It’s kind of weird how we all find our different paths to fitness and we all find different things that we enjoy. It’s even weirder what people in a given sport find fun.
Martial arts are definitely a case in point for weirdness.
Possible trigger warning: Physical violence. I am a martial artist so my sport involves getting struck. We employ all kinds of safety practices and I am never in danger but depending on your history, my descriptions might be upsetting or triggering. Please proceed with caution or feel free to skip this post..
I don’t know what you were up to last Saturday, but I spent my day choosing to be a target. And if my opponent missed, I advised them on how to kick and punch me more effectively. And then congratulating them when they did better in the next attempt.
This isn’t as odd as it sounds, I was actually at a sparring seminar hosted by our school and led by Grandmaster Laquerre, a highly skilled international sparring trainer.
I literally spent four hours taking turns kicking and punching someone and then letting them kick and punch me. And we observed each other’s kicks and punches so we could provide insight into how to fine tune our technique for when we are in the ring.
It was fun and challenging. I learned and practiced lots of great techniques.
Sparring is great exercise and great for letting off steam. I know that it’s not for everyone, though.
And I’ve been doing this for so long now that it seems completely normal to me but when I try to explain it to someone else it sounds so very weird.
And it kind of reminded me of that Facebook meme where you are supposed to describe your job in as odd a way as possible. (e.g. I’m a writer so my response was ‘I spend my days in imaginary worlds and try to get other people to pay to keep me there.’)
So, just for fun, how can you describe your fitness activities in a way that would make people raise an eyebrow?
Hmmm… swimming: I spend an hour and a half twice a week going back and forth in the water.
Bouldering: I crawl up walls.
Running: this is hard to describe in a weird way! Moving fast by putting one foot in front of another?
My idea of a good thime is to hang upside 15ft in the air from one hand without a tie off. Aerial circus training also comes with frequent bruising in bizarre locations that makes other people question my sanity even further.
I seem to be using the Sisyphus Method of exercise — organizing my 3-story townhouse. I store things in the garage, then need them every once in a while and move them back up to the third floor. Or I don’t use something and take it down to the garage, thinking that I will sell in latter or might use it later. I reorganize the kitchen cabinets once a month, moving dishes to one side, then moving it back as “it doesn’t really work there.” Seven floor-to-ceiling bookcases full of books …the house looks like a library. My exercise during the week includes lifting about 7 books, either reading or readjusting them to the reading pile or returning them to the bookshelf. You can find me on weekend cutting up cardboard into smaller pieces to use in a creative exploration. Occasionally dumpster diving when a sculpture requires that unique piece someone else thought useless.
Staring at nothing while listening to songs no one else can hear and going nowhere very quickly