A Long Overdue Epitaph

So.

After all this time, you decided to come back for just one more look to see if I ever made it???

Answer: YES!

On August 5th, 2012, after 5 years of hard work, blood, sweat, tears, heartache, longing, laughter, and 3 reconstructed ACL's, I achieved the rank of 1st Degree Black Belt. Here's the photo of my instructor belting me:



For Christmas, Mrs. Shaft created a very cool shadow box to frame my certificate, using all the colored belts I've earned on the road to black:



In this fast-paced world of social networking, like many of my fellow bloggers who are martial artists with reconstructed ACL's, I have opted for the instant gratification of Facebook for sharing my day-to-day observations of life, love, and the pursuit of happiness.

And so I officially post the closure of this chapter of my life with a heartfelt thanks to many of you who voiced your support for me during my various stages of reconstruction and rehabilitation.

And for any new readers, you are always free to comment and ask questions. I'll respond.

With gratuity for your attention,
Hack Shaft

Comfort Zone

Two Sundays ago I accomplished something I've never done before.
I ran 5 miles continuously for the first time, either in competition or in training.

I arrived at registration just 5 minutes or so before the race started, enough time to get registered and pay the fee. Since my goal was to finish the distance without walking, I queued up at the back of the pack and set off at a comfortable pace. My rule of thumb was not to run so hard that I couldn't talk, which I figured to be maybe a 12 minute-per-mile pace, practically speed walking for me.

Throughout the course I chatted up a number of friendly runners, including a fellow in his 50's or 60's with the same goal as me, several first-time racers, even a mother pushing her two sons in a jogging stroller!

There were two young ladies who started off next to me, then pulled ahead. Any time there was a hill, however, I'd catch up at my steady pace and pass them. Then when the course flattened out or went downhill, they'd pass me up. It became a tortoise-vs-hare kind of situation, and made for quite an entertaining race.

When we hit the last mile on main street, where the course was straight and flat, I spotted the two women walking again. I hollered at them to get running, or they'd be "in serious danger of making me look good!" They promptly picked up their feet to run, finishing perhaps 30 seconds ahead of me.

At the finish line, I was excited to see that I came in under an hour; my pace was 11:23 per mile, very satisfactory. I was nowhere near the fastest people, but I completed the course and didn't finish last, accomplishing what I'd set out to do.

Meanwhile my Karate training has been lagging; I missed two weeks from a sprained ankle, another week from pulled quads, and last week a busy schedule only gave me opportunity to attend one sparring class and a kickboxing cardio class.

On Wednesday of this week, we were doing a series of back-to-back slow kicks, and my balance felt so far off I may as well been drunk. I totally attribute it to a lack of training and losing my conditioning in the process.

Tomorrow I am volunteering to hold pads for Danny Long-Legs at his test for Black Belt in the morning. Danny holds a 2nd degree Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do from many decades ago, and is being certified in my school's system as a 1st Degree Black Belt. I'm very proud of him and his hard work ethic, and honored by his invitation.

My hope is watching Danny and 6 other students getting their Black Belts will inspire me to get out of my comfort zone and get serious about training again.

Running from the Storm

I'm officially done with Tornado kicks for a long time. 2 weeks ago I sprained my left ankle from a bad landing after--wait for it--a Tornado Kick.

I took it as a warning shot across my bow, it could well have taken my left knee out as easily as it sprained my ankle. I'm just not ready for them yet.

Saw my PT today, and I need a lot of plyometric work to really satisfy him. Back to hopping exercises! Did fine on straight single and multiple hops (one-footed), but adding any amount of zig-zag and I just about fell down. Doing some really high retro step-ups as a warm up didn't help, as it somewhat fatigued my legs right off the bat.

I see him again in 6 weeks, hopefully the last visit for a long time.

My running endurance has increased quite a lot this year, and I plan to run in my city's 5-mile race on Sunday. My goal: to complete all 5 miles without walking!

Monday night I plan to return to sparring. I will do warm-ups, work drills, and work with partners on a strictly upper-body basis: no kicks. It'll be a challenge for me, but also for anyone working with me--but it should result in getting some great hand work in. When I do start kicking again, I hope to have mad upper-body skills that aren't typically emphasized among point fighters!

