2009 Holiday Photos Thread!

[enterprikayak]

TWO petite black belt biatches on this thread? Man I feel useless.

[Distracted]

I guess my son was in the spirit of things because he quit right before his black belt test because it would have cost 100 dollars to take the test. He said he knew what he need to know, and he knew that he knew it, so why did he need the belt?

Oooo. common mistake. That's really too bad. Black belt is just the beginning. They don't teach you the good stuff until after you achieve black belt.

Distracted, Have you ever thought about taking it up again? Some arts can be practiced well into old age (not that you're old) and even with blown joints.

I've thought about it, but I stopped training about six months before my knee injury because of knee pain in both knees. I couldn't see practicing a sport supposedly for enjoyment and good health when it was destroying my joints. The style I chose, Shotokan karate, is very rough on the knees. The emphasis at my dojo was on very low stances, multiple repetitions of basic techniques, and kumite. I hate kumite (that's fighting for you guys that aren't up on the lingo). It seems weird, I know, to take martial arts classes for 20 years and yet dislike fighting, but I do, mainly because I suck at it. I kept it up until I got my black belt, and then the level of training expected of me increased rather than decreased. I began to dread going to class because it hurt so much. So I quit going. And then I tore my ACL skiing and lost my flexibility completely. I doubt I'd be able to get through even the beginner's class at my old dojo now.

I'm 46 years old, Aikiweezie. Life's too short to deliberately make myself suffer. I loved karate when it was just really challenging and only occasionally painful. Then it got consistently painful and I decided that I'm not a masochist.

[Aikiweezie]

I'm sorry to hear that. I know several people who stopped training or sharply limited their training because of their knees. I'm 44 and have arthritis in my back and neck and I've injured my knees, but nothing too major, thank God. Now my Sensei, on the other hand, had a hip replacement and will be having his kree replaced soon. He's so good though that he can throw you across the room with very little effort on his part. No, I agree, you shouldn't do anything that hurts and isn't fun any more. That's why I stopped riding, it became a chore and my instructors were pushy.