I was going to offer this up as a substitution to the MMMM, but thank God miricles do happen. But today is slow, so I think I'll put this up anyway.
The story starts in July, heck maybe August....I don't know for sure. It was a long time ago, back in the mid 80's, in a little Chito-Ryu dojo in a town outside of Baltimore, MD. Those of you who are familiar with the Baltimore weather know that it gets hot, hell....it gets damn hot in Baltimore during this time period. And humid as well. The two can make a day in Baltimore just downright unpleasant.
It was 6 PM, and I had just tied the knot in my green belt and stepped onto the mat. I greeted a couple of my classmates, Steve and Calvin.
Both great guys, hard working and dedicated to the discipline. All together, there was about eight in our little class.
Sensi came into the dojo. Our Sensi was far from what you would expect for a karate teacher ....all together, she was a little more than 100 pounds soaking wet, and maybe all of 4'6", and around mid 50 or so.. But she had two stipes on her black belt, and she had our respect.
Afte the formal opening greetings, Sensi immediately went to the thermostat on the wall, shut off the AC, and closed the door. Out dojo was a small room, with only one door and no windows.
Sensi then proceeded to lead us through our opening warm up. Now, in the middle of July, in Baltimore, in a small room with no windows or air conditioning, and nine bodies working out, it takes almost no time at all for the body to "warm up". I sensed that tonight was going to be different. We all did; but there was no talking. We were all diciplined. Eyes straight ahead. No one looking right or left. Standing tall and proud, waiting for her next command.
Sensi was a woman who had earned our respect. We would have followed her into a burning room if she so told us to. That night did indeed turn out to be different. She worked our butts off. We did pushups till our arms trembled. Not just ordinary push ups....but the kind where your arms are widely spaced, on your fingertips, with drops of your body sweat dripping form your chin and nose.
We did sit up and leg lifts. We did planks. Hell, we did exercises that night that I can't even describe. And if anyone broke rank, if anyone stopped to look right or left, or paused for a moment to wipe the sweat from his eyes, Sensi saw it. And we dropped as a class and gave her twenty more.
Some of us began to experience heat related problems. Those were the lucky ones. A couple of the guys had to sit out, take a drink, cool off. Sensi watch them closely as she picked up the pace for the rest of us. We worked hard that night; harder than we ever had before. Harder than we ever thought we could. And then we pushed on....for two more hours that night we pushed on!
Finally, the class came to the end. The typical bow out, and then eight sweaty, dehydrated, frustrated and angry guys collapsed on the mat. We all layed there, stomachs rising and falling with trembling breaths. Class was over, and we got up to change. Looking back at that canvas mat, we could see the outlines, the impressions, of our body sweat on the mat. Each body was clearly outlined, leaving behind the sweaty image of our worn soles. We each changed in silent, too tired, sore and weak to even speak. Good night, Sensi was all we could collectively mumble.
We all proceeded directly across the street, to the local 7-11 for that big icy cold big gulp. As we were all standing around, trying to rehydrate ourselves, tired and weak, Calvin was the first to speak; "Man, what the helll was she doing in there? Was she trying to kill us?" I replied that I wasn't sure what she was trying to do, but I was just one step away from telling her to go to hell and walking out! I was just waiting for someone else to leave first. Then calvin admitted that he too had similar feelings. Steve also spoke up and said that he was, on several times, on the verge of telling Sensi to shove it and walking out that only door.
But....no one wanted to be the first. No one wanted to be the first to say I QUIT! I GIVE UP! TO HELL WITH YOU, SENSI!!!
You see, we were all a close knit group. Anyone who has studied any form of martial arts knows that you tend to bond very closely with your classmates, and with your sensi. And the martial arts is all about discipline. None of us wanted to disappoint sensi, none of us wanted to be the first to admit defeat; none of us wanted to be the first to quit (second, ok maybe, but not the first!).
I learned a very valuable lesson in life that night. We all did. It's a shame that it took me 30+ years before someone taught this to me.
As a human being, we are capable of great achievements. We can do alot, and more. More than we sometimes think we are capable of. What is lacking is drive, motivation, perservence, discipline. Call it whatever you like. It's that little spark inside all of us that says "keep Going!"
