One of the few advantages of being trapped out on the ocean for six-plus months at a time is that I had to work out... had scant else to do, and it is a fairly good use for your time. After all, it improves your strength, endurance, self-image, and all the rest of that nonsense you already know.

Now that I am back on dry land, however, something else always seems to take up the time that would otherwise be spent sweating and swearing. Better Half and I decided that we should do something to correct this, and have started an introductory package at a local karate school. I took tae kwon doe for about five years way back before and during high school, and Better Half took a few semesters of it during college, so we figured it was something we could do together. A few thoughts crossed my mind while we were out on the mat, though:

1. I am out of shape, despite all that effort I expended a few months ago.

2. Low stances are a workout all on their own.

3. I am really out of shape.

4. Judo is a beautiful workout, but is murder on the knees if you do not have pants on (I was wearing shorts at the time) and have never done it before in your entire life. See, when you only have one suitcase and one carry-on to pack everything you think you will need for the next sixty days into, workout pants, in the middle of summer, in Tennessee, are not one of those things. And, oh yes, I have gi pants now.

5. ... Yeah.

6. I certainly miss karate / martial arts, and hopefully we will be able to keep going. Sure, I mostly got dragged around the mat by the other people in the class (including a couple black-belts... those were definitely one-sided exchanges), but that is half of how you learn.

Hey, everyone needs to stay in shape, and killing two birds with one stone (by learning self-defense at the same time) seems like a reasonable deal to me.