Meanwhile I still plan to make 40-somethings cry as I steal their dreams in open hand forms and weapons at every tournament I can...

Graduation, Part III

Yesterday was the day I never expected, never wanted, and hope to never experience ever again.

Graduation.

It's been an exceptionally long 6 months of rehab, for the 3rd time.

As I'm old hat at the whole physical-rehab-for-ACL-reconstruction thing, I had no questions for Dr. K, so we spent time chatting about our iPhones and favorite apps.

I have two iPhone / iPod Touch apps that have proven invaluable in my PT and ongoing goal-setting endeavors.

Round Timer - This app is the classic training ring timer. You can set up any number of rounds, with a countdown timer, and separate recurring timers for warning and rest times. For interval training, this thing is tops--and much less expensive as an iPhone app than purchasing the real thing, typically upwards of $200!

For each round, you can set up a warning time and rest time. So a 2 minute round with 10 second warning would sound a tone at 1:50, indicating there were 10 seconds left in the round. Rest time is a period between rounds, handy for actually catching your breath--or in the case of sparring class, switching partners.

As a bonus, you can play songs from your music library while the timer is running, and it will automatically mute the music to sound a tone. This allows you to crank music for your workout, and not miss your intervals!

Tallies - Just like it says, this app helps you keep tally counts of anything. In my case, I have some Summer goals - like 1000 push-ups, 150 reps of my forms, 45 minutes of aerobic activity each week, and 1500 slow-count kicks. Completely customizable, and really cheap, putting my goals on my phone keeps me on-track.

What software or mobile device apps do YOU find helpful on a daily basis???

Time

I'm back to Karate, recently cleared for non-contact kicks, and assigned these brilliantly complex plyometric exercises--jump forward on one foot, but turn 90 degrees right or left and land on the same foot in a squat to absorb impact. Yikes!

Running has been great, recently did the full 4-mile course I ran last summer without stopping.

Lately it seems time is slipping away from me. Just when I'm getting back into the groove of working out, there's a string of commitments that have me over-booked and exhausted! Fortunately, though, I'm taking a few days off to travel with family and friends to Door County.

I'm looking forward to slowing time down and smelling some roses among the lighthouses and other attractions!

As for sparring, I'll be taking a very cautious approach to re-entry. My PT is incredibly insightful, and commented that right now I'm doing a great job of maintaining proper body position with regards to the knee(s), but that it's still a very conscious effort.

He recognized the common link between my ACL tears is poor positioning; the true challenge is to evolve that sense of proper position into an unconscious effort. This is most important when sparring, since it involves so much spontaneous movement and reflexive action.

So after I see him at the end of this month, I expect to re-enter sparring classes. However, the plan is to limit the risk early on, concentrating on controlled drills and hand work and skipping the open point sparring for now.

Out of a healthy sense of superstition, I also plan to take November and December off from any sparring activity, picking things up in January to prepare for next April's tournament at the end of the season.



Until then, I plan to make grown men cry by walking away with the gold in all the weapon and open-hand forms that I can.

14 Daze

Hiya, dedicated reader!

Tomorrow marks the beginning of week #14 since ACL surgery #3 on January 11th.

While I've been back to running for a while, I've taken the past week off due to a nasty head cold. However, I think with the warming weather and a little help from an antihistamine or two, I should be back on the path tomorrow.

I've been assigned plyometric exercises in the form of assisted hops, square hops, and hopping up and down steps on both feet. Adding to that, more strengthening exercises in the form of my favorite slow-count kicks, as well as carefully executed forms / kata.

I see my PT in 2 more weeks. Assuming all goes well, he and I both expect I'll be returning to Karate with similar restrictions as I've had in the past--no hard snapping kicks, no turning kicks, no jumping kicks--until I'm at 24 weeks the end of June.

Coolness!

On The Road Again

It's been a long Winter, and Spring can't come soon enough.

Physically things are coming along just great. I saw my PT today, and we did a bunch of testing comparing the involved leg against the good leg.

