Another One Bites The Dust

And another anatomical body part of mine bites the dust! I was rocking along in private lessons in January and my instructor, Mr. F, told me that I was really a talented martial artist, so I was feeling like Bruce Lee-Ann! I was training at least 5-6 times a week in the Dojo, but had not been doing any other workouts, due to my schedule, sheer laziness and the cold weather! (It's hard to get out of my warm and cozy bed in the mornings!) In that private lesson, I was feeling confident in all aspects of my martial arts regimen: Forms, Sparring, Weapon (this testing cycle we were on Jahng Bong which is the long bo staff), Self Defense, and I had also been putting much work into perfecting all of the foundational kicks, blocks, and strikes. I was feeling elation from the momentum of my training, which always translates into a superior state of mind - this also spills over into all areas of my life. These are the moments when I feel like I am able to truly take on and accomplish anything and my confidence is through the roof.

Mr. F and I decided to really work my upset ridgehand strike board break. I did well with my right hand on the brown rebreakable board, which is equivalent to breaking a 1 3/4 inch wood board; however, with my left upset ridgehand strike, everything went wrong. First of all, my confidence in my ability to break the board was not there. Instead of focusing my energy and thoughts on the force and placement required for a successful strike, I was doubting myself. I was thinking about asking my instructor for a thinner board, but was both embarrassed and timid to do so. I just went for it - as hard as I could AND I did the worst thing ever .... I closed my eyes. When my hand hit the board, it felt like electricity pulsed from side of my hand up straight up into my left elbow. I immediately withdrew, let out a very loud, "OMG!", and grabbed my elbow. I knew at that moment that I totally screwed something up. The pain was unbearable, made me see stars and then made me nauseous. But, in a moment of stupidity and wanting to demonstrate perseverence, I did the board break again, this time breaking the board. In Spanish we call a person like this a Stupida. You can easily translate that to English.

5 weeks later of immobilizing my arm, doing first-aid R.I.C.E. and still feeling immense pain, I saw an Orthopedic Surgeon, got a MRI and discovered that I have damaged my Ulnar Lateral Collateral Ligament. Let me tell you - it's a painful injury. It's been almost 8 weeks now and I'm still in great pain. My prescription is to lay off of TKD for 8 more weeks and if that isn't effective, surgery will be inevitable. The ligament is slightly torn and very loose, which means that I have to REALLY watch it. If this ligament completely tears, the surgery is an awful one - called the Tommy John surgery. This would mean that I'm off of TKD for a minimum of one year. I think I would die.

In the meantime, I have still been participating in classes with my arm in a sling. I feel that I still have 2 good legs and 1 good arm, so why waste time? I am challenged when it comes to Forms and Weapons, but I'm still kicking ass in Sparring. This is also a great opportunity for me to focus on kicks and get the intricacies down of perfecting the basics. One of my ultimate TKD goals is to have a side kick that is worthy of magazine publication. You know the picture: the martial artist on the beach with the sun coming up (or setting for that matter), which provides the perfect silouette lighting for the side kick that is all the way up to the sky. I can and will accomplish this!!! My instructor is awesome at tailoring the class curriculum for me so that I can still train with this injury.

So, for now, I have had to readjust my black belt testing goals. I don't feel that I'm worthy to test for black belt until I am fully functional with all limbs. We'll see. I've been struggling for a fully functional status for over a year now. First with my right knee injury, and now with my left elbow injury. I've really got to find a way to train and excel as a middle-aged martial artist.(YUCK! It's painful to write that) By the way, did I mention that I turned 40 a few weeks ago? It's just a number, I guess. Since I can still kick 20 year old ass, it's really inconsequential to me. :-)

Until next time,

Kihap!!!

Dedie