Quite unheard…right? But this is one song that used to listen during my college days…a song featuring Sunil Shetty as a crippled father…trying hard to convince his stubborn son…that life is a race…and you have to, have to win this race…
During those days, I used to wonder what athletes do to win races. Practice and just practice, was the only answer that I used to get. But that was too small an answer for me.
Even during my martial arts training during my childhood, my martial arts trainer never instructed me to run or to jog. However, when I joined, Prahar, I was asked to jog for about a kilometer daily. And I used to hate a lot as I could never manage it during my entire Prahar training. Since the training was of few weeks, I never learnt the inside outs of running. I did everything that Nana Patekar has shown in his movie “Prahar”, but never jogged.
During my college days, I totally forgot the art of physical workouts. And corporate world has its own version of races…he he he…Rat Race…I am not denying that fact that I was never into it…infact, I was the front runner here. But then it has nothing to do with the actual running…
When I joined my JKD Classes on 1st of April 2009, my sensai instructed me to jog for about 50 meters, and believe me, I felt as if I am in a hell. Those 50 meters of jogging made me understand where my stamina level was…It was a self discovery that my stamina was just nothing…and nothing means nothing…my bulky & disfigured body structure and my age added toppings on the top of it. And I was very disappointed.
Spending countless number of hours on Youtube, watching people do Parkour and free running is an easy task. But when it actually came to executing it by my self, I learnt that I was nowhere even close to them. When I was asked to jump from a certain height, I used to fear a lot. I could not deliver an effective kick. I used to see few older people laughing loud as a part of their yoga exercises, in the same park. Many a times, I used to get conscious as if they were laughing at me. He he he…
My Sensai Gunjan Sharma and fellow mates in my JKD classes are very helpful and supportive. They always gave me a moral support whenever I was left behind. It was only because of them, that I persevered and continued with my classes and practice. Gradually, I learnt that I must reduce my weight and should be slim and trim to be an effective martial artist. I devised my own diet plan and followed it strictly. Presently, I am on a zero oil food, consuming boiled / stemmed / roasted vegetables along with good number of fruit juice and skimmed milk. Negligible carbohydrates and high proteins form my diet these days.
Based on my strengths and weaknesses, I myself devised my plan of diet (mentioned below) that I have to follow strictly for few months.
Morning -
- During Exercise - Consume Lime Water
- After exercise - Papaya - 1 plate
- Sprouts - 1 plate (Peas, Pulses, Almonds, Onion, Tomato, Cucumber, Lemon, Salt, Black Pepper)
- 1 Glass of Mixed Fruit Juice
- Boiled / Stemmed / Roasted Vegetables - 1 plate
- 1 Cup Boiled Dal
- Brown Bread - 2 Slices
- 2 Slices of Fruit
Evening -
- 1 Glass of Skimmed Milk / Dahi
Night -
- Neutrela Nuggets / granules - 1 Plate
- 6 Glasses of Mixed Fruit Juice (each glass every one and a half hours)
A strict no to tea, coffee, oil, maggie and other junk foods which I used to love a lot.
Plus under the able tutelage of my Sensai, my workouts also made me perspire a lot. Every week, I spend three days in my martial arts classes and other three days in a park near to my place for 2 hours each day. It rebuilt my confidence level. In past two and a half moths, I have lost close to six kilograms of weight. I set daily targets for myself when I practice alone in the park near to my residence, which I keep on increasing day by day. At home also, in the evening, I do regular push ups (5 rounds of 20 repetitions) and crunches (4 rounds of 50 repetitions)
Today, I continuously jogged ten rounds of the park which is approximately 250 meters in circumference. It really feels great to have built stamina with which, I can run close to two and a half kilometers, non-stop. I have personally experienced that redefining ourselves takes a lot of pain and hard work. One has to be mentally strong during such endurance trainings. Fascination is good, but devotion plays an important role. It all starts and end in our mind, but one has to respect his body as well. I feel it as a new beginning.
To be an effective Parkour practitioner, I should first learn to run…then to jump and then to set myself free…
My next two months target is to reach a level where in I should jog from my place till Mahipalpur, nonstop. It seems impossible to me right now…but then running 50 meters was also the same for me two and a half months ago. So I am gamed for it…
I now understand tits and bits of an abstract word called – practice. And I know it’s nothing when compared to the experiences of people whom I now consider my benchmark.
