My black test is officially complete and I passed the gauntlet without permanent damage. In my time as a martial artist, I have certainly suffered worse physical punishment, but rarely have I ever found my will power as taxed.
Testing began Friday the 29th at 11 pm. I started alongside 2 other students, both older than 50, who were attempting a modified shorter version of the test that ended around 10 am. I paid $500, stretched, and silently waited for the test to begin. I was unlucky enough to be considered a young man, and therefore would endure the full 12 hours with full contact sparring at the end. My 2 compatriots would start an hour late and leave an hour early.
From 11 pm to 12 pm, I was tasked with falling to the ground, standing up, then striking a shield 10 times. Rest was not allowed. The falling alone resulted in minor bruising that accumulated as the hour wore on. The older students were exempt from this requirement to protect their joints for later. From 12 pm to 2 am, I performed gun disarms blindfolded. By this point my hands were already shaking involuntarily. From 2-4 am I struck the pads with nonstop back kicks, then roundhouse kicks, then knees, as my strength declined. Eventually, my strikes declined to slow pushes as muscular and mental fatigue set in. From 4-5 am I demonstrated counter techniques against a number of assaults including knife attacks, baseball bat attacks, gun attacks, bear hugs, ground grappling, tackles, strikes, and kicks. Mostly, I was successful. Occasionally, I would screw up by failing to be attentive or getting cocky which would invariably get me kicked or struck. This was also the point where I gained my second wind and found myself enthusiastic and even euphoric to demonstrate the techniques. This turned out to be a temporary hit of endorphins. From 5-6 am, I struck pads using any technique, usually straight strikes, hooks, and knees as a matter of necessity, given my mounting exhaustion. From 6-8 am, I returned to falling down, standing up, and striking a pad 10 times which compounded my earlier bruising. From 8-9 am, I slowly completed 500 burpees under direct observation of a counter. From 9-10:50 I was enrolled in a gauntlet that consisted of striking a pad 10 times, falling to the ground, and rolling to the opposite end of the mat, then standing and sprinting back while dizzy to repeat the procedure. This was simplified to merely striking and running by 10 am to keep my movements quick. Of all tasks, this was the hardest to tolerate. The rolling in conjunction with the bruises sustained by hours of falling and standing resulted in a feeling of full body pain combined with the same kind of dizziness one would feel after getting knocked out. I endured this agony for an hour, fighting, falling, rolling, feeling knocked out, slowly standing, and shuffling back to repeat the procedure. At this point, I nearly quit the test, but persisted through sheer frustration at the thought of enduring 11 hours of such trials and failing to finish in the last hour.
Finally, the class was organized to spar with me from 10:50-11 am. This was to be done without gloves or headgear with Kyokushin Karate rules (hits above groin and below neck only). 10 students volunteered, most of whom had slept the whole night before with the notable exception of 1 student who stayed for the entire 12 hours to show moral support. The owner of the club was the opponent for the first and last rounds, and he ensured that I was very well bruised by the end of the ordeal. In particular, I sustained a nasty bruise across the upper arm and very sore ribs. I concluded the test by thanking all students who attended as well as the owner of the club, and making arrangements to purchase a custom knife from the instructor to memorialize the occasion.
Takeaways: This test was prepared for and completed using a supplemented 99% plant based, whole foods diet. The 1% of the diet that was not plant based or whole foods was cheddar cheese dust used as a seasoning, and plant oil. This effectively refutes the notion that animal products need to be a large portion of the diet, and I imagine I could have completely excluded that 1% of food and still completed the test just as well. During the test, I used mushroom powder, prune juice, and sea salt as a sports drink as well as apples and beetroot for energy. Toward the end, I did chug a Gatorade offered by the student who stayed through the duration of the test and I found it much more helpful than the slower digesting sugars.
I learned my own attitude toward conflict. One reason I was not badly injured during the sparring was my attitude of respect prior to and during the sparring. The student who had attempted this test prior to me years before had challenged the instructor, resulting in a much worse outcome. He ended up with fractured ribs and a chipped tooth from a kick to the face. I learned that I don't relish a fight. I relish skillfully avoiding a fight, or finishing the fight quickly to limit damage to myself and others. I prefer the victory that costs least whenever possible, though I've also learned I will confidently accept a more costly victory when its the only possible course.
The worst exercises seemed to be almost entirely composed of level changes: burpees, backward falls, forward falls, and rolls. These exercises work every muscle in every plane of motion and may stand alone for physical conditioning. My arms, legs, and torso, despite being bruised and sore, are superbly well muscled. I was also impressed to the degree that the abdominals were used for rolling on the back, as well as the degree that the upper body was fatigued by using the arms to support the weight of the body when standing. I suspect that this movement supplemented with bear crawls and combined with martial arts specific drills may stand alone for maintenance and base building of sports specific strength.
No comments:
Post a Comment