sometimes even fear – all these negative things stem from me, myself, and I. In a nutshell, conquering myself is how I embody the concept of a modern warrior. Someday I’ll teach others to do the same.
Target Goal: Pushups
- Fifteen all at the same time.
Our dojo doesn’t emphasize pushups much because we only have one hour twice a week so it’s up to us karateka to condition ourselves. Other dojos – well, let’s just say the senseis there would like to see me keep up with their students. I’ve tried various schemes to increase my number of pushups and nothing has worked well for me long term. Plus I’ve dealt with injuries, illnesses, etc. that throw me off. A couple of weeks ago, a sensei gave me a great tip. Stand at the bottom of stairs and do pushups on the stairs. The challenge for me is most of the time my hands are full when I go up or down stairs and sometimes I don’t remember to do the pushups when my hands are not full. Still, I’ve been doing far, far better with this scheme than any other! I have to do way more repetitions than I would in a plank position on the floor, but that’s OK – it just plain feels better building myself up this way rather than struggling on the floor.
So now I can crank out ten good pushups on the floor. That’s up from nine and struggling to squeeze the tenth out.
I want to be able to do fifteen on the floor by Japan’s Ninja Day.
Target Goal: Bassai Dai Kata
- Fifteen all at the same time.
So I promoted to 6th kyu not quite two months ago, which means I have a new kata to learn. Bassai Dai. I’ve been looking forward to this kata for about a year now 🙂 So the motivation and drive to learn it is there. I’ve got it memorized – sometimes I have to stop and think. I need to really pound it into my brain then work on technique, timing, and interpretation. I want to perform it at a tournament on Valentine’s Day. That day will be the 4th year anniversary of my grandmother’s passing and two days after the second year anniversary of my grandfather’s passing. I like the idea of having something positive and very challenging to work towards. For the last couple of belts or so I’ve felt that if I can perform a kata in tournament, I’m ready to perform it for a belt test 🙂 Which means I’m aiming for testing for 5th kyu in Spring.
How will I ‘Prove it!’
I think I’ll do a video of me doing pushups. And… I’m going to see if I can make it fun. I’m not going to reveal that part just yet 🙂
