Rehab Begins

This morning my grandson and I arrived at the karate school at nine o'clock. He had been invited to come at that time and to stay for the rest of the day, basically hanging out with the younger instructors when he was not taking class or assisting. I wasn't sure what I was going to be doing. I knew I wasn't supposed to be putting any flexion stress on my foot, because of the heel spur treatment, so I didn't know if I should take the adult class at all or just try to do some things on my own. I didn't even wear my full uniform, just a school T-shirt and an old pair of uniform pants, which is acceptable attire from Memorial Day to Labor Day. I brought my belt, but wasn't wearing it.

The adult class begins at nine-thirty, so I had half an hour to figure out what to do. My grandson bowed onto the mat and started stretching. I watched him for a few minutes, and then realized that I probably could do most of my customary stretching routine with no ill effects. So I put on my belt and got down on the floor too, for the first time in almost two weeks. Getting those hamstrings stretched out felt so good!

When class started, I was ready to participate, albeit with prudence. In the kicking drills, I didn't attempt to pivot on the support leg, and I didn't go for speed in switching my feet. In the terminology drills I executed the techniques with stiff, very erect stances - ditto with forms. I did about ten repetitions of Naihanchi, trying to really nail down the sequence, which I still have to think about too much.

After five repetitions of Chil Sung Sam Ro Hyung, we moved on to Bo (staff) forms. I have only learned the first one, Bong Hyung Il Rho Hyung, so I worked on that while the two Dans worked on higher Bong forms. Then we spent a few minutes on tricks with the staff - like a "double double" which I finally figured out - sort of.

The last portion of the class was sparring, except for me and one of the Green Belts, who did not have his gear. He and I worked on Ho Sin Sul (Self-Defemse) for the rest of the class. After we were dismissed I went upstairs to the fitness room and rode the stationary bike for twenty-five minutes, working hard enough to get sweaty.

When I came home I felt wonderful. It's so good to be back where I belong!