by Dr Rachael Hall
From the age of 9 to 17, I practised Judo twice a week, I learnt discipline, dedication, how to be able to do over 100 press ups, sit ups or squats, I learnt to channel my aggression (not deal with it), throw people, pin them down or stranglehold them until they either submitted or passed out. I loved it. The school bullies who used to pick on me for being small or too clever soon stopped hassling me when they found out I did martial arts. It gave me protection. It made me tough. I wielded it as a weapon and as my source of defence.
At 17 during a practice fight I simply paused for a moment to take a breath and in that moment I felt that this isn’t fun, it really hurts to be pushed around, kicked and thrown by another and it frightens me that I am doing this in return. Now that all happened in a split second and I didn’t really know at the time where the words or message came from. I continued with my ‘sport’ for a short period after this but each time the overwhelming feeling of “I can’t do this anymore” and the awareness of the pain I was pushing my body through became stronger until I had to eventually admit that Judo wasn’t for me anymore. My body was telling me to stop even though in my mind Judo made me fit and strong and protected. I wonder how long my body had been trying to say, ‘hey you’re hurting me’, before I actually listened and took notice. Continue reading “Shock! I Achieved a High Level of Fitness with Gentle Exercise!” →