A Pain in the Neck

That's it, RIGHT THERE

While training at the Kyokushin dojo, I strained my neck at some point during the class, but not badly enough to stop.

I kept on the with the class and felt OK, but the next day, MY NECK! I could barely move it.

It was so bad that on the second day after I sustained the injury, I had to work from home because it was just too painful to move about.

I'm really starting to wonder if I can get fit through martial arts if I can't even move after a class.

They call me Bruise

What a whopper - my first karate bruise

My ankle looks worse than it feels.

I didn't even realize it was bruised until the next day and I had no idea how it happened. I think my ankle was kicked while sparring.

This bruise however I'll never forget:

I went to kick someone's thigh, and was checked by his shin. CRACK!

The lump on my shin was there for nearly a month.

It doesn't look bad in the photo, but it prompted me to invest in some shin pads for future sparring.

Kyokushin Karate prides itself on being a pad-free full contact style, but these early bruises make me question how long I'll last.

I'm committed to staying at the dojo for at least a year to improve my fitness, but I'll augment my primary goal: get fit WHILE AVOIDING HOSPITALIZATION.

Slowly losing weight

Getting in tune with my love-handles

Before I started my fitness program for this year, I stood on the scales and it read 105.8 kilograms.

Now I know I've seen it higher than that. In fact, last year, I remember it saying exactly 106.3, which is the same FM band as a popular radio station here in Canberra.

But I after I started my martial arts, it didn't take long for me to reach another popular radio station, 104.7.

Then it was ABC Classic FM at 102.3.

I lingered around JJJ for ages, 101.5, but I got real sick of that and right now I'm swiftly tuning down to QBN FM at 98.9.

I'm not quite there, but nearly. That means, as of this writing, I've lost about 6 kilograms.

I joke with friends that my aim is to reach my favorite radio station, a community station that plays lots of jazz, Artsound FM 92.7.

That would be fantastic.

When I grabbed their banner (above) I discovered to my distress that they also broadcast at a slightly lower frequency too.

I'll save that goal for another time.

Dojo Mojo

My son wants to be a nunchaku whiz, just like Bruce Lee (doesn't everybody?)

I can report back that my son and I attended two free introductory lessons, and we were both happy to continue, so we joined our nearest Kyokushin Karate Dojo.

I suspect my temperament would better suit softer-styles of martial arts (such as tai chi!), but given that my son is determined to go to this particular dojo, there was little point in us going to separate places.

The primary reason my son was keen to join was, apart from his friend being there, the instructor teaches weapons, like the nunchaku and the bo. The instructor knows that kids love the weapons and it's mostly kids who attend the weapons class!

I am concerned about the long term effects of a full-contact karate-style like Kyokushin, because I'm not there to learn to fight, but to get fit, but I'm willing to overcome my fears and do something together with my son.

The martial arts adventure begins!

Why didn't you tell me I looked like a washing machine?

Here I am, impersonating white goods

As someone who spends much of his waking life typing words into a computer, I recently had the uncomfortable truth of my physical appearance displayed before me on screen. My son and I were filming a Christmas comedy sketch and it came time for the edits.

I couldn't believe my corpulent appearance.

Did I really look like that?

I knew for a long time that I was a 'little' overweight, about 20 kgs (44 lbs) overweight.

For my height, I should be around 85 kgs (187 lbs), but I've weighed around 105 kgs (231 lbs) for at least a few years.

But I didn't think I looked THAT bad.

It's amazing what you don't see when you merely glance down, quickly...

Around the same time of our filming just before Christmas, my son said he wanted to join a nearby Karate club because his friend was there and it sounded like fun.

I've never learned a martial art, but I thought to myself, well, why not?

I researched what styles of martial arts are available, and soon realized there's a long history of arguing between practioners about which style is best.

Regardless, the choice comes down to what your goals are. For me it's fun, fitness and self-defence, in that order.

During my research, I enrolled in an online martial arts competition to see how my physical condition will improve over the course of 2008 as I learn to put into practice the online lessons.

I hope to post more details about my progress.

As of this writing, my son and I will be visiting his friend's Karate dojo tomorrow to see if it's appropriate for him to join, and even me for that matter.

One of the difficulties of learning martial arts online is that no one hits back, so I definitely feel the need to sweat it out with some training buddies.