One Man's Fitness Fitness Adventures and Musings

Saturday, February 23, 2008

Martial Arts: Why I Train Where I Do.

I have trained in quite a few martial arts schools in my years and even had the honor to run one of my own, that was a long time ago. These days I train in American Kenpo, previously I had trained in Chinese Kenpo and the mental backdrops of the two styles are really for all intents and purposes the same. I prefer a system that favors hand work to some degree over kicks. I can kick, quite well on some days; however, beyond all this arbitrary reasoning for choosing one style over another, tonight I was shown the real reason I train where I do.

I was out for a few months with a plantar injury that felt like someone was jamming an ice pick in my heel every time I pivoted. I needed to take time off because I don't know how to go half way. It is a personality defect I have come to accept about myself. That being said I started back this last week and found that I have very little rust, good news. Well tonight I received an e-mail from my instructor asking for some feedback on my transition back and asking how comfortable I am being back on the mat. He went on to assure me that he wanted to make my training as fulfilling and enjoyable as possible. In short my Sensei showed me that he really cares about his students. I think this is a noble quality that is not present in every school, some schools are really only interested in getting your monthly payments. I feel very fortunate to train where I do.

1 comment:

Nat said...

My paraspouse and my spouse both do Jui jitsu and one of the things we both appreciate is how much care they put into their students. We ended up missing a much because of colds and scheduling and they dropped us an emailing making sure we were ok. So even though they may be a bit more expensive, we feel it's worth it. :)