Back To School Eve

Tomorrow is the first day of school. On Saturday, the school published the class assignments on the web page. My daughter and I opened the link to find good news and bad news. The good news is that she got the teacher she wanted. The teacher is new to the school but she happens to be a childhood friend of mine. The teacher and I went to school together for twelve years. The bad news is that none of her friends are in her class.

Insert sobbing here......

My daughter was inconsolable for a good thirty minutes. She wanted to go to another school and even begged to be home schooled. She calmed down when she realized she would have two classes with her friends in addition to lunch and recess.

The weekend was busy with last minute school shopping and preparation. I am hoping she will have a great year.

I Feel Old Today

I feel old today.

Last night I went to the gym after teaching one karate class. Instead of my usual routine of cardio machines and weights, I did a full hour of cardio. I was watching a CNN special on Ted Kennedy and lost track of the time. My legs are killing me today. My foot hurts too.

When I came home from the gym, I watch a program on Food Network about Retro Foods. They were describing old candy and old fashioned recipes. I was familiar with many of the items. My father's Uncle owned a General Store in New Hope. The store was lined with antique farming tools, advertisements and tins. He had glass jars filled with penny candy lined up on his counter. Whenever we visited, we left the store with a small brown bag full of treats.

The Food Network program did a segment on a cool website devoted to hard-to-find food items. It is called Hometown Favorites. Do you remember the Sky Bar? It had four flavors in milk chocolate: vanilla, fudge, peanut butter and caramel. I never ate the vanilla section. I have not seen one of these bars in years. They used to be a staple in vending machines.

My personal favorite candy is the Hershey's Chocolate bar. I loved when they were packaged in the shiny silver paper with the paper Hershey's outer wrapper. Now, the bars come in a one-piece brown plastic wrapper. Do they package Hershey bars in the silver paper anymore?

Sigh...I feel old today.

"You Don't Look Like A Karate Instructor"

Did you ever have a flashback to a conversation that suddenly struck you as odd?

I sat among a group of people...some of them I knew and others I did not. A friend introduced me to one of the people I never met. She said "This is Michele. She is a karate instructor." I am not sure why my friend introduced me that way. I shrugged it off and smiled politely. My friend continued by saying, "She doesn't look like a karate instructor". From her tone and the subsequent conversation, I think my friend intended her statement to be taken as a compliment.

This conversation popped into my head a week later. What an odd thing to say! What does a karate instructor look like? I ran through my list of instructors. Can you tell by simply looking at them that they are karate instructors? I am not referring to when they are on the dojo floor or when they are wearing a gi. I am thinking of them in the grocery store, at the mall or in a restaurant.

In another instance, my husband and I were at an amusement park. My husband happened to be wearing a t-shirt with the name of the dojo screen printed on the front. A worker stopped pointed to his shirt and asked my husband if he takes karate. He said "It is my dojo". The worker seemed surprised and blurted, "Oh". I got the feeling from the worker that my husband did not look the part.

Was my friend serious? What is a karate instructor supposed to look like?

Self-Defense Class - Is Twelve Hours Enough?

This summer, my husband and I taught private self-defense lessons. In previous blog posts, I discussed self-defense topics and how self-defense instruction can be tailored to individuals.

Monday was our last session.

Now...I wonder...was it enough? I ask myself this question at the conclusion of each session. We reviewed a lot of material. We taught six two-hour classes. The students are prepared for each session with questions and scenarios. My husband and I agonize and wonder if we have done enough. In our fifteen years of teaching self-defense, we always leave the sessions knowing we could have taught more.

We practice. We review. We practice. And we review some more.

....Grabs, Chokes (front, rear) , Knife defense, hair pulls, pushes, punches, pinned against the wall, pinned on the ground, choked on the ground, awareness, prevention, common sense, lapel grabs, head locks, bear hugs (front, side, rear), falling (side, front, rear, roll fall), slap, targets (eyes, throat, joints, head, ears, floating ribs, groin, solar plexus), distractions, strikes (elbows, knees, palm heel, four knuckle fist).....and so on....

