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I definitely overdid it today. I modelled throughout the day, grabbed a quick lunch, and went off to school where I painstakingly soldered all my chain together. By not eating supper or taking any kind of break whatsoever, I managed to finish the chain five minutes before my karate workshop began. So I hustled it over to the workshop, hurriedly chowing down on a bag of almonds and a bottle of juice on the way. I got into my gi, and quietly took my place beside a row filled with black belts.
I felt tired and wobbly going in there, so it's no great surprise that I had to sit out the last twenty minutes or so. Even still, I did learn a lot. Luckily for me, but not so luckily for her, one of the orange belts has a knee injury and had to sit out the entire class. She took copious notes, which she is going to type up and send to everyone. This is excellent news, because there was so much information covered that it's already fled my fickle brain. One of the most interesting things I learned was the physiological dangers of holding one's breath. There's a term for it, but I've forgotten it already, despite Sensei Tallack's stress on the name. It's something along the lines of Voldova or Volova effect, but I couldn't find anything similar when I googled for it. I'll just have to wait for those notes, I guess.
This was my first time back to karate in over a month. I had forgotten how much I enjoy it, and at the same time, all the familiar feelings of dismay and embarassment came back. Once again, the room was extraordinarily humid. All the mirrors steamed up, and my body overheated, as usual. I felt dizzy and on the verge of blacking out. Even though I desperately wanted to continue, I forced myself to go sit down. My skin was clammy, and although I was too hot, I could feel occasional shivers travelling across my skin. Ugh.
But then Sensei Tallack, not picking on me in particular, discussed how any time someone felt the need to pause during any exercises, they should first raise their hand and get the attention of the instructor before moving off to the side and sitting in seizan. Similarly, if a student feels unable to continue, s/he should do the same thing. If a student is unable to sit quietly in seizan, that student should leave the dojo. If this last bit is the case, the student should not leave alone, but be accompanied just in case of serious medical problems.
This just really sucks for me.
Because of the humidity of the dojo, I frequently have to pause while I try to get the blackness in my vision and hearing to subside. There are times when I'd be waving my hand around for the sensei's attention every five minutes or so. That's both embarassing for me and annoying for everyone else. Although I really enjoy goju-ryu karate-do, I'm afraid I'm going to have to discontinue my training. I feel like I've reached an impasse.
I've tried talking with my instructor, but he doesn't have any solutions. I wonder if Sensei Tallack has any ideas? I don't see a good resolution to this, though. At least, not unless I move to another city, or the dojo changes locations. I can't see either happening for quite some time. So, I'm thinking that I'll just have to replace goju-ryu with something else, like ju-jitsu or Shotokan karate or more t'ai chi chu'an.
After the workshop ended, I walked home all in a funk. I felt pretty down, mostly because of the problems I just delineated, but also because the sidewalks are insanely icy (there's about six inches of ice over all the sidewalks--no exaggeration. That's how the orange belt wrecked her knee). My self-pity extended to cover the fact that no one had offered to give me a drive home, even though I was obviously exhausted and carrying an awkward and heavy load home across the ice. I had to carry my my purse, a bookbag filled with karate stuff, several layers of winter clothing, and a heavy, heavy toolbox.
Yeah, I know. Cry me a river.
And then, when I got home, I had to prepare for my performance tomorrow. But first, I just sat on a chair and stared blindly at my computer for a while while eating some chocolate-covered nuts.
I finally decided on my silver skirt and shrug with the metallic blue and silver bedlah. I need to make a minor repair to the belt, but it's a repair that won't be noticed by anyone but me if I don't do it. I'm opting on laziness, at this point. I can't be arsed to hunt down the one little piece of trim that needs to be reattached.
And as for music, after going through my music collection and forcing my exhausted body to dance to song after song, I finally chose the pieces which perked me back up. I danced to bits of all sorts of songs, but my dancing was listless and uninspired. But when I put Natacha Atlas's "I Put a Spell On You" in the CD player, I felt a smile returning to my lips and then my hips just started a-twitching. So yes, I'm going with that. And then I'm dancing to the Gamal Goma drum solo again. Drum solos almost always grab me by the hinges and shake me around. I think it'll be a good combination.
Now, I have to get some well-deserved sleep. I have a dance rehearsal in the morning, a karate workshop in the afternoon, and my performance in the evening. Yee haw!
