I remember growing up, at about 12 or 13 years old, when I shot up something like 6″ during one summer (I could have used a couple more summers like that, haha). Entering our teens, all of us experience a time of rapid growth…in height, in weight, in strength, in looks, in interests, in relationships, in knowledge, etc. It is an exciting time of change and transformation, but often accompanied by new thoughts, emotions and bodily changes that are hard to deal with. It’s what our parents used to call…”the awkward phase.” When I’d demonstrate some uncoordinated movement – like bump into the wall – (due to legs that were a couple of inches longer than before, or arms that hadn’t caught up) or have my voice crack, mom would say, “He’s going through that awkward phase.” After a while, the body settles down and we regain our coordination level and once again are comfortable in our movements…at least, until some knee/back/shoulder problem forces us to change our system of movement.

Karate-Do forces each of us to re-enter the awkward phase. The difference is that this time, we enter voluntarily, and this out-of-our-comfort-zone phase may last for years. One of the first things we teach new students is how to do the “karate walk”. You know, how to move in a low zenkutsu-dachi, with power, balance, and hips thrusting forward in coordination with a well-timed tsuki. It is a really unnatural movement that takes a long time for most karateka to master. With much repetition and coaching, we end up being able to get to the point where doing the oi-zuki becomes more and more natural for us. In the basic form, it’s not the fastest nor strongest version of the lunge punch. The more advanced forms that we teach at the brown-black belt level utilize a one-legged attack, hip to the side, with entirely different timing on the release of the punch. The speed of the jyu-kumite “run” is many times faster than the basic “walk” and the release of the punch is much earlier. Why then, do we teach and emphasize this very awkward movement for our beginners? Well, all of the basic kihon exercises are breakdowns of the kata movements, which lie at the heart of traditional karate. Also, the basic stances gradually help strengthen the ankles, knees, hips, shoulders, and arms of one’s body in addition to enhancing flexibility, balance and timing. It also teaches valuable left-right brain coordination as well as upper-lower body coordination. Most of all, I think it teaches one to better control one’s body by forcing us to pay attention to our weaknesses, not just working on our strengths….and practice in the awkward phase, truly teaches one perseverance, focus, and patience to hang in and break through to the next level.

Feeling awkward is a small price to pay for learning something new, for reaching and becoming competent at a new, higher level. Many of us avoid this and would rather stick with the tried and true: avoiding different dishes at a restaurant, not going after that advanced degree, sticking with the same job or career, and so on. Some of us, as parents, even begin to avoid/lessen meaningful interaction with our teenagers, because we no longer understand them during their “awkward phase”, haha. To avoid this phase, many of us remain dedicated to a favorite sport(s) at which we might excel, or stick to the job we’ve done for 20 years, or continue to talk to our grown-up children as if they’re adolescents….we want to remain in our strength or gifting. Remember the saying, “When I am weak, then He is strong.” In the same way, Karate-do teaches us that to rely totally on our strengths is a great weakness…to embrace and work with our weaknesses is a great strength. This is how one improves. Even in application, I remember one of my senseis saying, “When your opponent uses strength, you respond with softness…When your opponent uses softness, you respond with strength.”

Looking back, I really didn’t care for the teen years spent in the post-adolescent “awkward phase”, but I realize that I absolutely couldn’t have made it to adulthood without going through it. I gained, not just from that period itself, but also from the invaluable lessons learned, mistakes made, and weaknesses addressed back then; that continue to help me till this day.

Happy Awktober!