High life | 15 September 2016

I’m jittery and fragile but free of plaster and in the dojo, slowly turning lean and muscular. Never listen to your doctor is my message. Instead of two months in a cast I spent only five weeks, and I’ve just finished a brutal three-day course of karate with both the leg and elbow still intact. Yippee!

The message was loud and clear. If you’re drinking vodka at 4.30 a.m., don’t lean backwards while sitting on a ledge. When the doctors sew you up and place you in a cast, don’t listen to them; take it off early. You have nothing to lose but the plaster. And the moment you’re free, get back into the dojo.

It was back in 1964, when I was still on the tennis circuit, that I saw something strange advertised outside an auditorium in Cannes. Two people dressed in white pyjamas kicking at each other. I went in and saw two Japanese men doing things I had never before seen humans do, and showing great humility towards each other and towards us, the audience. They avoided outward displays of emotion, something that separated them from other athletes I’d seen and met. These were martial artists, and I signed up for life. Fifty-two years later, I’m still at it.

Committing to the way of karate has not always been easy. There are too many con martial artists teaching the ‘easy’ way to achieve high rank. Yet there is no easy way, just the Japanese way. Ironically, it was an Englishman, Richard Amos, who finally showed me the right path as far as the physical side of karate is concerned. I was always very strong mentally and with Richard’s help, bingo! I now sometimes find myself sparring with men 50 years younger than me and do not suffer unpleasant surprises.