Zseni wrote:


Don't worry about weight. There are a lot of benefits to being the little fast guy, one of them being that you will usually make a fool out of the tanks in the class (there, are you happy now PP?) Self-improvement doesn't mean you should force your body to squeeze into some kind of guesswork ideal; if you're built a certain way, then be the best in that way that you can be. It's highly gay, but its fagginess has already been outlined, and it would be still gayer to act like sko teenaged girl about looking a certain way.

I don't know too much about what kind of person you are, but there's a tendency in martial arts - and in everything which has an aura of coolness and a low entry bar - to really throw yourself into things at first, and then...sort of peter...out. Don't be that guy. It's more important to have 20 minutes a day that you can practice come hell or high water than it is to try heaving yourself into everything at once. This is true of almost every worthwhile endeavor, be it martial arts, or foreign languages, or learning an instrument, or becoming a marathon runner. Work with what you have and don't impose a system on yourself - like imposing Communism on China, there will in the end be very little question about where and how you started.

When you practice, don't fuck around with it. I have a shitload of really bad habits because when I started out I was able to get by on an initial physical superiority in strength and flexibility, and I begin to suspect I had a teacher who wasn't really paying attention to how bad my form was getting. If you've ever learned an instrument you might be familiar with the kind of thing I'm talking about - you start playing by ear when you're supposed to be learning how to read music, or you'll position your fingers in a way which is more comfortable at the beginning but later you don't have the power or clarity in finger motion that you should. Emulate good models when you're practicing. Don't say "I'm going to practice for twenty minutes" or "I'm going to practice throw X", say "I'm going to practice throw X until I have improved at it" and know what you mean by "improved."

I'd really rather you looked at this judo class as mental training rather than physical, and I think you might find it ultimately more rewarding that way. Good luck and keep us posted, you total fagrogator.