Karate

I'm taking a karate class. Had my third class tonight. I'm doing it in an effort to get in shape; swimming lasted for a few weeks but didn't stick, so a friend suggested this. Hey, I lived in Japan for a year. I know the culture, why not?

There are about 10 people in this beginner's class--me, almost 38 with as much flexibility as a ruler, a man about my age or younger who used to be a black belt but hasn't done it in a long time, a couple of 12 year old boys, a 9 year old girl, and the rest are boys ranging in age from 4 to about 7.

I take my karate very seriously, sometimes too seriously, as I often have an assistant telling me to relax and breathe. I can do it as long as the sensei is standing with his back to me so I can copy his movements. As soon as he faces us and asks us switch our movements using our opposite hands, I'm lost. He looks at me and says, "Other hand, other hand." I flail my arms like I'm shooing away an invisible fly.

The only problem with this class is that there's no time for questions or processing. I feel like we're just supposed to do the moves, and just when I've got one down and want to practice it the right way, we go onto another move. Blocking is the worst. Somebody's gonna get me because I won't be able to block them. "Excuse me, Mr. mugger, could you try to snatch my purse from the other side? I'll just get into my stance and block you from the left instead of the right."

Today we added kicking to the side, and I burst out laughing because it seemed ridiculous that sensei was expecting us to do that move. Not only can't I kick to the side, I can't even lift my leg higher than a foot off the floor. The kids and I persevered. It was great when an assistant came over with his hand positioned so I could kick it, and I actually did.

I really felt at home at the end of class in the dressing room, where I helped Daniel, 51/2, take off his uniform and get dressed back in his regular clothes. As a preschool teacher, helping small kids get dressed is something I excel in.

I would like to take private karate lessons so I could punch and kick someone effectively and then process with them afterwards, perhaps over a cup of green tea. Maybe that's the intermediate class. In the meantime, I say, "ganbarimasu"--I will try my best.