Learning to Walk

When I was 18 we had a guy called Keith Haig come to give a lesson at our Tae Kwon-Do club. Before he even arrived you could tell the sort of regard he was held in by the hushed tones people used to describe him so I was expecting something special. What I didn't expect was how that was to manifest itself. The first thing you noticed about him was the huge knee supports he was wearing (his doctor had been, unsuccessfully, trying to convince him to give up for a number of years). Other than that he was a slight guy. Maybe 5'9 or 10. Then I saw him do a punch and my jaw just dropped. Just a basic punch. The thing you teach to guys the first time they walk into the dojang. The simplest technique you can possibly think of. Something I considered beneath my attention. Something which was easy. But the complete fluid grace with which he delivered this punch left me examining my own agricultural efforts with dismay. Not only did he transform the simplest of techniques into a thing of liquid beauty but the whole room reverberated with it. That single moment made me re-examine the way I trained and my whole attitude to it.

Which leads me to my point. Last night I went for a walk with 5kg ankle weights on. One of the things that I noticed straight away was that my normal walking gait was not the most efficient way of doing things. Staying lower and moving the legs less expended less energy and moved me about as fast. So, now I'm thinking about how to move more economically. To apply the lesson I learned 19 years ago from a slight chap to the everyday task of walking. That walking around in boots and crampons requires can be treated in the same way as that basic punch all those years ago. That I can be better and I shouldn't assume where I can improve.