Back to Martial Arts

My old martial arts instructor has come out of retirement. That’s pretty exciting. He’s spent the last couple of years working on a whole new system.

I had the chance to work out with him and a couple of his old students. This is all part my getting into better physical condition. The new system is great, designed to strengthen joints and encourage heart health.

It’s also focused strongly on effective fighting. Moves have been paired down and simplified. A lot of martial arts has become more focused on the art part and less on the martial. Our sensei acknowledges the new system doesn’t look as pretty. It’s designed to work in smaller spaces and concentrates on effectiveness.

We trained outside on uneven ground with the distraction of mosquitoes. That’s a plus in my book. In the real world fighting doesn’t just happen in antiseptic dojos. We even got to practice a poker game gone wrong fighting scenario using improvised weapons. How cool is that?

This chance to workout with my old teacher has been a godsend. My strength, flexibility and balance really took a hit when I was sick. I’m now strong enough to be able to work on getting stronger. Sometimes we are too sick to work on getting healthy. Not only is this great for my body, it’s going to be good for my state of mind.

Way back when I suffered lung damage and had to leave the fire service, this teacher is the guy who got me back into better health. He had a lot of exercises designed to strengthen my lungs. After two years of training with him, I was well enough to go back to college. Working with him and a couple of the old students was great and I’m looking forward to a lot more of it.

-Sixbears