My husband and I offer a follow-up or refresher class. All they need to do is call. Most never call. Do the students leave class feeling invincible? I hope not.

We want the student to leave with the awareness that they have options.

Self-defense is an ongoing process. It needs to be practiced.

Should They Have Been Allowed to Quit Karate?

I was reading the newspaper and an advertisement caught my eye. A floor covering company was announcing their new Interior Designer. A photo of the designer was included in the advertisement along with her name and company contact information. I did not recognize her from the picture (it has been fifteen years!) but I did remember her name. I immediately thought….

“I know her. She was in my karate class when I was a kyu rank. She had a sister and they both took karate. They hated karate.”

The sisters were young teenagers when they started karate. Their father signed a one-year contract for karate classes. The sisters started out mildly interested in learning karate. It did not take long before they hated karate classes. The sisters told me how they wanted to quit but their father forced them to attend class. Their father was paying for a year of karate and they were going to take a year of karate.

They would complain to my husband and I all the time. They knew the exact day their contract expired. They attended class but they were not “in” class. The sisters would walk through the material but their minds were on other things. I am not sure what they learned during that year. The class instructors knew they were just putting in their time but still tried to encourage them. They were nice kids but they did not want learn karate.

As a parent, I feel strongly about my daughter finishing what she started. Three weeks into a five week play rehearsal schedule she wanted to quit. I told her “Absolutely…NO”. I explained that it was her decision to audition for the play. I reminded her that people were counting on her and it would be difficult for the entire cast if she quit. I told her that she did not have to audition for the next play.

Should it be the same for karate? I am not sure. I think back to the two sisters and I know they were miserable. They hated everything about karate. The class instructors spent extra time working with the girls hoping to generate a spark of enthusiasm.

And…nothing.

The sisters continued to grumble and roll their eyes through class. They quit as soon as they were able.

What do you think…as a parent, as a karate instructor or as a fellow classmate? How do you feel about the sisters being forced to attend class? Do you think they should have been allowed to quit?

The Recognizable ACL Brace

It has been over two years since my ACL reconstruction but I can recognize an ACL post-operative brace from yards away. The four straps, a noticeable scar and the small dial on both sides of the brace that adjust the range of motion. During one shopping trip at the local mall, I saw three people wearing ACL braces. All three individuals were female and appeared to be high school students.

When I was wearing the ACL brace, people would stop me and ask about my knee. Most of the people had the surgery and would tell me their story. One person recounted in detail his surgery, hospital stay, staph infection and overall horrible ACL experience. I have not approached people wearing ACL braces but I silently wish them well.

This article from Reuters states:

The numbers on female ACL tears are astounding. Over 1.4 million women have been afflicted in the past 10 years alone -- twice the rate of the previous decade. It is estimated that more than 30,000 high school and college age females will rupture their ACL every year. In the last 15 years, ankle sprains have decreased by 86 percent while knee ligament injuries have increased by 172 percent.

Santa Monica Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Group has developed the PEP Program to prevent ACL injuries.

This prevention program consists of a warm-up, stretching, strengthening, plyometrics, and sport specific agilities to address potential deficits in the strength and coordination of the stabilizing muscles around the knee joint!

My daughter's soccer season starts this week. The team has a new coach. The coach is female, college aged and unable to play soccer again due to knee injuries/surgeries. I wish the new coach and the team all the best!

Tai Chi Update - "Be Relentless"

At the end of Tai Chi class, the instructor spoke to the students about movement. He emphasised the importance of moving from the hip. The class was using too much external arm movement. He told us that we need to place our mind inside so the source of our movement is internal. It takes practice and concentration. He discussed that we should ask our body how certain postures feel. We need to connect our mind with our body. The instructor's parting words to the class were....

"Be Relentless"

Photo courtesy of my sister Kim. Thanks! :)