This is the start of a series of posts entitled “Midlife Karate.” It is aimed at those of us who are on the older side of 30 and will talk about ways we can do karate to keep us improving, safe and hopefully injury free. This week I thought it would be good to give you my karate background.

14 years ago, this coming March I decided that I wanted something for me and my son to do as a bit of father son bonding and to get me fit again; and to lose weight. As you’ll see 2 out of 3 ain't bad. My work colleague Matt and his wife ran a local karate class in Leicester and after having done a bit of karate at university I thought this would be ideal for Isaac and me.

So, we turned up, as all new students do, wearing t-shirts and loose pants and enthusiastic if nervous smiles. We were greeted by my friend, and he introduced us to his wife Abi sensei. I did not know what to expect really and after the bow in and warm up we were into line work. It was hard, not Timperley hard, but as a beginner I was stiff armed and legged and stepped like I had scaffolding  bars tied to me legs preventing my knees from bending. Glancing over at Isaac, he was enjoying it. Good.

Eventually we reached the end of the class, and I was wet with sweat, tired and the nervous grin had turned into a beaming smile excited for the next class. Isaac, like most kids of his age after training, looked tired, but not a drop of sweat to be seen. We were hooked and so began our karate journey in Wado Ryo. I can still do some of the katas today.

We graded quite a few times in that club but took a couple of breaks. The first to go and live in Hong Kong for a time and the second was because Isaac had grown tired of karate and wanted to do indoor climbing instead. As the main aim of the activity was to father son bonding, and because at the time money was tight, we moved over to that. For those of you that know Isaac now “growing tired of karate” is not in his vocabulary now as he joined RTK a few months after me as we’ll see later. He is now the captain of the Bangor university karate club!

Roll forward a few years, and a move to Warrington I got chatting to my friend Jon (now Jon sensei) about karate and decided to give it a go. I joined the Stockton Heath class with Brandon sensei and Steve sensei re-started my karate training re-grading to green belt a few months later.

After coming home with my new belt, Isaac, now 15, decided he wanted to give it a go again and he was back! He re-graded to red belt after a few months.

After a year of being part of the club, I put myself forward for the trainee assistant instructor program along with Jon. I have always enjoyed teaching and get such a kick out seeing students pass their gradings. Karate has never come easy to me. I’m a better coach than an athlete. The monthly trips over to Bolton for the combined class introduced me to more of the senseis in the club. The tough workouts there always had my adrenaline fuelled brain wanting more, with the rest of my body threatening strike action if we did. Still my fitness was improving.

From there things went through the normal cycle of training, grading, training harder. Then, as we all know Covid hit. No longer were we allowed to train together, instead we were relegated to our own kitchens, dining rooms... whichever room could be made into makeshift Dojos. Like for many of you our space was limited and Isaac, now 18, was a big lad. Training took a new turn, which meant that independent learning became more important. It meant that Isaac and I were forever practising in whatever room we might be in. So often I would walk into the kitchen to find Isaac doing kata or combos.

What a relief it was to get back to the physical Dojo, and for me and Isaac who were looking at our upcoming Dan grading we started to go to Dave sensei and Debbie sensei Tuesday class to add variety to our training week. I had joined a few of their classes online and Dave had been a sensei at Stockton Heath for a time.

It is now October 2021: Isaac and I are attempting to grade to 1st dan. We had failed our kumite the month before and had put a lot of effort into getting it right this time. After a horrendous 3-hour journey, don’t ask, our nerves were shredded. We stood up and waited for our turn to spar. Last month it had only been with other candidates, but Paul sensei had taken it up a notch. We had 2 nidan kumite squad members to fight. Isaac and I looked at each other. We had this. Isaac went first and put in an impressive performance. I was next. Putting behind me all thoughts of failure all that stood between me, and black belt was the next few minutes. It was challenging, yet fun. I got a bit battered witch one comment that came out afterward being “he blocked a punch with his head before going straight back with a giak”. However, it was a success. We had done it! The father and son that 13.5 years before had started together, had now completed the first major step, and graded to first dan together. As many of you know, your first belt is not the end of the journey, but merely the start of another.

Karate, or any coordinated physical activity, has never really been my forte. Don’t get me wrong I really enjoy it. Where coordination is not required, I have the stamina and fitness to keep going. I used to compete a regional level in cross-country running. My lack of coordination meant that I was often one of the last picked in team games which meant I didn’t enjoy them much. As a child, it does have an impact. What I have always had is the ability to keep trying and keep going. Sometimes to my detriment as I have pushed myself to almost the limit of passing out with effort in classes and courses. I do consider myself fit, but I am overweight, and this will not help me make things any easier.

Now, at 48, karate is not just difficult due to coordination, but due to age. Head kicks? I can just about do them given enough of a warm-up, but they are not in my normal moves of choice in kumite. This is the main reason I am starting this blog series. To share my love and experience of doing karate as an adult with you adults. What must we do technique wise to keep us injury free and what tricks do can we use to keep improving?

Over the next few weeks, interspaced with other posts, I’ll be bringing you the following:

Part 2: How to warm-up
Part 3: Stretching
Part 4: Kihon and Combinations
Part 5: Kata – How to be coordinated when you’re not.
Part 6: Kumite – Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.
Part 7: Fitness – There is nothing like being karate fit