Involved. Funny term, involved. I've been involved with Karate for 3 years, my body's been involved with training, my time involved with playing music, being a decent husband, and raising a child, but I never considered just my knee involved with anything. Huh.

Testing consisted of a number of squat-and-reach exercises, such as standing on one foot while touching the floor as far out as possible at a 45° angle each way from the foot without falling. Another test was one-legged squats as low as possible.

Numbers look good, my operative knee is 85-90% as compared to the good knee. That means I can start a re-entry to running following protocol; basically it's walking with short periods of running, working up to progressively longer running periods without walking breaks.

Not that I've ever been much of a runner, but it's at least a change in routine, and one that will get me doing something moderately resembling recreational activity outside. Honestly, I miss the solitude that running early in the morning brings, and I look forward to it.

So, yeah, just over 7 weeks post-op and I'm running. Cool.

Emotionally things are a struggle this time. First time was a novelty, second time was routine at worst, but the third time is really weighing heavy on my mind. There are times when the depression and worry is tangible, like a yoke around my neck that I just can't remove.

There's an annoying, nagging voice in my head that won't stop wondering if I'm some kind of natural klutz. Another one argues that no, it's strictly a case of freak accidents--hardly predictable, not likely preventable except to quit Karate.

And then the people who hear about 'the third time,' and keep saying I need to find a safer hobby.

A hobby.

A hobby??? This is not a hobby, it's part of my way of life!

It's as much a hobby to me as someone going back to school to get a Masters or Doctorate is just a hobby.

Thanks for reading, and pardon my ranting and raving.

It's been a long Winter, and Spring can't come soon enough.

Bracing for reality

***I'm posting some arthroscopic pics near the end of this post, fair warning for queasy readers.

This time around has had an interesting start.

By the second day after surgery, the knee was bearing weight unusually well when compared to my first two ACL reconstructions. Thursday I got stitches out and did a round of physical therapy. Quads are firing well, straight leg raises are strong, about 70 degrees of flexion and a degree or two of hyper-extension. The slight hyper-extension is a most pleasant surprise, usually that doesn't come along until much later in the game.

I was approved to go without an immobilizer brace during passive activity, such as working at my desk or around home. I'm supposed to continue wearing it as a matter of security until this week's session when my gait will be re-evaluated.

Tomorrow I return to the real world, going back to work for the first time in 2 weeks. We have overlapping responsibilities in my department, so I have all confidence that my partners have provided due diligence in my absence. Hopefully I won't be drowning in backlogged work to do!

Truth be told, I've done just about everything I can around the house, got a few 'administrative' things out of the way after many long delays. I'm ready to get back into a routine, although it won't include Karate for somewhere around 14-16 weeks.

I plan to continue my bench-time tradition of watching sparring classes on Monday nights to help keep me connected with my fellow students, and help satisfy my craving for Fight Night. It helps to keep me focused on what I need to do, and the encouragement from my friends on a regular basis is truly a balm for the soul.

I have made the very difficult decision to stop sparring for a long time. Sparring is part of the curriculum, but for folks over 35 they will adjust requirements for black belt as necessary. I don't plan to give up sparring forever, but 3 major injuries requiring surgical work and 2 other injuries have cost me well over a year of time.

By many accounts I would be screening for black belt later this year, but reality says it'll be some time in 2011 at the soonest. I'm tired of the annual re-set of my training and want to remove the one activity most responsible for my injuries.

There are no guarantees in life, but I need to start stacking the odds more in my favor if I want to continue with Karate for the foreseeable future. I'm damned good at open hand and weapons forms, time to focus on those strengths. I'm not any more afraid of sparring than before, but I am concerned that my reflexes are telling me to move in ways that are dangerous.

1st time: I was falling backwards, torn ACL from trying to stop a fall.
Lesson: Just fall.

2nd time: I was landing from a powerful tornado kick, torn ACL from a planted foot on landing.
Lesson: Don't go overboard on fancy kicks when you're tired.

3rd time: I was ducking under a punch way too far, torn ACL from trying to explode upwards.
Lesson: Don't go overboard on moves you haven't drilled on.

