Karate

Kempo Karate

Ley del puno con mano vacía. (Law of the fist with hands empty.) This might be what Tempo Karate means but for me I have felt the reality in a much different way.

The idea of having an activity, and opportunity to exercise outside of the office, was very appealing to me. It is a challenge to learn to move my body as is required in Karate. For 10 years, I trained it how to spirit… run straight and occasionally turn left. My broken back also significantly affected my movements. And now to get it to execute round kicks and side kicks, well, it has been a bit of a challenge. Then you throw in another language and vocabulary that does not exactly come up in conversations in church… it has been a test of my patience.

I do think it is fun to wear the white uniform with my white belt… I am ready to test for white belt with a level but since I am coming home for my sister’s wedding that will have to wait for the next round of testing.

But sometimes, it is so hard not to get frustrated. I do not understand what my sensei is asking me to do all the time. It is hard to make your body do new things when you do not understand what is being asked… and Karate as an activity of discipline, respect, concentration… it is challenging to struggle additionally due to the language barrier. Once I understand what I am supposed to be doing, and learn the vocabulary, the different punches, kicks and movements have become easier… but then we learn more.

Push-ups

It has also been at times a time to learn about Guatemalan culture. For instance, early on my sensei kept telling me to do my push-ups on my knees, I am very proud of the fact that I am strong and can do push-ups just fine without any special allowances. I got mad the second week when he told me to go to my knees so asked if I could do the push-ups normally from now on. He said, yes if I could do them well. So at the end of our hour, he had us all doing push-ups. I did them all, even though it was getting hard… but I felt like after making such a big deal out of it I needed to gut it out. Well, it turned out that I was the only one that was able to do all of the push-ups. My sensei noticed and told everyone this and then because I finished and they did not made everyone do more. I misunderstood, and thought that he was saying that since I went so slowly that we all had to do more. I felt terrible and did the additional ones as well, only to find out what he had really said afterwards… which made me feel bad for a different reason. To add to this all, I found out that the sensei had not been telling me to go to my knees because he thought I could not do the push-ups rather because he did not want my arms to get to muscular because that is not a desirable attribute of a woman in Guatemala.

My first fight

Fridays are combat days. I have been attending but avoiding actually fighting. It is intimidating but also I am afraid that I will hurt someone. I am bigger than most of the other girls and stronger… and since I am just starting to learn Karate I lack control… both power wise and placement wise. But the time came to try. There is a green belt who is young but has patience, control and is already a good teacher. I put on the head protector and hand protectors and gave it a go.

I actually did better than I expected. My height is an advantage and I got some hits in on her head and managed to be loose and move around trying out the combinations and blocks that I had been taught. It helped make the drills we do make more sense… but my lack of control did come into play and I hit harder than I should have in a combat with another from my gym… I do not know how to hold back yet… so she responded in kind with more force as well. My lack of positioning came into play too… I kept on doing round kicks and side kicks and she would block me… hitting my foot repeatedly with her elbow. By the end of our match, my right foot had a huge goose egg that was purple and growing as I was looking at it. I elevated it right away but ended up not being able to walk without help for about a day and then as the goose egg spread out my entire foot was bright purple and swollen (could not see any of the tendons) for a week… and now over two weeks later some purple remains around the edges of where the bruise was. Next time… foot protectors and maybe focus on position!

So I am learning the law of the fist… that getting hit will most likely leave marks but is also applies in other aspects of my life here in Guatemala… the reality of confrontation, of political motivations, of unwillingness to compromise, of agendas… they too can leave marks. To some in Guatemala those marks are mal-nutrition and empty bellies, they are apparent in tattered clothing and the lack of resources… to others it is the memory of war and death… to others it is the reality of bureaucracy and unwillingness to allow others to grow and develop.

But I am also learning how to respond, to understand the law of the fist but know the options I have to fight back… and that does not mean to hit back each time. Creativity is important in Karate as is patience, concentration and discipline.

And mano vacia… empty hands. I come with who I am… an America who is learning Spanish, who is loving what she is doing in Guatemala… who comes not with answers but with the willingness to use my hands… to deliver the gospel to people who yearn to hear it as they experience the law of the fist. I come not bearing something I am not but with hands open and ready to receive and to be in the midst. I am ready to hold the hands of others… to fill my hands with theirs and to walk together. What I have to offer, what I have to use is the gifts that God has given me. My hands may be empty but that does not mean that I am immobilized.