Pushing your own limits

Pushing your own limits

When I started Karate 4 and a half years ago I never dreamed of what I would achieve. It's not the belts that I am proud of the most (although I am proud to wear it) it is the tiny accomplishments of my body. When I started Karate, I was ashamed of my body and how it moved. I felt like a marshmallow with hands and feet. I entered the kids class, because kids are less likely to judge, or at least I didn't have to look at the pity on their faces when i attempted to throw a technique or practised my kata.

Slowly after time I became more confident and joined the adult class. I still felt awkward and compared myself to the other students. I felt discouraged because i believed that my kata would never be as good as the 18 year old students beside me. It wasn't until I started taking my training more seriously that I realized that my kata and techniques would never look like anyone's and I wouldn't want them to. My Karate is just that, mine. I will never be a 20 year old man who is over six feet tall and they would not be a 5'3 woman who has born children and deals daily with MS. Why was I comparing myself with them? They weren't me and never would be.

True practitioners of Karate-Do realize that the only person you should be comparing yourself to is the person you were yesterday. My Sensei and instructors are there to teach me the techniques and help me better them, but I first have to own them myself. My shiko dachi (sumo stance) may not be as low as some others, my Seiyunchin kata (attack, conquer and suppress) may not be as crisp as the person next to me, and I may hit myself with my Bo (6 foot staff) more (okay honestly way more) than the person to my left or to my right but these mistakes are mine. As long as I can go confidently into my grading realizing that I have pushed my own limits and continue to do so, I can hold head up high and be proud of the accomplishments I have made. The guy to my left didn't have to sweat and cry for two years just to stand on one foot. (trust me, for me that is a HUGE accomplishment.) The guy to my right didn't have to compensate for a little something called breasts (and yes they get in the way a lot more than I would like) and my Sensei didn't have to roll out of bed and swallow and hand full of pills just to be able to function this morning or take a three hour nap after training because of exhaustion. All of us have our different abilities and our own struggles. It just means that we have to take responsibility for ourselves and stop relying on someone else to push us.

You are never to young, old, fat, skinny, muscular, flexible or inflexible to become a true Karate-Ka (a person who practises Karate-Do) you just have to realize that you are you and no one else and want to improve yourself.