I don't want any more of these lessons.

As promised, here's 2 pics:


This one is of the floater found while inspecting the meniscus. Looks like a tiny bit of meniscus that had torn loose, not a big deal.


Here's the ACL. It starts at the top left looking great, the rest is simply a shredded pile of silvery ligament spaghetti.

Been There, Done That, Got The T-Shirt.

Hello, dear reader. It's been a while.

As I mentioned briefly on New Year's Eve, I re-tore the ACL in my right knee December 28th during sparring class. This is the knee that started all this business almost exactly 2 years ago.

I ducked under an opponents punch way too deep, with my right leg forward, and tried to explode upwards with a back fist while most of my body mass was still moving from right-to-left. I made it about 3/4ths of the way up, then my right knee bent sideways and I went down.

Last Monday, January 11th, I had an ACL revision done on the knee. The procedure is much the same as ACL reconstruction, except with a lot more prep work and bigger hardware. The prior ACL is removed and loose tissue cleaned up, and the old fixative screws are taken out. (I have my old screws as a token now.)

As with the prior 2 reconstructions, I opted for a femoral nerve block with a spinal block so I could observe the procedure. Good news is that the meniscus continues to be well anchored, with no signs of damage save for a tiny floater they caught doing laps in the saline on camera.

Again, like in December 2008, the spinal wore off a bit prematurely and I had major cramps in my lower back due to the position I was in on the table. Also, I began to feel the pins and needles in my right leg as the spinal wore off, and the tourniquet was removed. Yes, I could have opted for some sedation or pain killer, but I weighed the cost of $100 a pop against my short term discomfort--we have new insurance that would have me paying more out-of-pocket now--and I decided to save a buck or two.

Because the bone tunnel necessarily has to be enlarged, the replacement tendon and hardware are also larger. The original upper fixative screw was installed into the end of the femur 'from below,' essentially within the knee joint. This time, the screw was installed into the end of the femur from above, which meant my quads took a beating from being retracted while this somewhat gruesome business was conducted. I saw that bit from the arthroscope and realized that it's gonna sting like the dickens when the blocks wear off...

On a funny side note, Dr. K had some difficulty tightening this upper screw, losing his grip at one point and nearly knocking over some monitors and IV poles in the operating room! I suggested perhaps an impact wrench might not be a bad idea, but he replied that using motorized assistance tightening screws could result in over-torquing.

Once Dr. K was done and the other surgeons could take over closing things up, I reminded him of my request for a t-shirt from the clinic; I figure a guy is due something for his trouble after 3 operations! He not only made good on the promise, netting me a nice long sleeved Under Armor shirt with embroidered logo, he even put it in a gift bag with a birthday card and delivered it personally while I was in stage 1 recovery.

The card reads "Each year the wishes just get bigger and better!" with a note: That's 3 years in a row! Enough already! (Just kidding.)

So the first 36 hours post-op sucked as usual, peaking on Tuesday night when I had a major charlie horse in my thigh that felt like a dagger was stuck there! Fortunately a bit of Tylenol with Codeine took care of that and I could sleep peacefully. Since Wednesday I've taken nothing but Ibuprofen, a good thing and par for the course.

First PT session was Thursday. My prior PT clinic has closed its doors due to the recession, so I opted to do PT at the clinic where the surgery took place. There I met Ben, who will be my main PT this time around. I was encouraged by being able to toddle around the house with just a cane already, a very positive early milestone that the knee can bear weight well already.

Surprisingly my quads were firing quite well, and I could do straight leg lifts without too much difficulty. I even have a bit of hyper extension, already nearly equal to my good knee. Flexion is only at about 60 degrees while on my back, maybe 70-75 hanging over the edge with assistance from the good leg. The biggest stopper right now is the local knot of swelling to the outside of the quad, the result of insult to the tissue from installing the fixative screw.

Last night I was wide awake at 3am with a mild fever coming on. So on top of the typical post-operative pain, I had body aches as well, and lay awake for probably a good 2 hours trying to find a comfortable position. I should also mention, it's the first night back in my regular bed upstairs, and not on the totally comfy couch downstairs, so re-adjusting to sleeping on the mattress probably contributed to lower back cramps. Meh.

