Thursday 23 January 2014

FIGHT!

I am pinned to the ground, struggling to move, trying to find a weak point in my opponent. My breaths are getting shorter, I know I will have to tap soon. Suddenly I hear my name "THOMAS". I look up, our guest Sensei is standing over me, he makes direct eye contact, an intense stare, in one motion he brings his arms forward, moves his body ahead in a small lunge, and in his heavy Japanese accent says "THOMAS HUUA". that was it, eye contact was never broken, a stern look never left his face. Such a small gesture but suddenly I could move. My mind focused, in an instant I had a clear assessment of my position. I shifted, dug my feet into the ground and pushed myself off the ground, in a moment I was free, and the spar match continued. That moment is burned into my memory, I was ready to tap out, I was so caught up in my weakness that I forgot my strength, was it the words, was it the look? Yes and no, it was the intensity of the message. Sensei had trained in Judo all his life, every aspect of him worked together in sync when he engaged in a match, even in his short message everything was in sync. This training, this focus, this commitment can only inspire. It is inspiration we can all draw on. When we prepare, when we train, our mind and body learn to work as one, we have a better sense of our surroundings as we don't need to think "what is my foot doing right now" our body knows, it senses everything. Watching either Sensei fight you can see that they not only know their own body but can sense the body of their opponent by only holding onto their gi. This is focus, this is inspiration and this is years of training, both have lost many fights and will lose more in the future, but they learn from every match, they learn about themselves and about there opponent. Both are at the top of their field, and win many more fights then they lose. Open your senses to your surroundings, learn to listen to you body and mind, find you balance, find you sync and build your strength. For me whenever I am feeling defeated the face our guest Sensei jumps into my mind and I hear "THOMAS HUUA", and I fight.

No comments:

Post a Comment