Sure, buns of steel still rule and “Terminator” biceps are cool. But these days, when it comes to our workouts, we’re looking for major stress busters. Some days we want to kick butt, and other days we need to gulp in deep, calming breaths. So we tried two workouts that let us do a little of each.
For the warrior woman in you, an ages-old practice
If your inner tough chick is screaming for another kind of workout, why not try karate? We hooked up with sensei (teacher) Sarah Ludden, who holds a 4th-degree black belt, at Thousand Waves Martial Arts and Self Defense Center in Lakeview, for a Seido karate class. (The school offers a free trial class, and we were eager to check out the Thousand Waves Spa for women next door.)
Here’s how Ludden describes this martial-arts discipline: “Seido karate is a Japanese karate system. The translation is ‘sincere way.’ Once a warrior practice, it dates back to the samurai. They prepared for battle by meditating and working on concentration. Seido has very focused techniques, and it balances [working out] the upper and lower body. Other martial arts, such as judo, are done more on the mats. We teach some techniques of rolling and falling, but karate is more punching and kicking.” (For more info, call 773-472-7663.)
Patience, patience!
A beginner’s story
If you want to stick with a Seido class, I’ll guarantee you one thing: You’ll have to learn to be gentle with yourself. After a slow but tough warm-up of stretches, push-ups and lunges, our teacher led us through a series of multi-stepped kicks and punches. By the time she got to the end of each set, I had already gotten lost–and when we had to do the set again, switching lead arms and legs, I was totally tangled. But the cool thing is, others were getting lost too, and just when it would get frustrating, we’d move on to another set of exercises. Plus, the teacher was really encouraging (“I’m still learning too,” she’d say). And even with all my goofs, it felt great bopping around on the balls of my bare feet, punching and kicking. Best of all, you get to let out a guttural yell after each set. (At least, I can imagine that being a good thing. Most of us beginners were too shy to do more than mumble.) By hour’s end, before a relaxing cool-down, I was breathing hard and sweating. And I wasn’t sore the next day, even after stretching more vigorously than I have in ages.
A tool to ‘make your life and body flow better’
Yoga in general involves movements, poses (or postures) and meditations that help build strength and flexibility as well as inner calm. From Ashtanga to Sivananda, there are scads of yoga styles, though all share a common Indian lineage. Some are quite athletic and aerobic, others focus more on meditation and breath work. So before you throw yourself into a class, research it first. Check the Yellow Pages or Web sites for area classes, call the teacher and talk, even ask for a trial class (www.yogasite.com describes the different styles and gives tips on finding good teachers). I went with Kundalini yoga after speaking with teacher Patricia Sugrue, who teaches in Andersonville. Her classes appealed to me for two reasons: The movements can be simple, and the students wear sweats, not Spandex.
Sugrue has been teaching Kundalini yoga since ’97. She is a member of the Yoga Alliance and a nationally certified massage therapist. (For class info, call 773-743-8577.) She describes Kundalini yoga as “a series of dynamic movements, meditation and relaxation techniques to make your life and body flow better.”
Relax! A beginner’s story
After almost dropping dead in a spinning class recently (the teacher was so revved up he had us gasping for air within minutes), I vowed to never again exercise in public. But Sugrue’s class was incredibly relaxing. In a candlelit room on the second floor of a vintage building, Sugrue gently led seven students through a series of stretches, meditations, poses and breath work. The theme for the day was adaptability, and the movement set was designed to instill the idea that we are our own greatest resource. I don’t know if I got that out of it, but the class felt really good.
The slow stretches, which we held for what sometimes seemed like ages, were challenging but not painful. The Breath of Fire, a kind of breath work that requires quickly panting while contracting and expanding the diaphragm, at first made me dizzy and lightheaded. I loved it when we got to punch rapidly in front of us in an exercise designed to boost determination (and, Sugrue added, to release inner anger. Uh huh!).
But the best part of the class was that we usually had our eyes closed, and in the darkened room I soon was lost in my own world and pretty oblivious to the other students–at least, I wasn’t comparing myself to them.
I felt weird at the end when we started chant-ing–Sugrue says chants’ vibrations focus a certain energy in your body–but chanting just isn’t my thing. That aside, I thought this class was divine. I didn’t really work up a sweat, but I did loosen the kinks in my stressed-out body.
A side-by-side comparison of two stress busters
DO YOU CONSIDER THIS EXECISE, MEDITATION OR BOTH?
SEIDO KARATE
“It’s both. It’s a moving meditation, a way to go deep and engage your mind, body and spirit in a united way. We do a brief meditation at the beginning and end of each class, and we work on being very mindful of our breath.”
KUNDALINI YOGA
Both. We call it a meditative exercise. It’s challenging physically, but you go within.”
WHAT’S IT’S APPEAL?
SEIDO KARATE
“Seido can be a life long activity. Also, it’s a communal activity. In our practice, it’s geared to personal development and fitness, not competition.”