Well, tonight I'll be hanging out with Mrs. Shaft while G-Shaft goes to a schoolmate's birthday party for a few hours. We plan on tossing back a few Amaretto-Sour's while watching a movie and enjoying a new recipe for cold Thai peanut noodles.

More tomorrow, possibly pictures, and what the future holds for Paul "Hack Shaft" Pederson.

3rd time: NOT a charm...

I'll be brief since we're heading out the door to a New Year's party (Happy New Year, by the way).

Monday at sparring I tried ducking under my partner's kick and coming up with a back fist from underneath.

At a guess, I was moving sideways too much, and tried coming up while the mass of my body was still shifting sideways.

The result: That too-familiar shifting sensation of a joint dislocating.

Tuesday was the MRI.

This morning's visit with Dr. K confirms that I re-tore the ACL in my right knee - the first knee that started this blog in 2007.

Surgery in 2 weeks. Sorry, everyone.

Best Foot Forward

My #2 ACL tear anniversary was on election night a few weeks ago. No big deal, but it is an opportunity to reflect.

My broken rib healed nicely, and I've been to sparring classes the past two weeks.

My first class back I made a real effort to pick one thing to concentrate on, besides returning to fighting with my right side forward. That one thing was getting my arm defenses up to snuff, and it really paid off! Rather than getting knocked out of matches with no points, I was at least pushing things to equilibrium--forcing the match to come to the final point to decide a winner.

My regular partner in class and sparring, John, said he really noticed the difference in my defensive abilities, and that I was getting back into the groove. He and I both liken sparring to dancing, and I was finally relaxing enough to just enjoy the dance and not worry about the steps!

This past Monday I began to re-think how I should be fighting.

I've been trying attacks that my body can't execute fast enough, so I really focused on defenses, reading my opponent, and scouring for counter-attack opportunities.

It paid back in spades when I bested one of the guys I consider a top adult fighter, one whom I've hardly had opportunity to score on since returning to sparring, and whose kicks I usually end up eating far too often.

At the end of class, I was again facing the same fighter--but this time with all eyes on us as we finished our match. I think the score was 3-2 in my favor, and the winner is first to 5 points. I watched carefully for a twitch, a sign of commitment to some move from my opponent. Then it came, in the form of a big roundhouse punch! Vigilance paid off as I leaned into a defensive side kick, catching my opponent in the side as the punch bounced scoreless off my shoulder.

I could hardly believe the referees called 2 points in my favor, ending the match 5-2!

That was a beautiful end to a fruitful night.

11 Months

I have a curse, and it occurs every 11 months.

From my first ACL tear in December, 2007, to the next in November, 2008 was 11 months.
From the second ACL tear to a broken rib this month, October, 2009, was 11 months.
I plan to take September of 2010 off from any Karate-related activity, just to be safe.

It's been a while since I blogged, so let me fill you in.

August was busy with a lot of camping, and a severe shortage of opportunities for me to go to core classes. I maintained my conditioning, but didn't really have the new open hand form memorized. It seemed life was pulling me every which way but where I wanted to go!

September was filled with weeks of getting back to the swing of things, most notably the annual 3 school cross-training sparring classes. Members from 3 of the local schools gather together every 2 weeks leading up to the Diamond Nationals, the largest martial arts tournament of its kind, to spend time sparring with other fighters we don't see on a regular basis. I learned tons and was looking forward to sparring in tournaments again this year.

October came, and so did the Diamonds. It's a 2-day event, and I signed up for sparring and weapons on both days. The first day, Friday, is principally an intramural event, the second day is an open event to competitors nationwide.

I cranked out a 1st place weapons form with my Bo, besting 5 other competitors in the 35+ men's group. Then it was on to sparring.

There were 5 of us in the advanced belts, significant in that our rank allowed us to score points with head contact whereas the lower under-black belts have to avoid it. 2 pairs of us were from the same school, so they mixed up our order to avoid fighters too familiar with each other.

