Kata in the Time of Covid-19

Due to the Covid-19 virus everyone is staying at home and that's a good thing. Karate classes, like all other classes, have moved to online video sessions.

Here are my notes from tonight:

• Warm up before class!
• Ushiro geri - remember not to let hips extend/turn sideways.
• Question: Seiyunchin Kata - my shiko dachi is getting stronger and more square! But my lower back pays for it later. What can I do to tone and stabilize that stance?
• Answer: The lower back was not meant to steady the spine. the lats and butt should be carrying the workload of protecting the spine. If hip flexors and hips are weak, then it shifts to your lower back, and you'll get pain because your lower back muscles are a lot smaller. That part of your body can't carry the weight. The girdle of your lower back, abs, and your butt, if they're weak the spine will fall out of alignment.
• Ballistic hip movement will be painful if core is not strong.
• An open hand can be used like a key, for unlocking something and making room to strike.
• The angle of my stance and the center of my kata determine where I'm going to strike (my angle to my opponent), not where my opponent is standing.

My space is a bit awkward, there wasn't a good way to handle it so Sensei could see me and I could see him, too. Behind me are some of my partner's belongings so I thought it would be better to respect their privacy. It's a small city townhouse, the third floor is split into our bedroom and my office. The TV is in my office and the space I made to exercise is in the bedroom! I'm okay with it!

Loud and Clear

Practicing with some time like this, with my own Sensei teaching online, is a tremendous benefit for me because I can turn the volume up very high to hear better and I can switch devices to ensure a clear sound. I catch a lot more information when I can hear than when I'm in the dojo where I'm virtually deaf to instruction except for what I can lip read. With an online environment I can also stop to write down things I hear for review because my auditory memory is in a constant state of overdrive during verbal instruction.

Being deaf in a learning environment means that one misses out on what's called "incidental learning", beautifully explained by ASL Stew:

Direct link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPSV4JgfTnQ

My Sensei has many pets. They walk the lines like Senpai do in the dojo, checking stances and ensuring we stay focused.

Physical Recovery Update

It's been now fourteen months of physiotherapy since my last bout with sepsis. I am back at the dojo, back at karate, as best I can be. This online method is giving me new information and helping me drive home details I have never gotten before. I've improved a lot but now I know exactly why, and to keep doing it!

In particular, PT has meant stabilizing my hips and finding creative ways to manage debilitating tightness in my legs. Since it's not possible to stretch out my muscles without also stretching out my tendons it's been useful to use a TheraBand Roller Massager before bed and whenever my joints lock up. It catches trigger points nicely, too, which knocks out two birds with one stone.

This is an exciting time for my body. I've worked hard on it. I'll never be bored with this body because there is always something to do. I think that's a good way of looking at it--as good a way as any.

Gassho, may you be well.

On Retiring from Karate Due to Acquired Disability

A fellow karateka has announced their retirement from karate due to a cascade of horrendous medical events. I wrote them this note and I hope it will help others.

---

Sensei, I hope you will see this message coming to you with tremendous respect and humility.

You may think you've retired from karate but you have merely shifted your attention to a new battle. You are one of us, a disabled karateka, a different type of warrior. Higaonna-Sensei asks us to imagine who we were yesterday as our opponent. This is no different and you are stronger than ever. A whole legion of us is beside you, just as afraid and unafraid as you are about what the next battle will be. But we are a brave troupe and we don't leave people behind.

I'm a humble 2-kyu but I'm a formidable foe against chronic illness and all that comes with it. If I can be a listening ear this is a safe place to grumble it all out. We don't know the same people and it does not get repeated.*

I wish that you will find many ways to laugh and play, to cope and to love.

Rei.

My world is full of people with mostly congenital disabilities. People with acquired disabilities have a much harder time adapting. Your resilience continues to stand out and your willingness to speak out about your experience goes on to help others. Thank you for the will to share your experience. I am learning from you how I might help others cope and find strength after such significant change. :) Please keep it up (if you feel up to it).

*Only make a promise of safety and confidence if you can truly keep it. Otherwise, offer to listen.

Adapting Juunbi Undo (Warm-Up Exercises)

Paul Enfield-Sensei has shared this generous explication of how Juunbi Undo is done and what it's for. Though I've explored this for years through the lens of Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome I spent this morning in physiotherapy going over Juunbi Undo and modifying it to be more Ehlers-Danlos friendly. Briefly, that means swapping out stretches for isometrics and Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Function (PNF), changing out rotational movements for balance and stability challenges, and keeping the practice as authentic to the original purposes as possible.

https://www.facebook.com/GKCgoju/videos/1923665004315538/

Here's a bit of history that's endearing to Miyagi-Sensei and speaks to his intentions in creating Juunbi Undo, as well as his methods: http://www.iogkf.com/newsletter/edition_2011_4/articles_pg_04.htm

It's quite accessible to begin with, and to me that's what makes Okinawan Goju Ryu Karate-Do a cradle-to-grave martial art.

