What I've been up to

Posting on this blog has been sparse, I know, I know, "he's always got an excuse" But in this case I've been trying to establish myself on dailykos, in the hopes of a) making a meaningful contribution to political debate and b)cultivate an audience, one that might be interested in my creative writing as well as my critical output. Dare to dream, I know.

Speaking of daring to dream, that friggin' nerve in my left leg is the in-law from hell. The good news is I can do most of the workouts and train at the dojo, but I can't run on the damn thing without feelin' pain. I will do my best to be patient. After the tournament on July 11, I will go into rehab mode.

State of the body: dumb luck (?) edition

Monday night. Grapple time. Fun time. Happy time for all. Oh yeah, and I banged up my left leg. The damn thing was a magnet for damage. I didn't have my gi pants for judo. I took a fall. The landing kinda stung, but I got over it. Later, as we did a roll warm up in grappling, I was paired with a tenth grader, a 282 lbs tenth grader. Lots of energy. New. Enthusiastic. Reckless. He is the StayPuft Marshmallow Man of newbies. He's demonstrated a disturbing habit for improv, which is good for artists, but not good for young grapplers playing with LEGLOCKS. He was locking me with...his weight, I don't know how to describe it, reminiscent of the "Brock Lock" Lesnar used during his WWE run. I tapped fast, very fast. I thought I tapped before he did real damage. Truly, Staypuft is the most dangerous guy on the floor.

Despite a nasty bump and a goofy, but unpredictable neophyte, my leg appeared to be a-okay. It was time for someone safer. I was paired with another heavyweight, a guy with several MMA fights to his credit, to work some half-guard escapes. His ankle casually bumped the large nerve running past the knee.

And that was all she wrote. It's Wednesday and I'm still limping. Could take over a week before I'm walkin' right again. By which point I'm supposed to have a large, black eye style, bruise. Thank God I know how to swim.

The slow build

I took two fitness kickboxing classes last week, coupled with a JKD class each. I've yet to feel any serious pain from this experiment.. I worked out earlier today, and I'll be taking another fitness kickboxing* class tonight. My legs still feel...I don't know, soft, vulnerable. Granted some of that is psychological, I'm very much afraid of the potential pain, and some of it is purely physical: my legs simply haven't been used much in the last 6 months.

I still feel the pain, two needles dancing on my nerves. Reclining continues to work though, as I've managed to control the pain at 0-3 most of the time.








*In our dojo think of this as a level 0 foundations class that emphasises the basic 10 boxing combinations as prescribed by Sifu. I've discovered that, when used judiciously, it constantly reinforces the basics, while offering a solid hour of work. My goal is to do this class twice a week, and limit my dojo sessions to 2 hrs a night tops for the forceable future.

Teetering towarids the irrational?

I was pondering the nature of the hip/leg pain I've been experiencing. It's not the all out blow-up that the pain normally is, and I've been trying to parse out a strategy, read the signals of my body like tea leaves--soggy tea leaves rescued from luke warm green tea--in order to decide on what I should do next in respect fitness. There was a 48 hr lull between the last workout and inflammation. It seems cruel, unfair for pain to manifest thusly, all the while keeping myself in check, this isn't even really a short term solution, more of a desperate hobby until I find an insurance plan. I am experiencing something new though, a side effect to the pain. My brain may be catching on, releasing opiates to cope with the problem.

A few hours ago I was mulling over this development. I couldn't go to practice with a high pain level, but if I could keep the pain level between 1 and 5? And I was teetering towards the irrational. I could adopt a truly monastic lifestyle: condition, diet, practice, and pain. I am teetering towards the irrational, and diving headlong into Catholicism. Yes, you wil find me on page 235 of Butler's Lives of the Saints. between Saint Anna the twice told-virgin, who scrubbed her coochie with a brillo pad to honor the angel Gabriel's impregnation of Mary, and Saint Marcus Vitus who tied a boulder to his leg to show solidarity with those unable to make it into heaven because they they died before Jesus came along.

I'd be a perfect monk. I am acquiring an altered perception that comes from the rush of opiates. Don't worry I---wait, maybe you should worry. This appeals to me. But forget about all that celibacy crap; if Girlfriend dumps me, I'm going to Vegas and gettin' me some fancy shmancy escorts.