Since it's single-elimination and not round-robin, I pulled a bye with 2 other guys. My main training partner John waltzed through the first match, then the other two guys with a bye had their fight. That put my first match for the weekend with John, which had me somewhat concerned as he's a fantastic fighter and one I was hoping not to face right out of the gate!

The first clash had me executing a double side kick. Due to weird timing and physics, my supporting leg just happened to be in the air as John advanced on me, resulting in getting knocked on my butt. Hard. On a hotel conference room floor, devoid of the padding we have available at the school.

I danced a bit to shake it off, and we proceeded with the match. John and I were both going at it hard, and I returned the favor knocking him on his butt a short while later with a nicely executed front kick.

The next clash had me holding him at bay, but he blitzed me with a perfectly timed back punch just as I was chambering for a side kick. Unfortunately I took it full force on my left side, just barely above the protection of my rib guard. I was fine for about a second, then the pain hit me like a 2 X 4! I took some time to recover and finished the match, but I knew something was up with my ribs.

The following morning, Urgent Care confirmed a broken 6th rib on my left side.

I wasn't able to compete Saturday, including my Bo form, so I spent time video taping everyone I could, and made John buy me lots of drinks at the finale that night!

While I'm waiting to heal, I still go to watch the Monday fights and chat up folks, all the time watching...watching...watching...

John and I have talked a lot about what it was that allowed him to slip inside my kicking range, and with input from a few other fighters I've decided to return to a right-side forward fighting stance.

My right side is my bread and butter. My right leg is much more facile, and my right hand faster than my left, and in point sparring speed counts more than power--so it makes sense to get the faster side back in front. That was confirmed by a lot of the video I recorded.

Plus, I have a slight vision impairment in my left eye that results in less peripheral vision, so I can't see someone's big back punch or round kick coming around!

It's been 2 weeks now, and 2-4 more to go, mostly depending on how I feel. I'll gauge my readiness to return based on whether I can do sit-ups or push-ups at all, let alone getting up to any significant quantity of either.

For those of you who spar, how do you determine the best side to put forward?

Seeing Red

Whew, what a busy month July turned out to be!

I tested for my half-belt (or "stripe") at the end of May, the day after officially having all restrictions removed by my surgeon. It felt like the toughest test I'd done, but I was very proud of my performance and felt stronger than ever.

Throughout June and into July I suffered a string of weird minor injuries, all outside of Karate class.

I strained both quads sprinting way too hard during a routine Saturday morning run, was knocked out of commission for a week with a nasty virus, and two weeks ago I twisted my left ankle something fierce stepping into a pothole on a local walking path that was overgrown with grass.

Waking up with stiff joints and pain has become de rigeur in my morning routine until I've loosened up with a hot shower. I'm OK with it, though, since it's a predictable thing.

What I didn't predict was testing for Red belt just shy of 2 months after my last belt exam!


It went well, but with all my down time I was less conditioned than I cared to be. This was most noticeable when doing slow-count kicks. Remember those??? Well, for Red belt and above, you no longer do them holding a barre or against a wall to steady yourself.


You're in the middle of the room.


And you darn well feel it when the test is done!


I talked to my instructor about having such a short interval between belts after the test. The curriculum requires a progressively higher number of classes between belts as you move up through the ranks, but he feels I'm ready for advanced belt classes based on my progress since returning from injury. Wow, how cool is that?!?

Tomorrow night's class is canceled. My school's head examiner for black belts is personally conducting a special class for advanced belts, which is predicted to be well over an hour long--possibly closer to two hours. It's intended as a preview of black belt screenings, and I'm both nervous and excited to take part in it.

When I went to watch the Family That Fights Together during their final screening back in November, the Examiner spotted me coming into the lobby and took time out--right in the middle of the screening--to offer his condolences, emphasizing that "there is life after this."

You see, he's a 5th Degree black belt with reconstructed ACL's in both knees.

We're an immense distance apart in rank, but wear the same scars marking our initiation into a regrettably elite club.

I look forward to working out with him if for no other reason than to thank him for his encouragement and his faith in me.

