This was commented on by Sifu Masterson a few weeks ago, and
as we start the year of the snake I am going to comment on this as I see it
pertaining to myself. Now I am not the oldest person on the team, and I am not certain
that I am even in the top 5, but it does affect me. Compared to when I was 17
and joined the military, bullet proof and invincible as only a 17 year old can
be, I do not heal as fast, and seem to be injured easier. Actually at 17 I was
not that bad, being the youngest & smallest guy in class taught me a few
rough lessons, combined with life-long lung issues. Some of these lessons were learned the hard
way, such as let’s give the smallest guy in the platoon the biggest weapon, and
have him carry it a far longer distance than was appropriate, even for a big
guy. This is where I learned that I could “power thru” by force of willpower,
and have back problems for several years after, until a significant number of
chiropractic treatments were administered. Now I am trying to listen to my body,
and when I do something stupid (discover that the worm bin weighs far more than
expected when lifting it, off center) modify my exercise to address the need to
heal.
Today’s 1000 push up/sit-up challenge is a case in point; I
am doing crunches instead of sit-ups and most of my push-ups are off of a
counter (30 degrees instead of horizontal) to compensate for the aggravated muscles
in my lower back. I have not quit, but am working on something instead of all
or nothing. Cardio type exercises are another item I need to modify, as I have
discovered. If I push myself in cardio training or during warm up, I will work
up the appropriate sweat, and get the benefits, but at a cost. My mental
abilities then suffer until I am able to get my blood oxygen levels back up to
normal, this means that I am uncoordinated and have difficulty performing
techniques that I know and have practiced, for the first ten to fifteen minutes
of class. When the actual instruction portion of class is only 35 minutes or so
this is a problem, do I work up a Sihing Tymchuk type sweat on warm up, but pay
the price mentally, or take it easy and set a poor example for the junior belts
but learn more in class?
Until next time, when you may see me working on perfecting my cane defense
Dennis Donohue
My thoughts in this regard have been to focus on the timing and technique, as if you were a frail old man who did not posses brute force strength and the speed of a 20 year old. We can always rely on wisdom but not always muscle!
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading my Blog Mr. D, I always enjoy our chats too!