It all started when… well, technically, I guess it all started when Connor started karate classes. My own martial arts journey re-started when I finally couldn’t take it any longer — I wanted to play, too! — and asked Mr. Turner if he also taught an adult beginner karate class.
Not exactly…
I signed up for the Krav Maga class in June, and started out taking one class per week. The years-ago experience of aikido class made me wary of jumping in with both feet right away. As it turns out, learning Krav Maga is a lot less taxing to my vestibular system than learning aikido — not nearly as much rolling and falling down. There will be some rolling and throwing eventually, but at least now I have motion-sickness patches!
So, what in the world is Krav Maga, anyway?
Glad you asked.
Krav Maga is the martial art practiced by the Israeli military, and translates to Contact Combat. It’s essentially a combination of multiple martial arts— karate, jiu jitsu, aikido, etc. — that together create a practical, effective means of escaping and neutralizing an attacker.
It’s some seriously kick-ass self-defense. It’s also a great workout.
Now, back when I started aikido, I’d blog about my injuries on a weekly basis: pulling my groin, getting mat burn on my knees and feet, feeling unwell due to motion sickness from rolling over and over… and my Mom pointed out to me over the phone that I wasn’t getting any younger, and maybe all my injuries were a sign I should quit. I finally did quit, after a year of training and after earning my first rank. Oddly enough, I don’t think I have any photos of me in my newly-earned hakama, although I do still have it stowed away in the attic.
After a month or so of Krav Maga, I have no thoughts of quitting. It’s too fun! It’s a great workout, like I mentioned, and it takes me out of my comfort zone in a different way than aikido did. I feel less lost, and more like mastery is just outside my reach, rather than completely out of reach.
That’s not to say that I haven’t had some injuries. During my first real class, I repeatedly round-kicked with the top of my foot (instead of my shin) so hard that I busted a blood vessel and gave myself a straight-up hematoma. I totally bypassed the bruise stage and went straight to “Miss Dennis, should the top of my foot be swollen up like this so soon after class?”
Apart from that, though, no problems.
This quarter, we’re learning one strike set and a self-defense maneuver to escape a headlock (and subsequently beat the crap out of the attacker). On Wednesday, we practiced the headlock maneuver by getting repeatedly head-locked by our classmates, round-robin style, fast-paced, no breaks.
This is so fun.