All together now

Before I ramble on in this post, I want to congratulate BobSpar and Black Belt Mama (now legit) on earning their black belts.

Way to go, guys, hope to join you soon!!!

The family and I went for a trip up North last weekend, and taking that time off from Karate and running Saturday paid off. The nasty burning sensation from straining my quads is pretty much gone now. Whew!

Monday night I was back in sparring, and my quads held up well; just a slight bit of stiffness while stretching gave any clue to having strained them.

My first few sparring classes back I was, to put things bluntly, full of piss and vinegar. No matter what I told myself about relaxing, I was getting way too aggressive for my own good!

Monday's class went incredibly well. We worked on some shadow drills, learning how to read others and anticipate their position while concentrating on footwork fundamentals. Then we ran a series of 1-point matches in groups, and I bested 4 people in a row, including one of our assistant instructors.

As my buddy Thunder John keeps reminding me, I just need time and patience to get back what I lost in sparring...but 4 in a row sure goes a long way towards boosting my confidence!!!

There were a few new things I was trying in sparring as well, namely new equipment.

The standard issue boots are just top padding, with straps under your toes and an elastic wrap to hold everything in place. Remember that bruise picture? I blame it somewhat on the boot design, which tended to trip me up a bit the way that I spar, often causing me to stub one toe or another.

I replaced them with fully enclosed Ringstar SuperMaxx sparring shoes and can't say enough good things about them so far. They keep my toes from folding funny, are lightweight, non-marking, and the soles have just the right amount of friction to mimic bare feet on our mats.
Now I know why 4/5ths of the class own a pair!

The other bit of equipment that was new is a rib guard. I had a full chest shield, but it tended to ride too high, exposing my midriff too much. This was evidenced when Thunder John caught me with a square back punch near the liver, which nearly floored me. That same punch on Monday night was much more comfortable to receive, so it was an investment well worth the money spent.

Tonight is the first core class I'll attend 9 days, so it should be interesting. I'm feeling much more put together now!

Feeling Torn

For the past 2 months or so, I've been running on Saturday mornings with 2 other people from my Karate school. At 7 am we head out for a perfect 4-mile loop, ending up at the coffee shop a block from the school. It's a great way to kick off Saturdays, and good incentive to get some out-of-the-classroom exercise.

The course is perfect, being flat crushed gravel for the first 2 miles, then rolling hills the last 2 miles. You get a nice warm-up while its flat, and just about the time you've caught your second wind you hit the hills.

2 weeks ago we ran the course backwards, hitting the hills first. Not withstanding the fact that I was still recovering from a nasty cold, it was a much tougher run, and all 3 of us needed to catch our breath at the halfway point. For the second half, we pretty much went from fast walking to occasional 50-yard sprints.

I hit one particular sprint pretty hard, and felt some funny muscle thing in my quads, like a group of muscle fiber I don't usually engage that way. Nothing painful, just new muscles being put to use. I was still sore after a week.

Friday while my daughter was sparring I decided to use the time to work on the Summer Goals program, which includes running our form 150 times outside of regular class between now and the end of August. I went through my Bo (staff) form and everything was fine until the last move, which involves a strike while going down on 1 knee.

I made it about 1/3 of the way to the floor when my right thigh lit up like it was on fire. Ouch!
G-Shaft commented from under her sparring helmet, "Knee problems?" I replied that it was my thighs, not my knees. For the remainder of the time, I simply avoided motions that aggravated my thighs.

Since that day, I researched the problem and concluded that I've got a level 1 quadricep strain. Since I have a week full of meetings keeping me away from Karate anyway, I'm resting and stretching, and will pick up a pair of compression wraps. Walking and gentle running don't hurt, I can bend my knees fully, but quad stretches are awfully tight at the moment.

Sudden explosive movement is what caused the problem, and what would aggravate it further; therefore I'll just run (gently) and attend core classes next week. No kickboxing aerobics, no sparring (except as a spectator.)

So to those of you who jog or run and are considering mixing in some sprints, take it easy! I went all-out, and my thighs are paying for that decision.

