Goin' to Go En

My style (Seido Karate) turns 40 this year(!), and they're throwing a huge event to celebrate. Huge as in 7 days of tournaments, workshops, demonstrations, and more than a little socializing as people from all over the world gather. [Quick reminder: I do not speak for the style; anything expressed in this blog is my opinion and not necessarily representative of the style in any way]

As is the pattern in my life I haven't been training much - I've been splitting my time between two states, and between the travel and the irregular schedule it's very hard to commit to taking any classes (let alone teaching!) If I know I can only make 2 classes in a two month session, plunking down $100 to register is a bitter pill to swallow. Also, I'm probably a little lazy.

Anyway, I was very reluctant to go to the celebration. There are expenses involved, both financial and temporal. Also, frankly, I'm somewhat embarrassed by my level of skill and knowledge at this point (after not practicing kata for almost a year I can barely remember the patterns - they'll come back more quickly than learning them the first time, but if you ran me through my nidan syllabus right now you'd think I had barely ever trained).

So I was at an impromptu meeting with local black belts and much of the talk was about Go En (the official name of the anniversary event). Ironically, the deadline for registering was the next day. And I realized that I was actually going to be in the right state to go, and that I have enough vacation time to take a couple of days off for the event and not jeopardize my ability to see my kids this summer.

I was still reluctant, then my good friend Sensei Scott said something very wise, something I've said myself (in different words) but that I apparently need to be reminded of periodically. I'm paraphrasing, but he basically said that events like these (also promotions, tournaments, demos) are how we stay enthusiastic for karate.

I'm sure it will be a blast, and I'm sure that any embarrassment I feel over forgetting something basic is going to be vastly overshadowed by the joy at seeing old (sometimes very old, I've been involved in Seido off and on since 1988) friends. And much like the last event I went to, a summer camp, I have a feeling I'll remember it more than fondly for years to come.

I could look at this event as a chance to take some classes, do some training, attend some workshops, and improve my karate. And I'm sure some of that will happen. But seeing people, and seeing historic events unfold, are far more valuable than any sparring tip I'm going to pick up in a workshop.

Two bottom lines here:

First, try to remember that karate is in large part a social endeavor. Those after-training bar crawls your dojo mates go through are part of karate, not extras. Those things will enhance your life (and health) just as much as getting fit or mastering a complex sequence of movements or learning to defend yourself. You can progress in skill by training in isolation, but you'll be missing out on a vital component of your training.

Second, if you're at Go En, look me up, say hi and pick an argument about something (or agree with me about something, surprise me!) I'll be the guy who looks like the photos I post occasionally in this blog.

Osu!