Melanie Gibson Injury and Recovery, Self-Development and Leadership, Training Tips

#1 Recovery Tip From One ACL Warrior to Another

I’m a second degree black belt. I could have tested for third degree black belt at the end of this year.

BIG.DEAL.

I had to relearn how to walk after my July knee surgery. When you can’t walk very well or even stand up in the shower, all that fighting, jumping, and sprinting nonsense goes out the window for a while. It’s hard to feel like the athlete you were before your injury. It’s depressing to feel out of shape. It’s frustrating to go through so much pain as you heal and gain strength. 

Recovering from a major injury when you used to do a high-level sport can feel overwhelming and a bit daunting. 

Continue reading “#1 Recovery Tip From One ACL Warrior to Another” →

Melanie Gibson Injury and Recovery

Woodshedding: (Re)Perfecting Your Technique Like a Musician

Woodshed illustrations are either super cute or look like they’re from a horror movie.

I come from a family of creators who enjoy challenging hobbies. My dad is a painter who is especially skilled in oils and portraiture, and he was a competitive swimmer in high school and college. My mom likes doing difficult and complex knitting patterns. My brother is a professional musician.

I hit stuff.

Kidding aside, any martial artist knows they have to put in hours and years to hone their craft. It’s not a matter of mindlessly parroting or mimicking motions their Sensei or Sabumnim does. You have to develop both the mental and physical intelligence required to perform and improve upon your martial art. You have to understand why you do certain things.

You have to be a good mechanic.

The other day during a text exchange with my mom and brother, my brother said he was learning the classically-influenced 1970s pop song “MacArthur Park,” and was doing some “woodshedding.”

Woodshedding?

Continue reading “Woodshedding: (Re)Perfecting Your Technique Like a Musician” →

Melanie Gibson Injury and Recovery

The Road to Hell Is Paved With Health Insurance Claims

In case you’re wondering, if you live in my metropolitan area and have an ACL repair surgery that turns into full reconstruction it will cost:
$55,563.26

Anesthesia will be billed separately, and be prepared to pay for six to eight months of physical therapy twice a week. You may also have to pay for one or two leg braces, not to mention that MRI that diagnosed your torn ACL in the first place. Some of your post-op visits with your doctor will be free, but only for a short grace period. You’ll go right back to specialist co-pays once the “post-op” period runs out.

Oh, and the giant bill was just for the “hospital encounter.” You may also have charges to the orthopedic clinic for your operating physician and an assistant for the same day as your surgery…same people, same patient, same procedure, but whatever, still separate charges.

If you went to an emergency center or hospital emergency room immediately after your injury, be prepared for a bill for that too.

The human body is a wonderful thing, but upkeep can be quite expensive.

Continue reading “The Road to Hell Is Paved With Health Insurance Claims” →

Melanie Gibson Injury and Recovery, Work and Martial Arts

The Case for Working on Your Weaknesses

“Playing to my strengths,” as we say in the corporate world, may very well have cost me my ACL. Let me explain…

I work in healthcare leadership development, so we arbiters of euphemisms rarely use the word “weakness.” We dance around “opportunities for development” or “areas of growth.” I involuntarily shivered when a client said she wanted her team to use the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) so they could “learn about their strengths and weaknesses.” My goodness, I positively had the vapors. Technically, as I gently hold her, the MBTI looks at preferences rather than true strengths and weaknesses, but…something about the word “weakness” was just too real for me.

Turns out, working on your weaknesses can save you a lot of trouble in the long run.

Continue reading “The Case for Working on Your Weaknesses” →

Melanie Gibson Injury and Recovery

Knee Surgery: Pre-Op Jokes and Dr. Pepper

syringe
God bless anesthesiologists.

As martial artists, we’ve heard those familiar mantras before: “Fall down seven times, get up eight”; “A black belt is a white belt who refused to give up“; perseverance, indomitable spirt, blah blah blah.

It turns out that martial arts spirit of perseverance and jocky stubbornness to give up has quite come in handy over the last few days. I am four days into recovery from ACL surgery, and recovery has been a full-time job. Let’s go back a few days…

In my last post, I described my worst taekwondo injury to date and following tests and decisions I made with my doctor. We agreed on an ACL repair slated for July 22 at 7 am.

…things didn’t quite go as planned.
Continue reading “Knee Surgery: Pre-Op Jokes and Dr. Pepper” →

Melanie Gibson Class Diaries, Injury and Recovery, Training Tips

POP! Goes My ACL

dynamite
Meanwhile, inside my right knee: Three, Two, One…

As if there weren’t enough curveballs from the year 2020…

We’ve all figuratively had our legs knocked out from under us this year.
Last Thursday it happened to me literally.
Continue reading “POP! Goes My ACL” →

Melanie Gibson General Martial Arts, Injury and Recovery, My Guest Posts, Training Tips

My Guest Post: To Treat or Not To Treat? How to Handle Your Martial Arts Injury

This article was originally a guest post on the website BookMartialArts.com.

black knight

An injury can be a major setback for a martial artist, not only physically but also psychologically. Pain may put a temporary hold on practice, which can lead to isolation, depression, and discouragement. On the other hand, it can be tempting to avoid seeking treatment for fear that you’ll be told to stop training, which could lead to further injury. I’ve learned some valuable lessons about how to respond to a frustrating injury and hope the tips I’ve picked up along the way can encourage those martial artists who are contemplating whether to seek treatment for pain or not.*

Continue reading “My Guest Post: To Treat or Not To Treat? How to Handle Your Martial Arts Injury” →

Melanie Gibson Injury and Recovery, Mental Health, Self-Development and Leadership

Finding Balance in a World of Extremes: 3 Tips to Help Ground You

balance

When we think about finding balance in life, the concept of work-life balance often comes to mind, but the concept of balance is applicable to every aspect of our lives. It can feel like, though, we are living in a world that forces us to choose extremes: live the fast-paced urban lifestyle or be an anti-tech hermetic living in one of those innovative and super cute micro-houses. Be a minimalist or max out your credit cards. Be obese in a fast food nation or wear size 0 yoga pants on the gluten-free train. Be a stay-at-home mom or be completely devoted to your career.

Where is the middle ground? Where is the option to dabble and enjoy while remaining grounded and centered?
Continue reading “Finding Balance in a World of Extremes: 3 Tips to Help Ground You” →

Melanie Gibson Class Diaries, Injury and Recovery

Operation Fix My Hip Begins

kitten massage
So yeah this kind of has something to do with the post. I just used it mostly because it has cute kitties.

It felt appropriate that Sir Mix-a-Lot’s “Baby Got Back” was playing as I drove to my first physical therapy session. After all, most of the pain I’ve been experiencing for the last two months has been “in the back of my Honda,” and I don’t mean my 2014 Accord. I was both excited and a little nervous. While I was ready to put a lot of effort into healing I wondered if I’d have to go through even more pain and discomfort to get there, and I also wondered how much I would have to modify my taekwondo practice.
Continue reading “Operation Fix My Hip Begins” →

Melanie Gibson Injury and Recovery

Body Image

body image

For the last few days I have done absolutely nothing. The pain that I’ve been experiencing during and after taekwondo classes will not let up and even flares up with gentler physical activities such as swimming and yoga. In fact, in last Sunday’s yoga class I ended up going to my knee for every Warrior I, crescent lunge, and even Warrior II. Somewhere between Sun Salutation B and savasana I decided that I needed to rest.
Continue reading “Body Image” →