Is Karate My Calling?

Yesterday, during Brendon's karate class, a mom who I talk to regularly when we both attend at the same time with our boys, turned to me with big bright eyes and said

"So I hear you're joining karate!!!"

"Who told you that?"

"So when are you going to join?"

"Seriously, who told you that?"

"Mr. M (the intructor) told me. He said that L and Brendon's Mom are joining. When he told me, I said AWESOME!! I'm the only girl in the class, so it would be great if both of you joined too."

"How often do you come to class?"

"Every night."

So there you have it. Brendon's karate instructor is starting a campaign to get me to join up. The sneak told this particular mom because he knows I talk to her during the entire session each time we bring our boys in to class, and since she comes in every night for herself, he must've known she'd work on me to join.

I just don't know if I have it in me. I think I have undiganosed dyslexia. In college, I had a gym elective and back then, golf was the sport of choice. I signed up too late...the spots were taken up. Karate was the only other sport that interested me.

The instructor was a wisp of a man. He was probably 5'8", maybe 145 lbs, and wiry. He was also extremely strict considering we'd never make it past white belt since this class only lasted one semester.

He treated the college gymnasium as though it were an authentic dojo. And he'd threaten us knowing that we college students would cut corners whenever we could.

He'd warn us that even if he wasn't in the dojo when we entered, we better sure as hell bow to each wall. He said, "You never know when I could be crawling around the rafters up above, like a ninja ready to pounce if I catch you not following dojo etiquette."

And so we were petrified, and bowed everytime we entered the gym...I mean dojo.

He'd make us do grueling workouts. I had abs of steel. I had to have them for sheer survival because there were big ass football players in the class, and one of the ab exercises required each of us to step on the stomach of all the students as though we were stepping on stones trying to cross a babbling brook.

The friggin sadistic football players took great delight in each "oomf!!" and "uuuugh" they could force out of our mouths when they would literally stomp on us. I would see them coming and brace myself for the inevitable pounding of my internal organs.

I loved the workouts for the toning, but the karate moves were a different story.

The instructor would demonstrate some twisting-turning-punch-kick move and would have each of us repeat it individually. It came to be my turn and I attempted the move.

He was laughing hysterically as he said:

"Shannon, I don't know what you just did, but that was the funniest thing I ever saw."

I was completely humiliated, but being that I can laugh at myself, I laughed too, as did everyone else in the class.

Maybe I'll join afterall and prove to myself that I can get past that moment.