What Karate Means To Me
Growing up I played a lot of soccer but I always had an interest in martial arts. I used to watch Bruce Lee movies and think to myself that I would love to move the way he does...how can you not be impressed with Bruce Lee.
My first experience practising karate was when I was around eight years old. It was Goju Kai karate under Tino Ceberano at the West Sunshine dojo. I practised for about one year but had to stop because my parents thought that playing soccer along with school and music, was a big enough commitment.
In 2016 my son Jake expressed interest in doing some form of martial arts. I knew of the big commercial money hungry centres around and I wanted to stay right away from those types of organizations. I wanted Jake to do karate but I didn't want a school for the masses but rather a smaller more personal school which would teach a disciplined form of karate. I started researching karate schools in the area and came across Shushin Kai Goju Ryu Karate. For some reason something attracted me to this school and after reading this statement on the website ”to improve one's self through one's own efforts”, I thought, this is the school. After talking to Shihan about the school, we realized that coincidently we knew each other from a management course he had conducted and I was participating in. Small world. Well I decided to take Jake to the Weastmeadows dojo and give it a go. After a month of sitting and watching Jake enjoying the classes and with some convincing, I decided to start karate classes as well.
Who would have thought that after so many years and at 53 years old that again I would be practising karate? It's part of my life now. I can't imagine not doing it. When we miss training, which we rarely do, it doesn't feel right. When we go away on holidays Jake and I try and practise karate as often as possible. On our recent holiday to Bali, we stayed in Ubud, which is in the jungle. As soon as we arrived at the hotel, we had a look around and found a spot overlooking the jungle where every day we did our training. It was the perfect location and environment to practice karate.
I find karate helps me deal with the stresses of everyday life and also helps relax the mind. Karate has helped me improve my fitness, strength and flexibility, which is awesome, especially at my age. Since I started karate, my coordination and timing has also improved. At first, being able to combine certain moves was difficult but with consistent training I feel I am slowly improving. When it comes to grading and demonstrating my kata, I get very nervous, as you would have noticed. I'm not really good in front of crowds, so this has been a challenge for me but also great for facing my fear. Hopefully with more practice I will develop more fluency in my karate and confidence within. Karate has helped me with self-awareness and focus (Zanshin). This comes through whenever we are out and about in public, I always find myself checking out my surroundings to make sure it’s safe. You never know these days when you might need to defend yourself or family members.
In 2017 we got to travel and practise karate in Tokyo, Japan, which was a karate highlight for Jake and myself. Practising karate in Tokyo with Shihan, Sensei Tsubamoto and all the other Sensei was an awesome experience. Experiencing karate in Japan was special because not many people get the opportunity to see karate at this level. It was a privilege to have had this experience and hopefully we will be able to do this again during our karate journey.
Black belt grading in 2019 sounds very weird to me because I didn't think I would be capable of getting this far. Hopefully with the training we have been doing over the years and if the nerves don't get the better of me, I will be successful.
There is obviously lots of work from here on to continue to develop my karate but my intention is to keep on training for as long as my body holds up. I would like to thank Shihan and Sensei for the guidance, patience and support to get me to this point and I look forward to wearing my black belt with pride.
By Con Daglis 1st October, 2019
Con Daglis began training at karatedo on 6 th April, 2016, at age 53 years. He was graded to Shodan on 5th October, 2019, at age 56 years..