Discipline - and why you don't need it.

It's been said that you can't gain discipline, but that's not a problem.


Discipline is making yourself do something which isn't necessarily in line with your desires. You do it because you have reasoned that you should. If you have desire (and therefore motivation), you don't need discipline.

Moving around

After 10 days waiting for self-repair, I couldn't stand it any longer and did some training (thanks for advice Craig!) It's hard to avoid using your hip flexors so I just had to take it slowly and try to remember not to move in certain ways (mae geri = bad).

Tonight I did a 13km (8 mile) run, the furthest I've gone since I was fifteen. I took it slowly (~10kph). It was easy. No effort at all. Once I get warmed up (takes about 30-40 minutes) running is just pure joy. I'm dreaming of holiday next week when I'll be wanting to run up hills and practise karate at the top. And eat Greek Salad.

Seven days

It's been seven days since I backed off from training. I didn't just back off, though. There didn't seem a way to train which wouldn't strain the injured part, so I stopped. It's not pleasant to do this. Rather unpleasant, in fact. To be honest, I'd have preferred a jab in the eye with a sharp stick.

Never mind, healing seems to be happening (walking isn't as painful) so perhaps it won't be long now.

Will just keep watching Forbrydelsen. On series two now. Starting to think I live in Denmark.

Backing off a bit - preventative measure

The human body may be a marvel, but it's also quite prone to injury. Even the sedentary have niggling health issues, but if you're involved in physical activity it's normal to have various niggling problems and the occasional few that interfere with your ability to train.

A few times over the past years I've had a problem with a thigh muscle near my hip. It might be Iliotibial band syndrome. Not sure. It doesn't matter. Resting it makes it better, but it takes weeks. Usually about three. It's been irritating me for the last few weeks and I haven't been careful enough so I'm now at the stage where walking is always painful and I'm concerned I might do greater damage if I don't slow down.

Injury pain has never bothered me. Having to stop training is horrible. I really don't want to stop at the moment, so I'm going to continue training, but very carefully. That means at least: No running and no kicks with the right leg.

Recent training

I have entered this year's 'Survival of the fittest' event here in Nottingham and have added new training targeted at that. Karate training is slightly less than usual as it's holiday season.

So a quick run down of the last seven days:

Sunday: 6k run with some extra bits along the way (zig zags at high speed, knees up, heels up, up and down incline) then chin ups, sit ups, leg raises, press ups of various forms.

Monday: 6k with the other bits again, and then karate class with James Martin Sensei. Kumite. Fun.

Tuesday: No training. :(

Wednesday: Same as Sunday.

Thursday: Training with James Martin Sensei. Lots of jiyu kumite. Nearly sick. Fantastic.

Friday: Karate class with Chris Michael Sensei. Sanbon kumite and Kata. Good stuff. Enjoyed doing Enpi solo with others watching and managing to stay focused ('in the zone'). Much better than when I showed James the day before.

Saturday: Tube training with Hans Rana Sensei. Recent fitness training has paid off. Felt energised and able to perform. Then we did tabata and felt some fatigue. Then we did jiyu kumite (six twenty-second rounds, ten second rests, swapping partners) and I felt sick but enjoyed it immensely and managed to land a few scoring (possibly) techniques (gyaku tsuki jodan). Losing my fear of hitting someone too hard in the face now. I Then we did solo kata and thankfully I wasn't first. Enpi was about as good as I can do currently so was pleased.

Next today (Saturday) I'll be doing some solo training then helping at James's kids class and finally joining his adults class. Rest of weekend taken up with social events so time for body to repair and mind to cogitate.

Some notes on diet

My current diet, for my consideration and future reference.

Every day

Berocca, cod liver oil, glucosamine sulphate

Weekdays

Morning

• 2 rashers of bacon, 1 egg

or

• Porridge oats with coconut, sunflower seeds, brazil nuts, hazelnuts, walnuts, cashews and pistachios, semi-skimmed milk, cinnamon

Three cups of coffee

Midday - early afternoon

• More porridge (same as morning)

or

• Something involving salad leaves, some protein (ham or cottage cheese), olives, houmous.

or, on Fridays

• Fish, chips and peas

Two cups of tea

Afternoon

If I'm not training soon after returning home, I might have a post-work snack, which is almost inevitably a pint of plain yoghurt with a little muesli added.

