Going Home...Again...and Lemonade

For the regular reader of this irregular poster, you'll notice the updated countdown clock.

After passing the mid-point of my 24 week rehab period, I made the decision to update the clock to reflect my return to Karate on Monday.

Am I crazy? No.
Just feeling fat, uninspired, and bored to tears.

The PT I currently do at home in many ways is more aggressive on my knee than perhaps 80% of my Karate activity. I may as well work out in the company of friends rather than in isolation!

Therefore I've decided to return--with certain restrictions until June 1st, the end of my 24-week "restricted" period.

Forms / Kata shouldn't be an issue, since they don't involve jumping or spinning kicks, and the few kicks that are present are with my non-operative leg.

I will make appropriate substitutions for the next 10 weeks:

- Instead of kicks with hard snaps, I do slow-count kicks, substituting a strength exercise for a power drill
- Kicks with my non-operative leg will be performed with the chamber action slowed down (which usually involves some degree of pivoting on the supporting leg)
- Spinning kicks? More slow-count kicks.
- Jumping kicks? More slow-count kicks.

So basically between now and June, I'll be doing a ton of strength work, deep stances, careful pivots, and drill on learning my new weapon form with the bo staff.

Come June 1st, I'll be more than ready to get back to sparring!

I want to thank Black Belt Mama for the "When Life Hands You Lemons" award:


Like any good blog award, there are some rules:

• Post the logo on your blog.
• Nominate blogs that show great attitude or gratitude
• Link to the nominees within your blog post.
• Notify the recipients of the award by commenting on their blog.
• Share the love and link back to the person from whom you received your award.

Paying it forward, my nominee is a fellow Martial Artist, Bobspar.

Bob is a self-declared Middle-Aged Martial Artist, and the first blog I came across when seeking other Martial Artists with ACL tear stories. My own blog title is inspired from his attitude of not only embracing where he is in life, but also having begun his journey in the Martial Arts as a middle-aged person!

Bob found a particularly sour lemon to make lemonade--he was literally minutes away from completing his black belt exam when his knee decided to play a game of "Pop Goes The Weasel," tearing his ACL and delaying his black belt for over a year as a result. He is training hard for his test coming up this May, and I wish him the best of luck!