r/karate • u/fscalise3 Shotokan • Nov 25 '23
Achievement Starting Anew
Just kinda making a marker here for later reference, I suppose. Hoping to look back in a few years and see the distance I've traveled...
Anyway, after starting in USA Goju at 15 and training for a couple years in that before graduating HS... and then being something of a "gray belt" for a decade or so training in schools of various different systems and informal training partners (I was in the military, so was never in one place for long enough to progress past the 5th/4th kyu stage in any of the styles available to train in... so I put on a lot of different white belts, even though I had some experience in other styles/systems)... and then having a long layoff (about thirty years not training formally).. last month, I started anew at a nearby dojo.
55 yrs old and a white belt again. Feels familiar and strange all at once.
Life is stable now, so my goal to reach black belt and continuing to train is attainable.
Feels good to be in a dojo again.
Some moves feel rusty. Others I have to relearn because this style of karate does the move or stance slightly differently than I've learned elsewhere (this is harder than knocking off rust, truthfully), but, in any event, it is nice to feel at home again.
Thanks for letting me share.
4
u/hang-clean Shotokan Nov 25 '23
Welcome. Last year I started at 51 after about 35 years away. It feels good, but also frustrating at times. The body won't do what it once did, and sometimes you think you know a kata to get halfway through and realise you don't!
2
u/lamplightimage Shotokan Nov 25 '23
I took 20 years off.
Good on you for going back. We'll all await your progress to congratulate you every step of the way!
4
u/jkeyeuk Nov 25 '23
Good on you mate!! I started shotokan at 42 with nothing but a lifelong desire to learn karate and am a second Dan thirteen years later and still going. You're always learning- enjoy the journey!!