karate as a coping mechanism

[james luke]

Whenever I have felt stressed , under duress; whenever life has gone askew, I have found peace and solace in the dojo. From a bad day at work to impending divorce I have trained through it all and felt better equipped to cope because of it. With one exception: When my youngest daughter was 9 months old she contracted meningitis. For 7 interminable days her life hung in the balance and none of the frankly brilliant medical staff could tell us for certain if she would live and if she did live whether she would be blind, or brain-damaged or deaf or lose a limb.
I held as they they inserted huge needles into her spine and drew off cerebra-spinal fluid and stayed by her bedside all day, every day. Her mother kept vigil in a bed in her room at night whilst i went home to look after our other daughter.
relatives rallied round and even offered to babysit whilst i went to class, knowing how much it meant to me. I could not bring myself to go. I was so angry and afraid, I feared I would hurt someone. At no other time in my life have i felt so completely helpless and lost. Beyond the help of sweating it out or repetition or comradeship.
After a week of agony she began to show signs of improvement, although previous to her illness she was crawling and pulling herself up onto her feet and that would have to all be re-learned, she showed no sign of immediate side-effects or lasting damage. It would be a full 18 months and many tests later that she was given the all clear but after 9 days from commencement of her illness she was discharged from hospital and we took her home.
She is now 17 years old and beautiful, a real fighter.
has anyone else found karate helped them through hard times, or found times when it simply didn't ?

[kensei]

first off James, I am glad your daughter was okay. I trained through My brother passing away, and his entire battle with Cancer, my parents splitting up, my daughter being born with Cerebral Palsey and all the other stuff that I have lived with. My mind goes nuts when I dont train often enough.

It has beein a great coping mechanism.

[james luke]

I raised the post because it seems to be common among Karate-ka and I can think of few other activities where people attribute such benefits. Anyone else?

[Danielsan]

I'm not sure if this is exactly what you mean but I thought I'd offer it. Without giving too much away, I have certain problems, mostly anxiety. I don't drink or cut or any of that kind of thing, but some days or nights I get overwhelmed and feel like doing stupid things.

So I do kata. I only know a couple, but I find working through them, especially with speed and power and proper visualisation, I work up a sweat very quickly, and after running through the kata I know a few times each, I feel much more centred and relaxed, if not not perfectly at ease. I don't wish to be dramatic and say it's been a life saver, but it sure has helped me cope with myself when things would otherwise get out of hand.

I also wanna say I'm glad your daughter pulled through, James, I'm not a father myself but I can imagine few things worse than having to watch my child fight for her life. Does she also do karate now? (You can answer in a PM, I don't mean to take the thread off on a tangeant, just wondering.)

All the best, people

Dan

[james luke]

Dan thats exactly the kind of thing I was curious about as it seems to be a common experience amongst karate-ka. thanks for your concern about my daughter she is now a beautiful woman in her own right aged 17 and has never shown any interest in martial arts but is dedicated dancer. I am sorry for your personal problems but if Kata practice stops the darkness crowding in, it can only be a positive thing. Keep training buddy!

[Lyndon_Davies]

Thankfully I've never had to face the challenge that James had to, but I'm grateful that training's always been there.

From early days where I believed for a short time that I was to become a parent long before I felt ready (c'mon, I'm probably not the only one and thankfully, the alarm was false)
To watching my father die slowly of cancer and my mother in later years of pneumonia, and to a much lesser extent, the pressures of work, life and actually being a parent (in a time of MY choosing) it's been a sanity saver to put the white pyjamas on, stand in line and follow commands. Being able to hand the reins to someone else and think only of surviving the next attack, making the next press-up, finishing the kata was enough of a safety valve to allow me to cope.

So if I've got nothing else out of this game (I did meet my wife through training, but that's stress of a different kind ) I believe I have my sanity (such as it is!)

