Back in the Dojo

Rod Whiting writes

I’ve rekindled an old passion – Karate! It’s all thanks to my ten-year-old grandson, Finley.

Last April, I started taking him to classes, thinking it would be good for his confidence and coordination. He really took to it.  What I did not expect was how interested I became – to the point of my being inspired to join an adult class to see if I could still make the grade all these years on.

 It was really a renewal rather than a new beginning as when I was stationed at RAF Masirah — a desert island off the coast of Oman — in the 1970s, I trained one-to-one with a third-dan black belt instructor who was also on tour. It was 120 degrees in the shade, no air-conditioning, and the occasional camel spider scuttling by to keep us alert! But it was superb training — and kept me away from the bar… well, some of the time at least. It gave me a grounding in discipline that’s stayed with me ever since.

Fast forward forty-five years and it feels great to be back in a gi, starting again from the bottom with Shotokan grading. The body’s a bit slower and the warm-ups a bit longer, but the muscle memory is still there.

Karate has so much to offer at any age: fitness, balance, focus and confidence - all things that can so easily slip in later years. My goal now is to achieve my black-belt whilst I still can.  Watching Finley’s progress has been joyful and inspirational – and sharing the journey has been even better.

Rod