Onwards broken body
Karate may be tough but its been four weeks since I started my lessons and things are going well
It has been four weeks since I started training at the Horizon Karate Centre on Ontdekkers Road. Under sensei Wendy Wannenberg, I have slowly learned about Karate.
While it may not be easy and my body may take some time to learn the techniques, I am enjoying each class I participate in.
However, I doubt I can say the same about last week’s class.
After our regular warm-ups, sensei Wendy took to the mat and instructed us to find a partner then fetch punching bag.
We were to punch the bag 10 times with our right fist then swap the bag with my partner, then punch the bag 10 times with the left fist.
This would not have been a problem, however, we had to start in the Gedan Barai, also known as downward block stance, and measure our distance from the bag.
After punching the bag until my knuckles started changing colour, we then put the punching bag on the floor between myself and my partner.
We were required to jump ontop of the bag then back down into a push up position 20 times.
Half way through, I could already hear the sirens from an ambulance hurrying towards my location as my body felt broken.
This was not the end as were we then asked to stand in the Zenkutsu Dachi, known as the front stance and practiced until my legs felt numb.
But we were not done yet as we were given small cones to put on heads for balance and practice Mae Geri, known as the front kick without dropping a cone.
I can proudly state that my cone only dropped once and that is after my kicks became fiercer. We had to lie on our stomachs and backs then squat, all while balancing the cone on my head.
By the time the session ended, my body felt like an alien had taken over as my wobbly legs carried me to my car, ready to go home.
My body may have hurt but I had a huge smile on my face.
“Today’s class was predominantly basics with a lot of conditioning built into it. If you think about these guys that are now doing crossfit, in essence we’ve been doing crossfit in a dojo for the last hundred years. It’s our fitness training. Bag work is very important so that what we train we can apply and use our strengths to its fullest,” said Sensei Wendy.
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