The First Cut is the Deepest : Learning my lessons

On Christmas Day I trained at my dojo. Corina and I don’t have kids and we aren’t religious so we treat this day like any other and on Saturdays I practice the art of Iaido or drawing the Japanese sword. At the dojo it was just Sensei and I, during practice I did a technique incorrectly and too fast, the result was bad but not as catastrophic as it could have been. I ended up with a 2inch long, deep cut on my left palm, blood and 7 stitches ensued.  

Looking back a little over a week later I know I need to learn some lessons. This is what I have learned from my painful experience:

1. Corina does not like the sight of blood... a good way to turn one casualty into two was to get Corina to come in to help with the first -aid.
2. My Sensei is excellent in an emergency, a good person to have around. 
3. I would consider preferentially recruiting an employee with a military background because of their training and situational awareness. Both Sensei and the nurse in the ER had served and their training showed, impressive and humbling.
4. We must all have a properly stocked first-aid kit available and know how to use it. I am embarrassed to admit that although I have the training I neglected to assemble a good first-aid kit once we arrived Stateside. Now remedied.
5. I am in love with Iaido the experience has set my training back a little but my enthusiasm has not been diminished.
6. I know I want to know a bit more about homeopathy, I have been using some homeopathy to help the wound heal and I know I need to contact a homeopath that I can refer clients to.
7. When drawing by sword I need to pull the saya (scabbard) off the sword rather than pulling the sword out. It doesn’t matter how many times I have been told, I obviously needed to learn the hard way!
8. Having the injury, and the Holiday period, that meant that I have spent more time with Corina and I have been able to spend more time doing things I enjoy, like photography. I am more chilled out than I have been in months. Some may say that this was the Universe’s way of getting me to take some time out, I am not sure about that but the result is the same.

In the studio we often see people who need to learn a hard lesson before they take the action that we recommend. Whether it is poor technique that eventually leads to injury, bad biomechanics on a bike that leads to an accident or poor diet that leads to a heart condition, sometimes we need a wake-up call before we make changes.

My cut could have been deeper, and I acknowledge that I may not have been so philosophical if it had been. At this time of ‘New Years Resolutions’ take the courage to make the changes you need before you learn a lesson the painful way!

Alan

Alan’s Top 10 Tips for Enjoying the Holiday Season

1. Enjoy your Holiday party season but remember that once the party has finished the diet and exercise regime must restart. The Holiday Season is long, you just keep exercising between Thanksgiving and New Year!

2. Don’t get involved with New Years resolutions. Make lifestyle changes when you are ready for them rather than just because it is the turn of the year.

3. When you go out drinking, and no I’m not condoning it, try alternating between soft and alcoholic drinks. This will hopefully reduce the amount that you drink and will increase your hydration level.

4. Do not under any circumstance go for the ‘diet’ option. Most of these sugar free or diet foods and drinks will contain aspartame or similar and should be considered poison. Yes that means that if you are going to have a cola mixer in your drink you are better to go for the full sugar option rather than the diet option.

5. To reduce the chances of the kids going hyper supply them with some healthy snacks such as carrots and fruit rather than chocolate. Your aim is to stabilise your kids blood sugar levels, introduce them to healthy food and it also means the times when they do have chocolate they will appreciate it more.

6. Treat your food like we treat exercise, it is quality not quantity that counts. If you are going to have food or drink that you know is naughty then buy high quality, high cost naughty food. This will mean that you will appreciate the food and drink more, you will savour the flavours more and the chances are that you will consume less.

7. If you are going out for your celebration meal and you know that you are a protein type, have a high protein snack before you go out. If you have a Thanksgiving or Christmas meal the chances are that it will be high in carbohydrate rather then high protein so have a suitable snack first. Also remember that you must include your desert in your carb/protein balance, so if you are going to have a desert you may not want to eat your veggies with your turkey!

8. Chew your food, it sounds basic but trust me this makes a big difference. By chewing your food until it is liquid you will take much longer to eat and this will much improve your digestion. Increasing the time it takes to eat will allow your stomach to actually register that you have eaten, this reduces the chances of overeating.

9. Remember that we are open throughout the holiday period so if you fancy a training session on Christmas day or hurt your back while playing with the kids give us a call.

10. Finally, reduce your stress levels by buying your loved ones a voucher for massage or personal training from The Wolf Studio (come on you didn’t think I’d miss an opportunity to plug the business!).

Alan