Most of the time, when folks think of discipline in the martial arts, they think of doing things. When I was in New York at Tom Ingargiola’s school early this year, I got to work a tiny bit with Tatsuji the K-1 fighter holding the bag for him as he practiced his round kicks. What impressed me the most was his work ethic. Every moment he wasn’t occupied he was doing something – pushups, situps, etc. – to improve his conditioning. He did kick after kick on the bag. You know that saying about not fearing the man with 10000 kicks, but the man who practiced one kick 10000 times? I think he really took it to heart. Roundhouse after roundhouse to the bag.
Lately I’ve been faced with the opposite form of discipline. With that recent sprain, I’ve had to pull kicks that just seem to launch themselves, turn down sparring opportunities and to not go running. I know- not going running is easy – but I’ve got a race later this summer, and I’ve got goals to meet. I see all those folks out running and have to remember that it’s about the long haul, and that jumping in too early on the road to recovery leads to reinjury. Thank goodness for elliptical machines, but even then I have to make sure to do enough, but not too much.
