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.
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Be Careful What You Wish For…You Just Might Get It

shooting-star
Make a wish! It could be your dream come true or a big ole bucket of NOPE.

All I wanted was a little time off.

I decided to take the last week of August off from taekwondo because of a few lingering injuries that kept getting irritated and frankly, I was burned out. I had been going to taekwondo five or six days a week, attending my own classes, plus I showed up at the lower ranking classes to help teach and hang out with the instructors. It was all good fun until one day I thought, “I need a break.” I enjoyed my week off and was thoroughly looking forward to starting up classes again plus attending my gym more often and cleaning up my diet.
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Two Months Until Second Dan Begins With Rest, Wine, and Whataburger

texas whataburger
YAS! That’s how Texas black belts fuel themselves!

So it’s still the plan that I will be testing for second degree black belt in about two months. Even though I’ve had two years to prepare for this test as opposed to six months for first degree, I’m more nervous and leery about it this time around. If you’d like to read more about the psychological aspects and musings on it, read this post. I’ll continue with that theme in another post. Now I’m going to talk about what I plan to do with myself until that eagerly awaited day.
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My Guest Post: To Treat or Not To Treat? How to Handle Your Martial Arts Injury

black knight

Check out this month’s guest post on BookMartialArts.com:

To Treat or Not to Treat? What to Do With Martial Arts Injuries

This article gets into the mind of the martial artist facing the dilemma of seeking treatment for pain or powering through and not slowing down the training schedule. I’ve been in physical therapy for nearly a year now, so you can guess which path I chose, stubborn as I was about it.

Thinking of starting your own Taekwondo journey? Interested in honing in your martial arts skills? From Kung Fu to Capoeira you can find, browse and book a vast selection of martial arts training camps at BookMartialArts.com, the world’s leading martial arts travel website.

It’s TendonOSIS Even Though Spellcheck is Being a Jerk About It

hamstring

“So, even though I’m not getting an MRI I’m still curious about what’s wrong with me. The doctor said it was either a tear or tendonosis. What do you think, based on what you’ve seen with me so far?” I asked Cody*, my physical therapist, during Tuesday’s session.

A little backstory: I had turned down my orthopedic doctor’s suggestion from two weeks prior to get an MRI of my right leg.  It seemed unnecessary since my pain in both the front of my hip and top of my hamstring had lessened quite a bit thanks to therapy, and the thought of being shoved into a tin can coffin for forty five minutes was a big NOOOOPE. I’m not anywhere even remotely close to needing surgery, so all we’d get out of an MRI was a confirmation that my leg’s f-ed up. Yeah, I know already.
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