My entire medical team would prefer I took up Tai Chi, and I get that. But Karate is where my heart is. They are very compassionate in their understanding that I have a right to self-determination, and are generous in their support of all my adventures. They also have the wherewithal to help me cope with the reality that it's not time to be in karate right now, but that if it's a goal, then I need to be moving in that direction as best I can (even if my best is a C+ that day). People who don't have EDS often have trouble understanding that one's medical team often becomes closer than one's own family because the work you're doing together is so intimately connected with oneself, and that this work is the avenue you're traveling to move as close as possible to the rest of the world. They are the bridge and the waters are rocky, troubled rapids at all times.

It will be years before I understand the intentions of Juunbi Undo to a level I consider adequate, but a good warm-up is crucial. Juunbi Undo is a perfect way for anybody to take inventory of their body's functional level, so it would be nice to have a similar method in the EDS toolkit someday. I'd very much like to be the one who develops it, so it's just as well that I'm starting now.

Here's what I do know:

• It's been two years since I could regularly attend karate to a developmental level.
• EDS Sucks.
• If only in my head, I haven't stopped reviewing kata.
• There has never been a mystery as to whether my body would tank to a point at which I couldn't keep up karate anymore; it isn't necessarily a permanent situation. Karate is self-defense, and everyone can practice self-defense, even Zanshin (perpetual awareness).
• This is hard. It's very hard. It's physically and emotionally hard, both to practice and to not practice.
• It's worth it.
• I'm worth it.
• "The fun is in the effort." - Lincoln Bragg
• My gi still fits. :)

Be well.

Sensei's Extra Duties?

My physiotherapists (plural) did not clear me for karate this weekend (appropriately), which is the Paul Enfield Gasshuku hosted by my own dojo. I'm *really* trying to keep my cool about it. My Sensei has been talking me down for days, reminding me that there will be plenty more opportunities to train, that the school isn't going anywhere, that I just have to keep doing what I can to get better and stronger. All the right things that I need to hear.

Having been at this karate adventure for almost eight years now, my Sensei is so much more than my karate instructor. But I can sense his frustration, too, with my chronic absence. He isn't frustrated with me, just with my situation. On one hand ithat feels even worse because it's double the let-down. On the other hand it feels better because I'm not alone in this battle.

I'm just frustrated. I want to be at the dojo, doing dojo things. Instead, I'm blogging about my frustration and hoping to glean some wisdom from the effort. It's a swing and a miss this time around, but at least I didn't just sit with this sentiment in my head. Points for that. Pfuh. EDS sucks.

"Watch and Learn" is a Thing

"Watch and Learn" is a thing; I'm a hypocrite if I could do that thing, but then don't.

If you have Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and practice Goju Ryu karate, you'll need to practice adapting. I am a star at adapting, with plenty of life experience. What you do on the floor has to work in the street or it's of no use. Observing gives me an opportunity to watch and think about adaptations without trying to stay conscious and upright.   

For both Monday's and today's appointments I did not get medically cleared by my physiotherapists to attend the once-in-a-lifetime Gasshuku (special karate group training) this weekend. The Gasshuku is with 8th Dan Paul Enfield, and it was the right call: my sacrum won't unlock. If I try to use my lower back I'll be very sorry for it later on. Throwing punches without full access to my hips is causing my clavicles and shoulders to sublux. Kicking with a fibula that won't stay in place unless it's taped, or suri-ashi (body shifting) with an ankle that won't stay in place, is not a good idea. All this, right after finally figuring out a way to reduce the blacking out from Dysautonomia. Any one of those things would be reason enough for any rational human being to sit the heck down.

But this is Paul Enfield, the man who brought all four volumes of Higaonna-Sensei's work to document Goju Ryu karate to the English speaking world. Sensei told me to come and observe, and usually I would be able to do that, and happily. PT suggested the same. But I'm deaf in the dojo, so it would be complicated and stepping into the dojo is already so emotionally charged that I can't imagine being isolated in two ways (movement; hearing). That's an error of thinking, though; I am never separated even when I'm just observing because my dojo family goes out of its way to make sure everyone on the floor is included.

I dread sitting out because I put everything I have into physical therapy to get back to karate. It feels like I'll never be done rehabbing, and it's true that I'll never be done with rehab. PT is a permanent aspect of life with EDS. But rehab without karate feels like I'm fighting just to live, and my quality of life feels pretty low since the third bout of sepsis.  I also miss my port and the freedom to roam whenever and wherever I want to go.

It's hard on the psyche to go to the dojo and not physically participate. Sometimes I have to step out to cry, which is fine, but tends to make others worry. "It's just hard," I tell them. And it is. The pain of knowing my body will work against me if I try to use it is agonizing in itself. It's arguably worse than the physical pain, but because the physical pain affects my overall functional level (like being able to use the bathroom), I have to respect the pecking order of matter over mind. 

