Personal Philosophy of Bill Bauknecht!
I fall into the following categories: Disease, Permanently disabled and, hardest to accept, Age.
I have continued my training learning to cope with my problems and in spite of these walls, managed to reach and surpass many of the goals I had set for myself. I don’t think it really matters what it is that you are “battling”, be it a permanent situation or a temporary injury, there are ways that you can go on with your training, improve yourself and mainly NOT make things worse, NOT hurting yourself while using your time to improve your ability and at the same time broaden your knowledge and come to understand each move in the process.
I would like to pass on a few things that I have found very helpful and has let me do my “thing” to the best of my ability. I stress very much, “doing the best you are capable of doing.” Accept the fact that you have limits and make yourself stay within those limits. Do not do anything that hurts. In other words, if you have a broken leg, YOU DON’T KICK WITH THAT LEG! Just use common sense. If you have been training for a long time, the hardest thing to do is backing off on the power.
Go through your kata very slowly, study each move, understand each move, complete your blocks, deliver your strikes to the proper area, be aware of where you are in sanchin, staying down, in other words, “taking Sanchin” with you throughout your entire kata. Finish every move and flow into the next move; be sure you get your head around, bringing your hands with you.