The universe decides for you

I remember going to see a spiritualist medium many years ago and while talking to her she explained that the caste on my wrist was the spirits trying to slow me down and as I sit nursing a damaged big toe and joint with a foot likes shreks I believe she maybe on to something. All of my life I seem to do things until I hurt myself (including some relationships lol) when I was born I was 6 weeks premature and had to be fed every 2 hours (some things never change) and all the way through my childhood I have always pushed to see if I could do things ranging from my pack runs every Sunday morning were I would load up my pack and webbing slide into it and set off on a 3 mile run always running never stopping. One day my mam got talking to a lady and she was telling her of this young lad of about 12 that used to run passed her house sweating but you could set your watch by his timing every Sunday, the lady seemed more surprised when my mam said it was her son!( the crazy kid) I remember the Army and going into the junior leaders at the age of 16 and during an assault course tearing my pectoral muscles but the army being the army made me finish and then go to hospital only to be told because of my age the rehab would take a long time. I had set me heart on being in the army but about a year later I got a recruitment offer to join the RAF regiment but the day before I went out for a run the same pain in my chest occurred and I saw that it was a sign not to go in as if I was going on the wrong path. The morning of the swearing in ceremony I refused and said I did not want to do it! This caused uproar not only in the recruitment office but my dad was not happy at all in my decision and basically told me to get out and find a job or get out! I was looking for work while going to 6th form but really did not know what to do with my life I was training in ninjutsu and really enjoyed the training but always seemed to be the one that got beat up! I was the youngest so always was getting hurt a dislocated shoulder broken toes and fingers were all part of game of martial arts. When I was 17 I played football against a rival school and as I was a very good defender two of the opposite team decided they would both stamp on my leg which they did resulting in broken tibia and fibula with my foot facing the wrong way ( not pleasant) one month in a cast up to my thigh and hopping up the stairs in the three story block going to math’s kept me fit , then the decision to put a plate and 5 pins in my leg ( that is still in) then learn to walk again . That was in the October but in January of the next year we opened a ninjutsu club in Newcastle, I had just came off crutches the previous week but there was not many people training or graded in ninjutsu so I did not want to let anyone down so I trained helped do the demo and I got thrown all over. Over the next couple of years I trained hard and ended up looking after 2 ninjutsu clubs by the age of 19 (yes I was young once) I received my black belt in June 1990 so I have been a black belt for 25 years and I still have the same one (recently the black belt that opened the Newcastle club has just contacted me to teach his grandson, I am honoured to do this as this man gave me the very same black belt all those years ago) I worked In a lot of different jobs with different timings but I always tried not to miss a class as I felt like I was letting people down and to be honest that feeling has not gone away if ever I can’t train normally due to injury I still feel an amazing amount of guilt! It was not uncommon for me to work from 6am to 6pm at a factory and run home to pick up food to run down the road to teach while eating …. If you see me at the AFC most days you will also see this has not changed I can eat a whole chicken curry and rice while a private class warms up! When I was 23 I decided to go full time as I had been working all day rushing home for a shower and then jump on a bus to Newcastle to open the Gallowgate gym and also I was working on the door every weekend and going on seminars or teaching and it was getting out of hand. One day a strange thing happened I was pushing polystyrene into a pressing machine when the boss came up to me and asked why was I working pushing a ton of polystyrene in everyday when I had a gym , I had a moment of clarity and handed my notice in that day! The next day I got the plane to Dublin and during training I got my hand kicked so hard it broke 4 bones in my hand , so my first day of self-employment I went to A & E. That is strictly not true I did however get a toothbrush as a splint and a bandage and went out on the town drinking Guinness! On my return to Newcastle went to the hospital and was in a swan neck cast for two months but during that time I was sparring with one hand and rolling and making good use of the cast to work on my facebars and I did several B.C.A courses with my coach and mentor Geoff Thompson , the only down side trying to explain the blood on my cast when I had to get it changed and me asking for more plaster so I could annoy people when rolling ( it hurts when you grind your cast in there face lol ). When I was 27 I had just come out of a bad long term relationship (she went back to Oz with her flying monkeys) Harsh but funny; I had found my soulmate for life my lovely Kerry xx I was running the gym and courses and working the door and being in a new relationship to say I was busy was an understatement. I noticed ulcers in my mouth and then a sty on my eye, a rash appeared and after going to the doctors he said I had run myself down and it had hit my immune system. I was very ill and lost about 2 stone (I was not even going on holiday) My body still tells me when I reach this stage as my skin was affected , so now I only can up Ph. balanced roll on deodorant and I have to listen to my body more I am very stubborn so I sometime don’t listen very well! Speaking of body, I have been dropped on my back many times badly (some say my head ….at birth) Leading to a very bad back I have tried lots and lots of different routines and exercises to keep me upright and moving. Every so often my back just spasms and I am in more than the normal everyday pain of a chronic back pain sufferer but in have a re-occurring back problem has led to my being able to pass on advice to anyone that develops a problem in that area, I could say I am a master at it by now! (I always wanted to be a master) over the years I have learned what not to do and what I must do to stop it from damaging any more than it has. I have also developed different bridging and flipping while grappling so I do not land on my lower back area. This may seem like I am going on about injuries but I feel like somethings are send to us through the universe for us to learn a lesson from to make our lives better. The last example I am going to give (as I sit here with a damaged foot) is one from a couple of years ago about 10th Planet and Eddie Bravo. If you have been reading my blogs over the last few years you would know that I train in Eddie Bravo’s no-gi jiu-jitsu system , so when after a failed attempt to train with him in Nottingham ( see chasing twister blog )I jumped at the chance to co-host Eddie teaching at Newcastle. The course went amazingly well, with AFC members making up half of the 60 strong Grappler’s that attended but as I get what you might say overexcited (As Kerry calls me 5 year old John) when I woke up in the morning my left leg was locked out straight , leaving me unable to walk or bear weight and housebound. It turned out I had sprained my knee (I know I did not think you could do that as well) but you can and it hurts a lot! So sitting there, my lovely wife Kerry and my Long-time friend and black belt Michael Caul suggested I should start to write a book on Self-Defense , so I did I am currently still writing it and hopefully be finishing it soon ( watch this space) So the universe can’t be ignored it is there to help you keep on your life path whether it helps you or slows you down it also leaves a trail for you to find and it will bring people into your life to be soulmates , lifelong friends and also not so friendly people so you can learn a lesson from! The Universe works in mysterious ways it is there to help and guide you on your life path but it will not do it for you it is your decision to do it! Until next time Be the master of your Universe (He-Man) John Atkin