Well, it's now probably 20 years later. I gave up my karate studies when I started dating my wife. I don't know what has happened to Sensi, nor Steve, nor Calvin, nor the others whose names I can't even recall right now. We all have gone our separate ways. I often think back to that night, and a smile comes across my lips as I remember that lesson, taught to me by a little old lady no bigger than my son.
I only hope that somehow, someday, I can instill in my son that feeling of purpose, of drive and determination.
To those of you who have read this far, I can only say don't give up. You can do anything....ANYTHING....if you really have the determination, and the discipline, and the desire.
This is by no means a replacement to the MMMM. But it is a humbling story that I wanted to share. Have a great day, one and all....and make it worth living for. Do something great today.
Ray
__________________ "I'm growing older but not up. My metabolic rate is pleasantly stuck. So let the winds of change blow over my head. I'd rather die while I'm living then live while I'm dead."
__________________ 'I feel sorry for people who don't drink. When they wake up in the morning, that's as good as they're going to feel all day. ' ~Frank Sinatra
WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may create the illusion that you are tougher,
smarter, faster and better looking than most people.
As a human being, we are capable of great achievements. We can do alot, and more. More than we sometimes think we are capable of. What is lacking is drive, motivation, perservence, discipline. Call it whatever you like. It's that little spark inside all of us that says "keep Going!"
I hear you. The first time I went to Olympic camp, we had 19 training sessions in one week. More volume than Ive ever done in my life, but it definitely showed me what I was made up and how far I could go.
__________________
"The strongest steel goes through the hottest fires."-Anonymous
"When you begin to believe nothing is heavy, all weights become light." -Rossbow
"Just remember, somewhere there is a little Chinese girl warming up with your max."-Jim Convroy
"It's a round hole, dammit. Everyone fits."--Anonymous Mod at Strengthmill
Good stuff! Your experience reminds me of training in Japan.
__________________
Working "hard," or the perception of working hard, doesn't really mean anything. Sweating, vomiting, and breathing hard could be a good workout or a tropical disease kicking in.-Dan John
I had a somewhat similar experience - when I took Tae Kwon Do in grad school, we shut ourselves in the dojang for several hours doing calisthenics, forms, sparring and just about anything our teacher could come up with. It was probably the most grueling workout experience I put myself through. When we were done, there was an unspoken communion between all of the participants, and through the exhaustion, a sense of profound peace within. We all went next door for Chinese food (ironic, yes?) and had a great time. I think the Japanese word for it is shogyu?
__________________
Tom
No "happy hours" makes for a lot of miserable days. - Mahler
this reminds me of a couple of times my freshman year at norwich, and some of the bonding workouts we did as recruits...no one quit, just kept pushing and helped each other out.
nice story man
__________________ I Will Try
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Another practice from traditional MA I like is doing a self test on certain days, such as your birthday. People I trained with would do a thousand kicks each leg, a thousand strikes with a staff, or some such mental challenge on their birthday, or on January 1st.
__________________
Working "hard," or the perception of working hard, doesn't really mean anything. Sweating, vomiting, and breathing hard could be a good workout or a tropical disease kicking in.-Dan John
Another practice from traditional MA I like is doing a self test on certain days, such as your birthday. People I trained with would do a thousand kicks each leg, a thousand strikes with a staff, or some such mental challenge on their birthday, or on January 1st.
Ah ok - hey I was lucky I was that close, considering this was 13 or so years ago.
__________________
Tom
No "happy hours" makes for a lot of miserable days. - Mahler
Sounds like a great story about bonding and perservering. I used to train muay thai for 2 years and I had a number of brutal workouts for the memories. In martial arts, you're pretty much discouraged to question your instructor. Looking back, I've come to disagree with some of his training methods as my knowledge base in strength and conditioning has increased. I hope the little lady was trying to test your determination, because that doesn't sound like a very good exercise routine IMO. Great story though, brought back memories of training hard with friends and pushing through.
very nice, i sense something deep too, like in bonding with others we can go further and push our limits, or something about respect, idk, but i pictured the whole thing lol good stuff
the Most Valuable Lesson I Ever Learned In Life
"I'm growing older but not up. My metabolic rate is pleasantly stuck. So let the winds of change blow over my head. I'd rather die while I'm living then live while I'm dead."
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