We know injuries are inevitable, and are usually perceived as a huge bummer when time is needed off from training. But with every injury is opportunity, and continuing to show up to class is one way of capitalizing on them.
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We learn from watching, everyone is at least somewhat of a visual learner, and attending the dojo when injury prevents you from training also helps you maintain the emotional connection with that training.
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For me, it always confirmed to me that nothing will stop me from training, from showing up, and that my injury is an opportunity to show my resilience in the face of whatever gets in my way along my path.
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It helps reinforce your hard earned habit of showing up. This is the most important component of your training, the way you’ve rearranged your life to consistently make time to train, not “finding time” but “making time”. For most, it takes a decent juggling act and commitment to make it work to get to class each week, and to develop the balance in the other areas of your life. Showing up to class strengthens your current schedule pattern, and helps prevent the weeds growing beneath your feet.
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Injuries are going to take as long as they are going to take to heal. You can’t force it to heal faster. You cannot rush. Thus, you need to be patient.
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However, there is a thin line when it comes to patience. By thinking all you need to do is practice “patience”, this may allow for passivity to creep into your mentality, thereby causing you to fall into the trap of doing nothing.
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Showing up just to watch is good way of preventing you from finding something else to fill the time, which could become habit forming. You can still get things out of attending class just as a spectator. Bring a notebook, take notes on things, keep motivated to return. Your instructor might even have drills you can do that won’t aggravate your injury.
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It’s also a good opportunity to ask questions or spend a few minutes reading about martial arts history or philosophy. All of those are good options that don’t take a lot of time and, applied consistently, will greatly improve your karate and your overall knowledge.
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When watching and participating you may notice small details that you could have missed when training and focussing on other things.
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Basically, when you get hurt, don’t adopt a useless “woe is me” victim mentality and let the injuries crush us. Instead, you can use the injury as a chance for self-development. When you get hurt you can simply accept the situation has occurred, and seek an alternative way. Overcoming setbacks in the martial arts, and life in general for that matter, is about how you use the setbacks to your advantage.
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If you can’t be on the dojo floor, at least be near it.
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 Photo Credit: Okinawa Karate Information Center
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