About this diary...

[Grime]

I'm under no illusions that this training diary will be of any interest to anyone except myself.

I'm writing it simply to put something to read up on the site and, perhaps, to give some stimulus to others who might want to make some comment or contribute to a discussion in some way.

Having said that, I don't expect my experience is that different from anyone else's (apart, of course, from those with youth, talent and experience).

The question I want to explore for myself is why I find karate (and by that I mean Tora Shotokan under Sensei Steve) so rewarding.

This is a personal journey - the "do" part of "karate do" - but if anyone feels so inclined they are more than welcome to accompany me on this reflective part of the journey.

I have kept a casual eye on similar journals from karate sites the world over and they all explore similar themes - as you would expect. In this respect, my reflections are not in any way special or important, and certainly not "expert".

Also, I would like to give potential members who visit this site a sense of what it's like to train at Tora with Sensei Steve. I think that might be more useful than just pictures of our training.

So, I have begun.

Training tonight - Tuesday. I missed last night because I was tempted to stay home by an invitation to open a bottle of wine and watch a movie. I succumbed; there are always other nights. Tuesday is usually a big night with lots of students of all levels attending.

I aim for four training sessions a week: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. That is the maximum my body will allow.

Last year was the slowest and most haphazard of the five years I've been training - too much work, sickness and travel. This year has already shown an improvement. Mind you, I'm another year older. A year at 50 is very different from a year at 15.

Sensei Steve has told me he expects me to grade to nidan at the end of the year. I said one of the best things, I found, about getting my shodan was not having to think about gradings so much. You get a chance to start again - to stop being a beginner and start being a novice.

As usual, I'm tired and sore but I'm looking forward to training tonight. I like getting lost in training in the sense of inhabiting a mental space very different from the one I experience day to day.