Hello again all! Monday I observed my first class feeling nervous and intimated( for no reasons but my own). My first impressions of the Dojo were not flashy, great space, lots of history on the walls. Overall positive feeling walking in. Thinking I may stay under the radar and would watch, grab some info and leave did not happen. A smiling older gentleman sits next to me and asks if this was my first time and what I thought. This of course is Shihan Roseberry who began the school some 40+ years ago. He was nice and did not pry for information but reminded me to ask anything I wanted and he would be happy to help. Once the Karate class was done the instructor also walked over sat down and proceeded to introduce himself and ask what I was looking for. I felt welcome and by the time I left any anxiety was gone. This of course led me to grab my wallet and pay my dues for the first month. I went back to next day to Judo. I came out learning how to roll when I could not even do a somersault( i kicked the back of the instructors leg by accident, luckily he laughed) and after a little coaching from the Sempai I was rolling across the mat. I made it through 45 minutes before my stomach decided to empty( in the bathroom not the mat) and I sat and watched intently for the remainder. I am taking a day of rest and will be back tomorrow....I can't wait. Thanks again Hannibal/fish of doom( and a very helpful MAP comunity). JJ
In all my enthusiasm I told myself it would be both. After one Judo class my body reminded me I might need to set a different pace. So I have committed to the Judo class. I allow days in between to rest and heal. My next step is to add in the Goju Ryu classes as well. This will give me four days at the dojo and three to heal/ be with the family. I am going from very limited work out/ physical activity (outside of standing at work) to these classes and found out I was worse off then I thought. Does this seem like I a being too careful? Does this plan make sense?
As you can probably imagine, if you are new to all this leaping about and not at especially peak fitness, then it will take you some time to recover from doing that kind of thing (it will probably a couple of months or so before you get completely used to doing it without taking days to stop aching). But as you get in better shape, you will be able to train more frequently without feeling like you are overdoing it. So for the present, sticking to maybe once or possibly twice a week, taking it slowly and tempering your enthusiasm for something new with some common sense, is an eminently sensible way to go about things. In any case, glad you have found that you are enjoying yourself after having ''jumped in the water'' so to speak. Al
Seems like you're making sensible choices! I recommend learning the power of a good hot bath post-training and thinking about buying a foam roller to do some self-massage: http://www.t-nation.com/free_online...g_performance_repair/feel_better_for_10_bucks
