Recently, I went on a long car trip. It was several hours of infamous German roads. Beautiful green landscape, 120+ kmph autoban, transportation trucks in spades, and me, being carsick, enjoying not a single moment. We still had a ways to go and needed to get the gymnastics in my stomach settled down. That’s when I thought of it. Mr. Oliver talked about redirection some months ago.
When something is bothering you, redirect your attention to something more positive or productive. Kata practice had been neglected recently; so I resolved to redirect my focus to mental practice. The first couple were hard. It was challenging to stay in first person perspective the way Mr. Oliver recommends. Then my breathing was distracting me too. A few dedicated breaths and timing started to synchronize with the kata movements. First person perspective seemed to be stronger by the fifth run through.
It was so nice to imagine having the dojo all to my greedy little self! There was no one who might accidentally walk into a kick, punch, step, line of focus, etc. I dare say, that was shaping up to be my best practice session yet!
Guess what? It was! Some 45 minutes later, my car sickness had abated completely. I noticed the lush fields and forests around us. We were zooming down the autoban at speeds I dare not challenge the CHP with at home. The numerous trucks en route were interesting- every product was new to me with a new, different ad to check out. It was nice to oogle the sports cars as they raced through traffic too…
The car sickness returned because the drive was just that long, but another set of kata kept it tolerable. The stomach gymnastics are usually so overwhelming on this long a trip that a break is needed when we arrive. Five to ten minutes and I’m good to go. This time, when I stepped unsteadily from the van, still woozy, still a little dizzy, and incredibly proud of my mental accomplishment, I was ready to embark on our day. Kata had absorbed the worst of it.
Karate continues to surprise me with the various, unexpected practical applications!