A few years ago I was unfit, unhealthy and extremely overweight, weighing in at 130kg. It had happened so slowly that I never realised how bad it was until I couldn’t buy a pair of pants from a plus size clothes shop. I realised that I needed to change, but wasn’t sure where to start. I began to eat more healthily, but couldn’t stick to any kind of exercise. I would go to the gym and put in 50% effort because I didn’t want to be there. I couldn’t play basketball anymore because of the damage that I have done to my knees. Dave, my partner, tried to convince me to come to Zen Do Kai with him, but I always believed that martial arts wasn’t for me. I didn’t like to try anything new.
At the end of 2011 I bought myself a treadmill to run on because I didn’t like running in public. I had tried a couple of times and neither experience was positive. I ran regularly and was slowly getting better. Mid-January 2012 I posted some progress on Facebook and Kyl contacted me about coming to the Chikara fitness classes. I came up with any excuse I could think of not to go until I realise that I had nothing stopping me but myself. So I went to a Saturday CFS session. I got to the shed for the 6am session, surprising myself as much as Kyl. The exercises were hard and I couldn’t run very far, but I tried.
Despite the fact that I could barely sit, stand or walk for days after my first training experience, I went back the next week. I was hooked. I stopped doing anything that finished late on a Friday night, just to make sure I could get to Saturday’s CFS. I got fitter, stronger and faster. In the beginning I did not lose a lot of weight, but I toned and I noticed a huge difference in my clothes. The more I went the more I loved it.
Then in Easter 2012 I decided to try my hand at Zen Do Kai. I don’t think that I have ever felt so uncoordinated and gumbyish at something and yet still love it enough to go back again and again. I wanted to kick myself for not going along with Dave when he asked me to years before.
Since the beginning of 2012 my life has taken a new direction. I still have a long way to go, but I am fitter, healthier and happier than I have been for a long time. I have a place to train where not only do I want to go, but I feel safe and supported enough to try out new things and not worry if I look foolish. Training at Chikara Martial Arts has taught me that I have the ability to achieve anything I set my mind to. It has taught me to have confidence in myself and that no matter how many times you think you have failed at something, never give up because eventually you will surprise yourself by doing what you set out to do and more.
