How I Wound Up Studying Oom Yung Doe

 

Public Domain Antique Chinese Koi Illustration

First, what happened with Isshin Shorinjii Okinawa Te in Plainfield, Illinois; I broke my left ankle shoveling snow. Then we moved 45 minutes one-way from Plainfield. (The move was fallout from the 2008-2009 financial crisis.)

My recovery was long, class was far, and I just couldn't.

In 2015, we moved even further - to Temecula, California. 

Temecula is a beautiful smaller town in inland Southern California, and is the epicenter of Southern California wine country. I absolutely love the place, and we're permanently settled here.

Around 2017, I tried taking karate through the park district. It was affordable, but all the other students were children. The instructor was in his 30's.

The instructor had the students constantly sitting on the floor, and then getting up. This did not work for a body in its late 50's and well over 300 lbs. I pulled a ligament in my right knee trying to keep up with the up-down. It took two years to heal.

I had been looking for a Tai Chi class in Temecula for several years. I had a brief two-month exposure to it after my ankle recovered and while we were still in Illinois. (The instructor had to move away, and my work schedule changed) I absolutely loved it. I also knew it would help me strengthen myself without injury. Harvard actually recommends Tai Chi over other forms of exercise for aging well.

Oom Yung Doe kept coming up in my searches.

I finally went in to check it out after getting re-hired by the company I used to work for in Chicago.

Oom Yung Doe is fairly expensive here. It costs $250.00 per month to attend.

However, many of the students are my age or older. Many are working post-injury with physical limitations. The instructors are very "safety-first." They understand the older student.

I started with Tai Gup Chung, (Spelling?) which is a short form of Tai Chi. I've gotten fairly decent at it in five weeks.

I've also started learning Oom Yung Bop, which is a short form of Kung Fu, and am just getting into Tai Chi Chung, which is a much longer form of Tai Chi. I expect to be at this for several months.

However, I am doing well. I really like the instructors, and the other students. I am very, very grateful to be allowed to attend this school.

My weight loss has been slow but steady as well.

Sometimes doing the laundry is a pleasant exercise, as is the incremental learning of other ancient arts. It's the journey. It changes you, little bits at a time.

I look forward to a lifetime of practicing whatever I'm able to learn here.

With respect, thank you for reading, and thank you to those who have gone before me for carrying this into our time and presence.

Dan

Oom Yung Doe

I've been studying Oom Yung Doe for about 5 weeks now. I feel like I may have landed at the right place finally. 

The first four weeks, I was sweating buckets every day I trained.  My knees were stiff like boards. 

However, my weight  has been slowly going down. My clothes are fitting looser. (I've dramatically changed my diet, too.)

In the past three training sessions, I have only broken a light sweat. My knees are tight and stiff in the morning, but loosen up after I walk around for awhile at work.

We've been out in California for ten years now. 

Sometimes you have to deal with drudgery before you can find grace. You have to do the laundry if you want to have nice, clean clothes.

 One promise I have made to myself is that, no matter what happens with me or the dojo, I will continue to practice everything I learn for the rest of my life.

Dan 

Isometrics?

I'm nowhere near a karate school these days. I tried going back to it once, but hurt my knee from all the "sit down, get up" in the training.

I have come to the conclusion that I am too heavy and out of shape to take that part of the training right now.

As I am in school and teaching IT full-time on both counts, I am looking for an exercise routine that can be done in minimal time and anywhere to get back into shape.

I am thinking isometric exercise might be a good place to start.

Dan

Shorin Ryu Shorinkan Okinawa Te

Third Week Of Shorinkan

I'm loving being back in karate. I had forgotten just how much I loved doing karate before I broke my ankle in 2008.

Today in class, we were practicing katas, of course, but also the basic hand pattern of punches, blocks, and - not sure of the spelling - shuto. I plan on practicing the basic hand pattern at home until I have it cold.

I also bought a new wavemaster. I had one in 2008, but donated it to the class there when I broke my ankle and we were moving away from the class. Here's a pic of the new one:

Wavemaster kick/punch upright bag

The new one is black as you can see. The one I had back in 2008 was almost identical, except that the padding was red. I like the red a little better, but I'm happy to have this particular piece of equipment, because it is essential for practicing proper kicking forms, and it is great for practicing punches as well.

I also purchased a new gi, but it is huuuuge! And 100% cotton. I am going to was it and shrink it first thing. The new gi is also quite heavy. I will most likely need to get the pant legs hemmed up about three inches, which is crazy because I am 6'6" tall with a 36" inseam. Just wow!

The cotton is thick and heavy as well, so I will be moving an extra ten pounds of cloth around, I think. I'm going to have to look up a Youtube video on how to properly tie the pants, because they're very different than the lightweight pants of my current gi.

The people in class are starting to get over their initial surprise at my size. It was as it often is when someone my size - 6'6" and 340lbs - walks into an athletic setting. That first day people were just staring. Now they're kind of used to it, and I'm able to settle in and just focus on the karate.

It feels soooo good to get up and exercise, plus I have wanted to learn karate since I was fifteen. My favorite super hero - and I have been a comic book fan since I was four years old - is Iron Fist. I wrote a post all about my love of comics on my personal site. You can find that post here:

Getting Back Into Some Of My Old Favorites…

I used to be really good at drawing superheroes, cars, planes, submarines, spacecraft, and of course girls. I was way out of practice at drawing comics, but this is a rough drawing I did of Iron Fist about three or four weeks ago:

 

Iron Fist

I've also gotten back into reading Iron Fist. It took me a long time to get over the fact that someone close to me stole Iron Fist 1-14 from my collection back when I was in high school. There were only 15 issues of Iron Fist by himself printed by Marvel in the late 1970's. I had collect all fifteen and had them in plastic, at a time when they cost 25 cents. I still have number 15, and in 1989 I had price checked it at $25.00. I just bough a high-quality copy of #1 on Ebay the other day, it cost me $75.00.

After Iron Fist 1-15, Marvel put Iron Fist and Power Man together, and they ran the pair for a few years. A new Power Man and Iron fist series has started up in the past few months, with new stories written just this year. I have issues 2-7 so far. I will keep collecting those, but I will also buy the rest of the original Iron Fist comics one at a time.

So it goes. In some small ways, life gets to imitate art. I get to learn karate, and I am thrilled with that. At my age, it's probably not too common for people to re-start learning martial arts here in the USA, but what do I know?

Sayonara,

Dan

Shorin-ryu Shorinkan Karate

http://www.karateshorinkan.com/history.php

My new style I am learning.

Sayonara,

Dan

Your Body Is Your Barbell

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First Class Back

So I am a white belt karate ka again.

I didn't realize how much I had forgotten, or how much I would remember.

What I do know is that it was wonderful to be in karate again. One of the things I had forgotten was how much I loved doing karate.

I am badly out of shape, and sweated like crazy. My old gi still fits, but is more snug than I remember. I had to use the Tae Kwon Do pants, because the elastic in the waistband of my karate pants was rotted out and brittle.

Still, the sweat and exercise feel great.

Somehow, I think the gi may fit better in a few weeks.

I realized tonight that it has been eight long years since I was in Sensei Beghtol's class.

My heart is happy to be back in class, period.

Sayonara,

Dan