This year, both Christmas Eve and New Years Eve fall on training days…so we will not have class on those days. Awwww!…yes, I know that there are some of you die-hards that actually hate to miss any training opportunity. Don’t forget, no training on Monday, 24 Dec and Monday, 31 Dec….enjoy your last day to shop for presents and popping firecrackers. You can take this break without feeling guilty, haha.
What is a break anyway? We all know and have taken Spring Breaks, Winter Breaks, and Summer Breaks. Quite a few of us take coffee breaks….and fewer and fewer take smoke breaks these days. More specifically, a break means temporary…we intend to go back to school or back to work, after “the pause that refreshes”, haha.
Why then, should we ever feel guilty about taking a break? And why don’t we say that we’re taking a shopping break, or a golfing break, or a eating good food break, or a watching television break? The truth is, one usually takes breaks from things that are kind of difficult or demanding or requires discipline. Doing an activity that is purely fun and relaxation doesn’t require these attributes…and we don’t really need a break from such things. The path of karate-do is not always exciting, can be frustrating, and requires much discipline over many years to begin to achieve a true understanding of the art. I once read somewhere that the average karate student in America lasts about six weeks or less (unless a prepaid contract is involved, haha). This means that any of you who have been training for a year or more, are in a very small minority and I consider you to be very, very, special indeed.
The problem with breaks, therefore, is that when we take them from something like karate-do…we run the risk of it turning into a permanent retirement from the activity; hence the guilt. Kind of like jogging and in the middle of the run, you stop to tie your shoes, or chat with an old friend, or just decide to catch your breath…it becomes difficult to start up again. The challenge for all of us is not training hard within the dojo; we can all do that…it’s having the motivation to get there, haha.
In my case, I never had a problem with taking a break from training; I was always able to consistently train over the years. Ironically, I never just took a break….I actually walked away (permanently, I thought) from karate three different times over the last 37 years. The first time was a month after I started, when I felt I had achieved my goal; to learn how to kick and punch. The second time (7 years later), I was working long hours in my first professional job, was attending graduate school three nights a week, and needed to spend time with my wife and young son. I decided that I was through with my karate career. The third time, my son (by then, a 12 year old brown belt) began to move on to music and more demanding schoolwork. I gave away all of my gi’s and even my old black belt that time, convinced that I was finished with the art. In all three instances, I left, permanently (or so I thought), of my own volition; only to be called back…the first time, by my Lynne’s (then, my girlfriend) dare that I couldn’t be as good as I thought…the second time, by my son’s enrollment….the third time, by my daughter’s desire to return to training. I guess I’m one of the lucky ones…I was called back to the art by my wife, then by my son, and then by my daughter. Whew! Talk about having a calling, haha.
Oh yes, there was one more time back in 1998 when I was considering taking a permanent break from karate-do after nearly 30 years. By this time, Trish was a black belt, an adult, and in college. Then, on 16 Jan, 1999, on the night I was Saved, I actually received a calling to teach karate as a ministry. But that’s a story for another time.