Karate Camp : Part 3

Second Day :

But this time I could not wake up in time. I was 7 minutes late to report and I had to do 50 jumping squats, which took away almost a quarter of the energy that I stored during the hour long rest.

However, there was another tough job for me ahead. It is a fact that I’m not used to sit in a “babu” like posture at home. I rather choose to sit in a different manner, half-spreading both of my legs in a particular side.

It was now time for another session of meditation which was as long as 30 minutes. Meditation does not mean relaxing by closing your eyes. You have to ward off all the thoughts constantly which come to take nest in your mind. Though it sounds simple, it is not that easy. Moreover, you’ll have to follow a particular rhythm of breathing in and out. In all the previous sessions of meditation our postures were like “Bajrasana” which I’m very used to and that was preceded by at least a short course of training, which had enhanced our focus and concentration. But this time we had to meditate right after getting up from sleep and the posture was that dreadful (for me) “Babu” posture. I did not feel comfortable at that and my joints started to ache after a short time and I could hardly meditate. This session was done on the roof of the youth-hostel, which was very rough. So it was very devastating and painful. After 30 minutes of endurance (each minute seemed like a millennium) when it was called off, I could hardly stand on my feet and walk. This was followed by different techniques of pranayam and methods of rescuing people suffering from illness and carrying particularly heavy-weight people.

Then we were told to get our shoes on within 2 minutes for Sand Training. It meant the greatest test for me and I confess that I did not manage to succeed in it fully. It was the toughest experience for me in the whole time of the camp.

We reported at about 7 am in the morning. Then we jogged for some time and went to a nearby sand-hillock. You know, a person has to strain his legs to climb a steep hillock. Moreover, here we weren’t allowed to touch the ground with our hands and as it was made of sand, it was difficult to find a firm grip of feet on the ground. After the juniors had completed their training, we the seniors were called. We had to run up and down the hillock 20 times continuously. It was also told that all the trainees other than the one who comes first will have to perform 50 jumping squats. I competed with pupils only one of whom was junior than me. I became completely out of breath after the event and naturally finished 3rd last. Then after performing the squats my legs became as unmovable as stone pillars moreover they were trembling like crazy.

Unable to stand anymore I sat down. As soon as I did, somebody gave a hard spank on my back. It was very hard indeed !! I can still feel the pain, which lasted for many hours. I jumped up and heard that we were not allowed to sit down and all the seniors now were to perform 200 mae-geris (front kicks). The kicks should have been in the face level but to my utter surprise I could lift them as high as the stomach level (I believed that it was impossible for me to lift it an inch!!). Then as soon as we finished we were ordered to perform 4 sets of rabbit-hops and duck-walk up and down the hillock. Both of them is what I dreaded most. They were very strenuous exercises to strengthen the thigh and the calf-muscle. I did 3 sets spending every bit of energy I had left in me. But then somebody(Amit Sempei, green belt and appearing for brown) lost balance and came rushing from above and hit straight on my upper lip. Both of us fell down all the way to the bottom of the hillock and I discovered that my mouth started to bleed badly. Immediately some medication was given to me but still I had to complete the set. Due to the break, my muscles were relaxed and then suddenly due to restraining I managed to pull the hamstring and discovered the meaning of ‘pain’ alright!!

But no mercy !! I had to jog all the way back to the hostel at about 9 am. I was as tired as a log and pulled myself to have breakfast. Which consisted of a boiled egg, rice and a curry of chola-aloo (this menu was carried on till the last day). We were told to eat fillingly as water-training was next starting from 11 am. We bathed hurriedly and jumped onto the beds to have a sound sleep, with the whole body aching. The water training was very soothing and relaxing.

We were taken to the sea beach and for the first time we were allowed to touch the sea-water. We were positioned according to seniority facing our back towards the sea, so that my knees just reached the level of water. You know it is quite difficult to lift your leg above the surface of water from underneath it. We had to perform all the kick techniques at that posture. Moreover, as we were facing opposite the sea, we didn’t know when the waves would come thrashing onto us. Thus, it was very difficult to keep standing, and if we failed to do so, we got some hard spanking with a thick branch of a tree. I myself got a few. However, the water and the pleasant wind and the excitement of the moment wiped off all the strains though it was quite heavy (which we understood from our hunger and pains later on). Then it was time for some sprint through water. Students deliberately started to loose balance and fall into water to wet themselves. All over, it was quite fun and we enjoyed this session thoroughly.

But the aftermath was disastrous. There was no water when we come back. There was only one tube-well in the youth hostel (which was our only supply of drinking water throughout our stay there). Thus there was a large queue in front of the tube well. We had to wait for about an hour to get ourselves and our uniforms cleans as they were drenched with sand. Juniors were made to bath first and then the seniors. I had only one uniform. Thus we had to make them dry for the next session (which was to be started after 2 hours). The dormitory was a mess with water everywhere.

Then we swallowed our lunch and had a good sleep. In the afternoon we were taken to a vast field. It was one of the most magnificent field I’ve ever seen. Lush green was everywhere. It was almost like a stadium as the grass were very evenly cut (1 inch), though the ground was very undulating at places. Cows were grazed in this place, so they helped to do this job. No artificial machine had done this !! The weather was very soothing. A cool breeze was blowing. The sun was behind large clouds and we felt as light as a feather. Training seemed to be a pleasure in these conditions. We were taught the finer points of kata (meditation in motion) and several ido-kihons. Though the training wasn’t that light, still we didn’t feel the strain and did everything perfectly. It was very easy to concentrate. The vast dome of the sky with no sign of a single house in the range of vision, no dust, no commotion, heavenly peace dwelled everywhere. People in white dresses with a deep green background : this scene was also very soothing to the eyes and the mind (don’t ask me why, I felt it). I was speechless in this beauty of nature and the harmony of everything around me. Perhaps this was one of the best experiences I had there.

We came back home. Had a round of antakshari (boys vs. girls) in the evening (naturally the stock of songs was so huge in both the parties that it ended in a draw). We went back to sleep at 10 pm waiting for the incidents that the day after would endow us with. This was the end of the second day.