Boot Camp, Round Four

I might be tardy in this latest entry of the Boot Camp series, but I haven’t left my training behind. They say it takes ten days to make a habit. The first two weeks of self-imposed boot camp cleared that up quickly. Now, the pressure of limited time–only two or three weeks left here in Michigan with my gym membership–are working magic on my workout regimen.

I’ve upped my interval training on the heavy bag, working 15 intervals instead of 10. Next week, I’ll drop back down to 10 intervals but lengthen the amount of time I’m punching. I’ve dropped my 20-minute warmup drill completely, which isn’t always advised but I’m flexible enough to get away with it and it enables me to spend more time focusing on kata. I still remember training as a white belt the weeks before my first test, when each night Hanshi coached the karateka in everything from jui jitsu to moving basics to kata. The life lessons taken from martial arts training were clear to me then, and working solo now, they’re clearer than ever before.

This afternoon I printed and mailed my monthly letter to my instructor, which included my workout log for the past 31 days plus a brief note explaining a few things I had learned from my self-organized training. It’s not the same as working with others and it doesn’t even compare to training in Hanshi’s presence, but as a 3rd level brown belt with dreams of becoming a black belt one day, for now it’s all I have.

I’ve taken my life on the road and part of that means giving up regular training under the most respected teacher I’ve had in my life. If I can maintain this pace through the winter, I’ll be back in the shape I was in before breaking my foot. All good writers I know also have obsessions, but I’ve never thought to consider how many of them have obsessions that are physical activities–competitive sports, athletic hobbies, individual training regimens, etc. I’d venture to guess the numbers are pretty high.