Pure stubbornness or Pure passion?Today, Jinsheng came to my house today for dinner. Before that, I showed him a series of movie clips I took during a recent Judo training at NUS. In the middle of our conversation, while having dinner, he said something :" Jerry, I think you should quit Judo, because its too dangerous."
I was immediately stunned by what he said. My younger brother was grinning, my mother was nodding. I know they all meant well, just like everybody who told me not to continue. Just like veron who told me I should quit when she visited me at the hospital.
I thought about it, no, Judo is too great to quit.
If I were to use some crap logical reasoning, it probably wouldn't convince anybody:
1. No, its just like telling Ronaldo not to play soccer anymore.
2. I will take care of myself better this time after such a bad fall.
3. All experts would probably have a scarring experience, be it small or big.
4. Its like being afraid to go outdoors because the sky will fall.
Nothing really sums up to a more convincing reason. The only thing I know is that I cried in the hospital not because of the pain or needles, its the fear that I might not be able to play Judo anymore. Its the feeling you get the moment you wear your Judo Gi, that you are ready to "Hajime!". It's the feeling after trying out countless breakfall and entering of throws, that you know its a sport that will carry on with you for life. If I stop playing Judo because of an injury, I will regret for life.
My mother is scared after watching some of the movie clips that I showed her. She is scared that Judo might have accummulative demerits to the condition of my back.
It's definitely something that you have to do, when you turn adult - making a decision. Your parents can give you all kinds of advice, but ultimately you are responsible for the path you choose to take. Knowing to make decision, in my opinion, is one of the most important part of maturity.
Of course, I cant deny the fact that I have to be responsible for my parents as well; no matter how old you are, you are still somebody's child. The only thing I can say, I will assure my parents that I will really take care of myself. I have made a few guidelines for myself to prove my point.
1. I will be careful with randori.
2. If I am tired, I wouldn't push myself, even under any circumstances.
3. I will not take part in any competition until I have achieved a certain level of competence. E.g. Black belt.
4. I will continue to learn to break fall, and revising and revising, and never say I am an expert in breakfall.
Are you a medic?Another conversation was made with Jin Sheng today at the bus stop. About us being medics. He asked me if anybody were to be knocked down by a vehicle, would I save him? It could have been a bull-shitting conversation. But I still reflect everyday. I recalled one day when Jin Sheng and I were rushing back to Nee Soon camp and we were like almost "split seconds" to being late. We were in the middle of attending a medic spec course for the two months span. On the way back to camp, we witness this biker who had skidded in the middle of the road at a tri-point junction. The natural reaction for us was really to help him, even with all the limited medical knowledge. There were also people who rushed to help them. They helped to divert the traffic, while we called the ambulances and tried to access the injury of the guy(who turned out to be our course mate).
Luckily we intervened! Reason being that in the middle of the accessing process, a cilivian-dressed officer interrupted what we want to do and said we should call the medical centre in the camp to send a scretcher to carry him back instead. We knew the casualty cannot be shifted because of suspected back injury! We knew how pointless it is to send him to the medical centre in the camp where limited things can be done for his condition. It's even faster to wait for the maximum respond timing of 7 mins of SCDF ambulances.
The main point isn't about the saving process. It's the fact is that we wouldn't have called ourselves
medic if we didn't help that night. You don't call yourself a medic after a graduation parade.
We were already medics that night....
