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[chemgeek]

Hello!

 

I'm a 29 YO nerd. Current 2nd dan martial artist in two styles (karate and kobudo if you're interested) and I dabble in a third (jiujitsu). Here cuz a coworker is here and recommended it to me. 

 

Long story ahead: I'm an impatient sort, and have been since day 1 when I came 10 weeks early.  Anyway, because I was so impatient, I was born with a few health challenges that made it hard for me to keep up in gym class as a kid (asthma, dyspraxia, and hypermobility in a few of my joints). The asthma got better (mostly - it's still there but I can do things like walk more than 100m and climb stairs and run now), the dyspraxia I can manage if I'm paying attention to what I'm doing (really it just means it takes me a lot longer to get the hang of new movements than most people, I don't know where my body is in space unless I'm thinking about it at that moment, and I'm clumsy), and the hypermobility is like the dyspraxia only maybe a bit more dangerous because if I get distracted for dyxpraxia, I end up doing something comically clumsy and embarrassing myself (dropping a sai on my big toe comes to mind - 0/10 would not recommend). Hypermobility usually involves sprains or dislocations if I get distracted. Ever meet the klutz in school who could literally trip over their own two feet? That was me as a kid. The clumsy is strong in this one.

As such, I didn't really learn to enjoy activity - for me, it was usually a source of frustration and/or embarrassment as I tried and failed to keep up and got bullied  - either due to my jerk lungs, or my lack of coordination, or maybe my ankle decided it'd be fun to sprain that day. (The exception to this was lifting, which I was actually pretty good at, and shooting, which I went to nationals for - so maybe I was a teenage ranger before the sedentary got strong in me after I fracture-dislocated an ankle and then sprained a knee in the same year - I have way too many injuries in my history).

In my first year of uni, my mother (who wasn't that old) got diagnosed with a heart condition, high blood pressure, and diabetes. The same year, a cousin of mine who was only in her mid-20s developed diabetes as well. At that point, it was a wake-up call for me: I knew given my genetics I'd probably get diabetes eventually (everyone over 65 in the extended family has it, and evidence is increasingly mounting that you can't beat genetics on T2 diabetes) but I also knew that if I already had the diet and was regularly exercising I'd be better off, and maybe I might be able to delay onset. So I started training. I also used to get beat up a lot as a kid in school, so I chose monk training, figuring I'd get two birds with one stone. That was 11 years ago. I'm now a 2nd degree black belt in two styles. And, yeah, I still occasionally drop my sai on my toes. Or my kama. Or hit myself in the face with my nunchaku. Basically, if I get distracted, I get hurt. It's a thing.

As much as I love the monk training (and I do - it is my first and greatest passion in PT). I've now got a job that involves a lot of travel and semi-random overtime, which kind of makes monk training difficult to keep up regularly - I need to train at my club, with people, for my style. So I'm thinking of cross-classing, maybe to assassin, scout, or ranger. Likely assassin or ranger - assassin because climbing big things is fun and ranger because I like having muscles and I want to be stronger than I am (I've got a serious upper body-lower body imbalance going - I can do 300 squats at a time, but don't ask me to do a pull up. Actually do ask me, cuz I need to learn).

A couple weird talents of mine: Hypermobility means I can bend my hands, ankles and feet in ways that gross out most people (I can turn my foot around backwards and also stand on the top of my feet by turning my feet over sideways the same way most ppl can stand on the blades of their feet, as two examples), and also I never get motion-sick. Ever. I can shoulder roll across the dojo floor for 30-40 minutes straight and not feel a twinge of nausea (though I will be too dizzy to stand after about 15 minutes). I have had people ask me how I do it and as far as I can tell, the answer is just genetics: My father and sister are also apparently immune, as are about half the people on my father's side of the family, so maybe we've got some autosomal dominant superpower or something.

[HappyDragon]

I must admit I had to look up what dyspraxia is. Good to be reminded how we are all dealt different cards in life. Thanks for sharing, and good luck with your training!

[chemgeek]

Dyspraxia is like dyslexia only for physical coordination and proprioception (ie, knowing where you are in space) instead of reading/writing. Mine is relatively mild and mainly affects my fine-motor skills (though I was still 9 before I could ride a bike, 12 before I could throw in anything close to the direction I wanted a thing to go in, 17ish before I could run reliably without tripping over my own feet, and in my 20s before I could catch something tossed in my general direction). I still mix up left and right on a fairly regular basis.

 

Certain things, I can do but it takes me longer to learn (running, jumping, catching etc). Other things, I've made peace with the fact that I'll never be able to do them well (neat handwriting, sewing and other handcrafts, the Soul Caliber series of video games, most first-person shooters, etc). I like martial arts because it's a thing that is all about being focused on your body in the here-and-now - which actually makes it easier for me to do it safely even if it takes me longer to learn new moves. Weirdly, I can learn new kata pretty easily... if it's using movements I already know. Lacking that, I'll be struggling with it for weeks and weeks and others will be like "WTF? You normally get it faster than this." 

[Guzzi]

 

On 12/03/2017 at 0:54 PM, chemgeek said:

I can do 300 squats at a time

 

Three hundr... Get out!  That's insane!  

 

[chemgeek]

23 hours ago, Guzzi said:

 

 

Three hundr... Get out!  That's insane!  

 

To be fair: I train squats a lot. I like them. They're my thing. 

There's a reason my thighs measure almost as much around as my waist. I have muscles. 

[Guzzi]