KUNDALINI YOGA
“Kundalini yoga is a tool to make life more effective . . . You’ll be more effective in the workplace and in relationships. What’s great is that everyone can do it, it’s very accessible.”
HOW DOES THE EXERCISE HELP WITH: A) FLEXIBILITY B) MUSCLE STRENGTH AND TONE; AND C) CARDIOVASCULAR HEALTH?
SEIDO KARATE
“It works on all three. We stretch before and after, and we do push-ups, sit-ups, leg lifts, and back, arm and leg work. Seido really strengthens the legs and hips–it’s fabulous because of the stance work. And flexibility is important to get your kicks high and your stances low. And it’s aerobic.”
KUNDALINI YOGA
“It helps with all three. It stretches the muscles and enhances posture. And you do get stronger. Plus, it strengthens the neervous system, and that helps you sustain strength as well as deal with the onslaught of stuff going on in your life and not be so rective. Plus, the breath work bulds cardiovascular heath, and some steps are aerobic.”
HOW IS IT ON THE JOINTS?
SEIDO KARATE
“It’s good for the joints, because the alignment principles are geared to let the body work together as a unit. Seido strengthens the muscles around each joint if done correctly.”
KUNDALINI YOGA
“It’s low impact, and we do the movements gently, so it’s fine.”
DO YOU WORK UP A SWEAT?
SEIDO KARATE
” Yes, We keep the sweat up for an hour, in a gradual way.”
KUNDALINI YOGA
“Definitely. Yogi Bhajan, who founded Kundalini yoga, once said “Every day we should sweat and laugh. “You’d be amazed what little movements can work up a great sweat.”
DOES IT WORK FOR WEIGHT LOSS?
SEIDO KARATE
“Yes, in the sense that it’s a good, gradual fitness activity. … We have new students in their 60s, people large and small. Also, Seido is a practice you can do at any weight (though if you’re 50 or so pounds overweight, we recommend you start walking first).”
KUNDALINI YOGA
“First, there’s no perfect thing, no instant solution for weight loss. And yoga has so much more to offer than that ! But it does help you have a balanced life– you become more aware of your body and start to like you body more, and that helps you eat better.”
DOES IT WORK FOR STRESS REDUCTION?
SEIDO KARATE
Yes. It offers a break from life, a way to get engaged in a fulfilling activity that gets the blood flowing.”
KUNDALINI YOGA
“Absolutely. The breathing, the relaxation, the meditation all help. … The sets are all geared to deal with a certain situation. For instance, some help [reduce] anxiety or fear, boost the immune system or help with inner anger.”
HOW DIFFICULT IS IT TO LEARN?
SEIDO KARATE
“Students build on their skills as they go, and we encourage them not to compare themselves with others, and that helps. Our teachers also are trained to introduce beginners to karate.”
KUNDALINI YOGA
“The movements can be really simple. I plan to start a beginner’s class, but in my classes now, I have beginners walk in cold, and they stay. I haven’t found that they have experienced feeling lost and stupid. I’m sensitive to the needs of everyone in class. Also, people doing yoga don’t have to learn everything today; they can go at their own pace.”
HOW DIFFICULT IS IT TO STAY MOTIVATED?
SEIDO KARATE
“It’s motivating because you’re always learning. Also, we celebrate progress by belts: white, blue, yellow, green, brown, black and degrees of black. Getting the belts is an opportunity to feel proud. No one takes a test for a belt until we know that they’re ready.”
KUNDALINI YOGA
It’s self-motivating because it feels so good– and not jjust when you’re done, And this isn’t just a class; I’m striving to build a community here, And it helps you keep going, on your own at home, when you know others are doing it at home.”
WHAT KIND OF EQUIPMENT DO YOU NEED, AND WHAT IS THE COST OF A CLASS?
SEIDO KARATE
“You need a uniform, a gi (ge), which is a jacket, pants and a belt. Later, for sparring–that starts with the blue belt–you’ll need safety equipment. No socks or shoes are worn, unless someone has foot or ankle problems.”
Cost: Fees vary according to class plan. But adults can take unlimited classes for $100 a month.
KUNDALINI YOGA
“You don’t need any equipment. You can use a mat or a towel if you want. You don’t even need shoes; you can do it barefoot.”
Cost: “I charge $10 a class.” (Class lasts one-and-a-half hours.)
HOW SOON CAN YOU NOTICE IMPROVEMENT, IN MIND AND BODY?
SEIDO KARATE
“We have an expression, ‘osu’ (ohss). It’s the contraction of the Japanese expression ‘striving with patience.’ Everyone progresses at a different rate, but you should feel progress after each class. At the beginning, the coordination challenge is great.”
KUNDALINI YOGA
“You can get results quickly. Kundalini was designed that way. It was designed for people who are active in the world, who have families, who work, who are in the community.”
HOW DO YOU FEEL AFTER CLASS
SEIDO KARATE
“We leave class feeling renewed and restored.”
KUNDALINI YOGA
“People leave class feeling rejuvenated.”