I felt tired and wobbly going in there, so it's no great surprise that I had to sit out the last twenty minutes or so. Even still, I did learn a lot. Luckily for me, but not so luckily for her, one of the orange belts has a knee injury and had to sit out the entire class. She took copious notes, which she is going to type up and send to everyone. This is excellent news, because there was so much information covered that it's already fled my fickle brain. One of the most interesting things I learned was the physiological dangers of holding one's breath. There's a term for it, but I've forgotten it already, despite Sensei Tallack's stress on the name. It's something along the lines of Voldova or Volova effect, but I couldn't find anything similar when I googled for it. I'll just have to wait for those notes, I guess.
This was my first time back to karate in over a month. I had forgotten how much I enjoy it, and at the same time, all the familiar feelings of dismay and embarassment came back. Once again, the room was extraordinarily humid. All the mirrors steamed up, and my body overheated, as usual. I felt dizzy and on the verge of blacking out. Even though I desperately wanted to continue, I forced myself to go sit down. My skin was clammy, and although I was too hot, I could feel occasional shivers travelling across my skin. Ugh.
But then Sensei Tallack, not picking on me in particular, discussed how any time someone felt the need to pause during any exercises, they should first raise their hand and get the attention of the instructor before moving off to the side and sitting in seizan. Similarly, if a student feels unable to continue, s/he should do the same thing. If a student is unable to sit quietly in seizan, that student should leave the dojo. If this last bit is the case, the student should not leave alone, but be accompanied just in case of serious medical problems.
This just really sucks for me.
Because of the humidity of the dojo, I frequently have to pause while I try to get the blackness in my vision and hearing to subside. There are times when I'd be waving my hand around for the sensei's attention every five minutes or so. That's both embarassing for me and annoying for everyone else. Although I really enjoy goju-ryu karate-do, I'm afraid I'm going to have to discontinue my training. I feel like I've reached an impasse.
I've tried talking with my instructor, but he doesn't have any solutions. I wonder if Sensei Tallack has any ideas? I don't see a good resolution to this, though. At least, not unless I move to another city, or the dojo changes locations. I can't see either happening for quite some time. So, I'm thinking that I'll just have to replace goju-ryu with something else, like ju-jitsu or Shotokan karate or more t'ai chi chu'an.
After the workshop ended, I walked home all in a funk. I felt pretty down, mostly because of the problems I just delineated, but also because the sidewalks are insanely icy (there's about six inches of ice over all the sidewalks--no exaggeration. That's how the orange belt wrecked her knee). My self-pity extended to cover the fact that no one had offered to give me a drive home, even though I was obviously exhausted and carrying an awkward and heavy load home across the ice. I had to carry my my purse, a bookbag filled with karate stuff, several layers of winter clothing, and a heavy, heavy toolbox.
Yeah, I know. Cry me a river.
And then, when I got home, I had to prepare for my performance tomorrow. But first, I just sat on a chair and stared blindly at my computer for a while while eating some chocolate-covered nuts.
I finally decided on my silver skirt and shrug with the metallic blue and silver bedlah. I need to make a minor repair to the belt, but it's a repair that won't be noticed by anyone but me if I don't do it. I'm opting on laziness, at this point. I can't be arsed to hunt down the one little piece of trim that needs to be reattached.
And as for music, after going through my music collection and forcing my exhausted body to dance to song after song, I finally chose the pieces which perked me back up. I danced to bits of all sorts of songs, but my dancing was listless and uninspired. But when I put Natacha Atlas's "I Put a Spell On You" in the CD player, I felt a smile returning to my lips and then my hips just started a-twitching. So yes, I'm going with that. And then I'm dancing to the Gamal Goma drum solo again. Drum solos almost always grab me by the hinges and shake me around. I think it'll be a good combination.
Now, I have to get some well-deserved sleep. I have a dance rehearsal in the morning, a karate workshop in the afternoon, and my performance in the evening. Yee haw!
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no subject
Date: 2003-03-15 06:49 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2003-03-15 07:32 am (UTC)From:I found the essence of Sensei Tallack's discussion here. It is directly applicable to the sanchin kata, but is also relevant to just about anything else. Essentially, holding your breath is a bad thing. Stopping breathing is preferable (as long as you resume breathing, of course!), because it keeps your glottis open. A closed glottis apparently increases blood pressure, especially during exertion, and can lead to strokes.