Weaving Wisdom

So I tried the weaving thing, and it looks kind of interesting:


This is my prior 8 belts woven together, and the total weight is probably around 5 pounds.

It actually came out looking pretty cool, and is symbolic of how knowledge and ability gained at each belt level is woven into the next.

I don't know if I'll keep adding to it in the same fashion, but for now it's a respectful reminder of the road I've traveled so far.

Still Standing

Well, I can't say as I made it through sparring class without injury, but I am still on two feet.

The injury was minor, but after a while it got to be some kind of cosmic joke--I stubbed my second toe on the left foot, next to the big toe.

Then that same toe was stepped on while we were warming up free sparring.

Then it was stepped on once more by someone else while I was refereeing a point fighting match.

Sheesh!

It's a pretty shade of purple today, and I intend to get it checked out tonight when I can get a ride--I'm also home with some kind of mild flu-like virus, and a bit too lightheaded to drive myself anywhere.

Anyhow, sparring was a very joyful experience for me, even with the bruising (and possible breaking) of a toe. I was on adrenaline the whole afternoon, but fell into a calm, rhythmic place once I warmed up and did some free sparring.

Now I just need to put into action all the mental notes I've taken watching class for the past 6+ months!

Time to grab some late lunch and take a nice, long nap...

Freedom

I'm free...I'm free!
And freedom tastes of reality.

"I'm Free" from The Who's rock opera "Tommy"

1. Saw Dr. K this morning, restrictions are removed.
2. "Have a good life," he said.
3. Made a pact with him that we shall never meet again under these circumstances.
4. Got the above song stuck in my head.
5. Testing for my next belt tomorrow morning.
6. Sparring Monday night...

A memorial

6 days until my final (I pray!) visit with Dr. K, where I should be officially released from restrictions on activity.

One of my goals this Memorial Day Weekend is to clean house. Time to finally get the summer/winter clothes turned over, toss or donate items, and especially important--organize my office.

In one corner behind the door is a small plastic wash tub. When I did Triathlons, it was useful in competition for quickly washing sand stuck to my feet from running up a beach before putting on socks and biking shoes. Most recently it's been put to service holding G-Shaft and my old belts until Mrs. Shaft needed something to soak her feet in.

And so the various colored belts from white through red came tumbling down and are currently lying in a sad heap on the floor behind me.

You know, they really deserve better retirement than that, but there are so many of them I'm not sure what to do!!! Our advancement system has half-belts, referred to as stripes, between each solid color belt. So the order is:

• White
• Gold
• Gold - Green Stripe
• Green
• Green - Purple Stripe
• Purple
• Purple - Blue Stripe
• Blue (My current rank)
• Blue - Red Stripe
• Red
• Red - Brown Stripe (G-Shaft's current rank)
  
• Brown
• Brown - Black Stripe
• Brown - Double Black Stripe
• Black

So there are 17 of these dear, old friends, just waiting for a creative display.

I thought I might honor them with a vertical rack, and each belt would be hanging properly knotted in a nice array, kind of like a gun rack or sword display one might find in a hunting lodge. If I find a nice design, maybe I'll partner with one of the other parents I train with to sell a few to other students wanting to honor their history.

However, that's a lot of belts--so now I'm thinking of some kind of weaving. While a vertical rack shows progression, I think weaving them together shows the relevance of each belt's lessons to the next.

We'll try it this weekend and see how it looks.

What do you do with your old belts when you've been advanced?

A Beautiful Thing

Sunday was my school system's Team Tournament, and the last one of the season in this area.
It features tag-team sparring for adults, and team forms for adults and youth.

My daughter and I presented a form together as part of the Family Performance division.
This is an open, non-competitive division for fun--and everyone gets to take home a trophy.
As a family of Scandinavian heritage, we had some fun with the form, calling ourselves Team Uff-Da. That's pronounced "Oof-Dah."

This blog from a local news anchor describes what I witnessed in this division far better than I ever could:

http://www.kare11.com/blog/insley_article.aspx?storyid=651634&catid=286

I am so proud to be a part of an organization that welcomes people of all abilities.