Friday, September 04, 2009

It's Yellow!

Yellow can mean cowardly. Or snow that shouldn't be played in. But today yellow is a source of pride, as I sit here, staring at my new karate belt.

Eleven months of training and practice have brought me to a point where I can now begin my karate training. Anyone can get a white belt for just showing up. Yellow means you've been preparing and are ready to learn.

Heck, my first lesson hurt for two weeks. The sports injuries I received in my first few classes took most of the year to heal. Some remain. But I have no doubt I'm stronger and fitter than I was. I've discovered flexibility I thought hips couldn't provide and while I'm sure it will leave a bruise, I can block a punch with force.

And now? Am I ready? Well, not according to my own experience, nor the tennants of karate. But at this rate, in just seven to ten more years, I'm going to be good at this.

2 comments:

Quilly said...

LOL! What made you take up karate? Why did you quit diving? And -- I thought you'd quit blogging! You're still on my feed reader, but your posts never show up. I thought you had permanently migrated to Facebook!
Had you not wandered by Doug's today I'd still be clueless.

I Dive At Night said...

Hi Quilly! Quit diving?!? No no, I just took a 'few months' off for a variety of reasons. And yup, I'm still posting. Never truly stopped. Although I haven't been reading/visiting other blogs for a while now.
Karate was a pressent to myself in exchange for quitting smoking a year ago. I figured I'd gain wait (and did) and needed the 'kick'.