[james luke]

Well most people outside of the martial arts think we are all crazy anyway and I honestly find it hard to argue with them! for most of us who have never courted tournament success or dont teach for a living, there would appear, from the outside, to be little pay-off from what we do. It is difficult to articulate to someone not involved in ma just why the hell we do it. This post was an attempt to clarify one aspect. Does anyone have a defining reason why karate as an activity should be such an efficient vehicle for stress-busting as it seems to have from anecdotal evidence?

[bob63]

from what has been explained to me in a job obsessed with stress management is that stress causes the body to release adrenaline.
the problem you then have is that this causes the body to gear up for fight or flight which is tricky when speaking to the boss, you then have unreleased energy which stores in the arteries plus the mental problems of unreleased frustration.
karate gives you a physical outlet and is good CV workout repairing some of the damage to the arteries, plus you have channelled aggression and repetition which is good for mental health. You also get the endorphin rush which follows exercise.
it is also shown that friendship is the major factor in feeling good about yourself so in the socializing you also improve your self esteem and personal happiness.

[james luke]

I have rarely heard a more succinct summation, makes perfect sense to me.

[Lyndon_Davies]

While I think Bob has summed up the vast majority of the reasons there's another one that I felt was beneficial to me.

While I'm not naturally trusting, I found that in moments of great stress, taking the reigns out of my hands and giving them to someone else for a couple of hours was extremely beneficial. I didn't have to cope, I didn't have to make my family well, I didn't have to deal with job/life issues, I just had to do what the guy in front said. No thought, no questions.....
during the times I needed it, to be able to shed the weight and just live in the moment was just the breather I needed.

Nothing else I have ever done has allowed me that level of escape.

[Paul Bedard]

First let me say that I can`t compare to what the two James` went through with their daughters & I certainly hope that all is well! My mother died after a horrible bout with cancer, a three year battle. At the same time my middle daughter, became quite a challenge, to put it mildly. Add to this the fact that I had made a poor real estate investment, that almost put us in the poor house & I must admit that I let stress overwhelm me. I made some bad choices. Alcohol & certain illegal substance, were what I used as a crutch, for a few years. When I finally looked in the mirror & decided that I despised what I saw, it was time to do something about it. I should mention, that I barely trained for about 4 years. I went to a type of rehab, called harm reduction & I also tried A/A. Well I decided that 12 steps wasn`t really what I needed, after about a 2 year trial. I should also mention that just prior to rehab I started training seriously & even had a student while I was in there. He asked to try, so I worked with him, almost evruday for about three weeks for about 11/2 hours & he was close to 8th kyu level when we parted company. Anyway, just prior to all this I had started teaching again with my club, my senior student had taken over in my absence. To make this story shorter, as I have already poured my heart out in another post, I`ll say this: 12 steps weren`t for me. Add the dojo kun & the niju kun together & there are 25 steps. Karate has provided me with the direction that I now travel. Hitotsu Jinkaku Kansai Ni Tsutomoro Koto. One thing, Seek perfection of character. This might sound a bit corny but so far it`s working for me. Karate in so many forms, has been so healthy for my well being. Physically, mentally, socially & spiritually. For me it`s the best thing going. Also the support system is second to none.
As I have also said before; I started for self defense, I stay for self preservation.
I thank every martial artist who gives it a good effort, for being a part of my wellbeing
Osu
Paul B

[shotokan101]

Paul - I can empathise with a lot of what you say and "if it works for you the it works" - respect - when you get to that point it's a lot easier to just "step off the edge".

Jim

[Paul Bedard]

Aw, thanks Jim! And that folks, is a first class example of the support system that I mentioned.
Osu
Paul B

[Danielsan]

Slightly more light hearted answer, but I was in the waiting room at the dentist's earlier for a root canal. Most may know of the fearsome reputation they have for being quite painful. A touch psyched out, I was. So, being alone, did some age uke/gyaku zuki/gedan barai combos, which I've never been able to coordinate before, but managed quite well today somehow. Took my mind off things to come xD

(And didn't feel a thing during the 40 minutes I spent in that chair that followed, btw)

[Paul Bedard]

Perfect Danielsan!
Paul B