Evening

• Stir fry, where ingredients are usually: Some meat (king prawns or lean strips of beef), garlic, ginger, chilli, rice wine, soy sauce, lime juice, baby corn, mange tout, courgettes, capsicums, beansprouts, possibly some leaves, maybe a few noodles

or

• Fish (salmon, trout, mackerel...) and either vegetables (courgettes and broccoli are most often featured) or salad (leaves such as spinach, lettuce, watercress) and some beans/pulses or cous cous... plus usually some tomatoes

or

• Pasta and pesto or tortellini, both with tomatoes

or, on Fridays

• Half a 'starter' portion of chicken curry, some spiced salmon, some of another chicken curry, two chapattis

More tea

Weekends

Saturday breakfast is usually coffee and is sometimes followed by a bacon and egg sandwich, orange juice and more coffee. Saturday lunch is usually chicken salad: chicken, cheese, peppers, pistachios, tomatoes, cucumber, olives, salad leaves, dressing.

Saturday evening and Sunday food varies and might include some bread (which I don't eat during the week) but is usually pretty similar to the working week's food.

Brown and black belt training with Alan Campbell Sensei

We began with some shifting to the side in kiba dachi, paired up, with one partner deciding which direction to move and when to change; the other had to try and follow as closely as possible. This was quite physically taxing if you really tried to catch your partner out. Next we did the same but stepping forwards and backwards in a natural stance. I found that placing my back foot flat on the ground instead of with the heel raised was very useful when I wanted to switch to moving forwards.

We spent quite some time practising an interesting technique which seemed aimed at jiyu kumite. From the usual foot position, the rear foot was shifted backwards and simultaneously the front foot forwards. Alan used an example of the 'split' performed by a weightlifter during a 'clean and jerk'. As soon as the feet reach the split position, the back foot is dragged forwards to return to the normal stance. Of course this means that this technique moves you forwards slightly.

Next a kezami tsuki with the leading hand was added. This wasn't too difficult to perform, as it coincided with the split. After this, however, a step forwards oi tsuki was added. The idea was for the oi tsuki to execute during the step, rather than finishing as the step finished. I wasn't very good at getting a good split and a well-timed oi tsuki out of this.

Alan explained that the kezami tsuki wasn't supposed to land necessarily - it was simply there as a distraction.

The final part of this technique was to make the split to the side rather than simply forwards. At this point I wasn't able to get this working satisfactorily, perhaps getting the movements right once in ten attempts, but in a way that wouldn't be particularly effective. I'll practise this in my own time so I can get it right.

We had an interlude where shifting forwards and performing gyaku tsuki was practised, at speed, at forty-five degrees (alternating left and right). We then had a team race where each team member used their team mates as targets as they moved down the hall. This is exhausting.

Next we looked at Enpi. I'm liking Enpi more every time I work on it, so it was good to hear Alan's instruction and for him to make clear what the JKS version looks like. The most interesting part of the discussion was when Alan explained stance proportions and told us what we should be doing to make them work. Especially useful was the idea that the width of the shoulders could be found in the horizontal distance from the foot (or the hip) to the knee, in both kiba and kokutsu dachi. Also I liked the measurement tool of checking the angles of the lower legs and ensuring that a line drawn up each would meet at the chin.

New to me (new to making it into my brain, anyway) was the idea of pushing the knees forwards. I didn't really understand what this meant, but of course it's simply bending the legs in their natural direction (at the knee) more, rather than pushing the knees out.

Also new: In kokutsu dachi, the feet are perpendicular - but the front foot, coming back in a straight line, would not meet the heel of the back foot. Rather, it would sit directly behind the back foot (heel to heel). This feels better and I'm going to start correcting myself so that I'm doing it until it becomes ingrained.