Having a break from it all

I’m writing this article on a Monday evening. We should have been training outdoors but after today’s rain, it was too risky to train on wet, muddy ground. So, I took the executive decision of cancelling the class and having a night off. So far, no complaints from anyone else about that decision!

It got me thinking, why was I feeling guilty about not training? The day before, I was telling someone about my 1 day in Tokyo. (For clarification, I was returning home from being on holiday in Australia and chose to spend two nights in Tokyo, which gave me a day to explore).

“Oh, did you go and train?” I was asked. “No, I just explored the city,” was my reply.

“Did you go to the Budokan?” “No, just did the tourist stuff”, was my second answer – albeit a little hesitant.

“But, why didn’t you go training?”

I had several answers to this one, but the truth was, I was on holiday. And that to me - means a holiday from karate too.

We spend most of the year training, and karate does not have a summer or winter season. We train in the evenings after work or school and when there are courses or events, we travel to classes around the country. In short, we put a lot of time and effort into it (not to mention the sweat, blood and occasional tear!) We do this because we enjoy it and get a lot out of it. But, just like our school and our jobs, we all need to take a break and have a rest.

For many years, taking a break from training was a guilty pleasure – something that I had to do, because I was going on holiday. In fact for a good number of years, whenever I went to Germany with Larissa to see our family and friends there – the gi came too. You know, just in case.

I now make a conscious effort to NOT train when I am on holiday and enjoy the time away from it. It normally lasts two weeks, when the body is recovering and the absence of stances, kicking and arm bars is a welcome relief. Then…. slowly, almost imperceivably, I start to do a little kata, practice a couple of stances or kicks or try out a little combat combination. When that starts, I know that I’ve had a good break and I want to start training again. I’ve been refreshed and am ready for more.

When I’m at that point, it’s time to get back into the swing of things with renewed enthusiasm and a smile on my face. The gi comes back out of the cupboard and into the bag, and it’s off to class I go.

So, when your holidays come round – go and enjoy them. Take a break from the norm – be it school, work or whatever. But bear in mind that it should include a rest from karate too. It’s a good way to reflect on what you’ve done and then return with a desire to do more.

I hope you all had a great holiday and when you’re back in class, you’ll feel like me – ready to go again!

P.S. Just to prove I was in Tokyo – here’s a photo of the nearest I got to karate when I was there!

The sign says ‘Free Hugs!’