It won't be forever. Sensei assured me that there will be plenty more Gasshukus. But my heart is in the dojo and I want to be doing karate. No matter how much I read or review while I'm physically rehabbing, it's no replacement for live practice. Not being able to practice also has a detrimental effect on how much I can learn through studying, too.

What I'm trying to say is that I'm upset when I don't need to be, and if I want to be a hypocrite I should stay home and not find ways to adapt what I'm seeing. And yet, I feel pretty rotten. But even when you feel rotten, you should go to karate.

Adaptive Makiwara

At the dojo I like to hit the Makiwara and will happily spend time there honing my punch delivery until someone gets worried that I might get hurt. Of course I'll get hurt, that happens in Makiwara training. But I will also get better at minimizing my effort, maximizing my output, and localizing my target. I would much rather get hurt on the Makiwara than in the street. My Sensei has taught me how to properly strike it, how not to, and to recognize any cues from my body that say it's time to stop. I have promised from day one to do my best to pay attention to my body.

Before I started karate I did a lot of rehab work in physiotherapy, and I also played a lot of Wii Fit Plus. I love that game and wish I had room to play it now. Wii Fit Plus as "Wii-habilitation" helped me lose weight, improve my balance, timing, stamina, and mindset. It's quite the game!

For the past three years I've had to do a lot of rehab for a lot more reasons and I've missed that gamified training. Today I got Fitness Boxing on the Nintendo Switch. Either the synchronicity is off in the accelerometers or I truly have no rhythm. (Sadly, my Joy-Cons have just exhibited "Joy-Con Drift", a problem that requires me to send the unit in for repair.)

With fitness boxing the trainer's avatar lifts her back foot to throw the punch. In Goju Ryu we stay on the ground because that's where we generate our power. The game seemed to have no trouble with my alteration.

Having just left the Rehabilitation Technology field I'm back to being my own only Assistive Technology patient, so it's just as well that I'm finally getting back to karate after a very long time and finding new methods for supplemental training.

There is a grid in the game that shows all the movements it can track: basic body movements and basic punches. We like the basics in our style, I'm happy to stick with those during personal training time.

The hardest part is keeping my legs and hips steady beneath me while I throw the punch. The second hardest part is stopping before my elbows hyperextend or dislocate. I don't have much trouble with my elbows yet and I don't plan to start  now!

Last week an opportunity came up to test my Goju Ryu with an Isshin Ryu karateka. I enjoyed seeing the dynamics of both and just how much power can be generated by a small movement. A simple back fist can be devastating.

Both of my shoulders stay in their sockets most of the time and I haven't had a major shoulder dislocation in several months. If I punch the way I've been taught there should be very little risk of a shoulder dislocation because the power comes from the legs, hips, and back.

As longs as I do it right -- that's the catch.
The more training, the more opportunities to get it right --
that's the work!

This game is a jackpot for the basics of boxing. I wish my stepdad were here to play with me, he was a boxer and would have liked the game. He was very supportive of my karate, too.

We can only do so much, but we can often adapt beyond the limits we first perceive.

Be well.

Tai Sabaki and Shifting Directions

Tai sabaki is a shift but it is not a final destination, you have to keep moving.

PT didn't clear me for karate this week so I'm watching videos of Higaonna-Sensei. My goal is to find one physiotherapy modality that will help me develop the functional muscle movements and stability to perform one thing a little better than before.

My focus has landed on tai sabaki, body shifting, which can also be translated as body management. Defensively, tai sabaki is used to move quickly out of the way and often includes facing a different direction.

Since my last three hospitalizations I've had to dramatically switch directions in my life. Switching directions shifts one's vantage point, which allows for refocusing. In fact, it requires refocusing, if you're going to get anything done. Tai sabaki is a shift but it is not a final destination, you have to keep moving.

The hips drive tai sabaki. The more stable your core, the better the control. Faster, stronger, easier, smarter. Less easily fatigued. More readily engaged.

PT has been incredibly hard and slow to progress. I feel less likely to fall but I'm still too weak to do a number of functional tasks. For instance, I can't go out to buy groceries and then also put them away when I get home. It has to be done in steps with rest in between.

With tai sabaki you have to stay relaxed, "not too busy", as Higaonna-Sensei explains it. If you get anchored down you can't move or change when you need to. My PT is good at changing directions and finding new approaches. It's not easy work to manage my frustration when a task doesn't work out; a quick shift of focus keeps my time in PT productive and developmental, even if it's not the original task I set out to accomplish.

The goal is to get through, not to land a particular punch. That's why you have to be able to shift, and to practice all different kinds of things. A little at a time, all those little efforts add up to the win.

https://youtu.be/8Ru-fQ10c3Q

Recently I had a nurse evaluation, one of many. "Staying alive, is that what your goals are with your doctors right now?" she asked. Yes, that's the primary goal right now. But it's leveling off and the shift is toward recovery and functional goals for Activities of Daily Living (ADLs). Karate isn't on the list as a method right now, even though it involves exercise. But that doesn't stop me from asking for clearance to go each week. That's the direction I want to be facing, even if I have to shift now and then.