Off the Couch

After a class this past Saturday, I sat talking with a yudansha peer who trains with us.  We were talking about all sorts of topics as we typically do after class and I was talking about my practice regimen during my first 6 years, 9 months of Ryukyu Kempo/RyuTe® Ren Mei.  I was saying that I didn’t consider myself naturally adept or anything, but I did train exceedingly.  As the quiet, shy and single guy I was, I spent my free time training.  I didn’t go out to bars much, and facebook wasn’t created yet.  Al Gore certainly hadn’t spent much time in developing his internet tubes yet.  So what was a growing boy to do?

Now it occurred to me during this discussion that my diligence has slacked over the last couple of years.  I would say that a lot of it has to do with grieving.  In addition to Taika, I lost eight other friends and family members during the evil year of 2012.  But some of it is just me juggling so many other things that are not that important.  Some things are, of course (family) but there is fat that I can trim.

So for my students’ enjoyment, here is what I did back in the day (knowing well that most of you are not the single shy geeks I used to be). 

After learning all my techniques for my next test, I would make a spreadsheet in the now defunct First Choice DOS program.  (Ouch, dated myself a bit).  I would then go down to the basement, where I had 50 pennies in a jar.  I would then dump them out and work on individual things, putting the pennies back in the jar after one repetition, sometimes in multiples.  So I’d do 10 outside blocks and use 1 penny and 1 penny for each time I did Naihanchi Shodan or Exercise 1.  I kept a log book and put the dates on the top and worked hard and making sure I did X amount of reps between classes.  Classes were only Tuesday and Thursday at my first Ryukyu Kempo school. 

	Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
9th Kyu
Naihanchi Shodan
Exercise 1
Outside Block
Inside Block
Upper Block
Down Block
Double Block
Front Kick
Front Snap Kick
Straight Kick

There really wasn’t anything too magical about this approach, but what it was for me was a motivator.  If there was an empty box on any day (that I wasn’t running a 100+ fever) then I felt ashamed.  You can pretty much blame this tenacity and ‘work ethic’ on my dad who drilled this kind of thing into my head as a child.

As new ranks were reached, I didn’t just make a new sheet with the new requirements, throwing the old one away.  I added them to the list.  I’d break them into categories so I’d have all the kata together, exercises together, hand techniques then leg techniques.  As my list of items grew, it became harder and harder to squeeze in the time.  I’d focus on high reps for the new stuff but still make sure I got some reps in on the older items.  Then came the weapons.  After the first Summer Camp at Tall Oaks I added a weapon, then another here and there.  The list grew. 

This tactic along with other training tools went well on into my early yudansha years.  Then I got sidetracked.  I got married (instant 4 kids).  Got divorced.  Began teaching.  Life got complicated.  I lost track of my list.  I also, have found it difficult to keep up to date on my weapons kata over the years because of my lack of diligence.  I have at least 21 weapons forms that I should know, and a few of them are ‘spotty’.  You know what spotty is, when you start doing the kata and it isn’t second nature.  You stop and go, UH. 

Another tactic I used frequently was when I got home from class, repeating my lessons (kata) just before going to bed.  Then when the alarm went off (setting it for just a mere 5 minutes earlier than normal) I would do that new kata or other item at least once.  To SET the knowledge in my head.

Still more crazy thoughts were previously covered in an earlier blog:

http://tuite-kyusho.blogspot.com/2012/06/subtle-art-of-practice.html

So I find myself once again, typing up a list like I started more than a quarter century ago.  Time to get my mind back in gear, stop grieving, and carry the torch.  Please carry it with me.