Good News/Bad News

The good news is that my knee is feeling wonderful - the hot tub and "pool therapy" in Maine helped a lot! It still stiffens up when I am inactive for a while, as when I first get up in the morning, or getting out of the car after driving a hundred miles or so, and there is an area that is tender to the touch. But I can walk and negotiate stairs without any pain in my knee. In confirmation, I saw my doctor today and got the results of the x-ray I had last week: normal except for degenerative changes associated with osteoarthritis, or in other words, old age.

Unfortunately as my knee has improved, I've been increasingly bothered by discomfort in my left heel, which I have been trying to ignore for the past several months. The pain comes and goes, but lately has been almost constant. It often makes me limp, and sometimes even the cuff of my jeans causes pain when it brushes against the back of my heel.

I figured as long as I was scheduling doctor visits last week, I would get this checked out. So I had an x-ray of my foot, and I went to the podiatrist today. It turns out that I do have a bone spur at the back of my heel, which is causing bursitis. Treatment: since I am unable to take oral anti-inflammatories, either 1) topical anti-inflammatories or 2) injection of steroid. I opted to go directly to the injection.

I guess I should have asked for more information about the effects of the injection before I went ahead with it. It turns out that I am restricted from "martial arts" activities for at least two weeks, in order to reduce the risk of Achilles tendon rupture. That's the bad news.

My first thought was, How in heck can I prepare adequately for Black Belt testing in October if I am sidelined for weeks at a time? The second pre-test comes up on July 18, just three days after my restriction is supposed to be lifted. Can I retain all my material during that time if I can't practice?

My grandson says, "Don't worry, Grammy, I'll help you." And my mentor at the karate school wants me to come in for one-on-one training, even if I only use my upper body (deep stances are a no-no right now). And I'm sure I can use the stationary bike in the fitness room to keep my stamina where it needs to be. And it wouldn't be the end of the world if I had to wait until the Spring of 2010 to test.

But regardless of how being sidelined may affect my testing, I don't want to miss any classes because I feel so good when I train. I want to be in class!

I guess I just have to suck it up and do what I've done in the past when I've had to be off the mat: be present for every class and pay attention to everything, and do all I can to stay fit. Then hopefully when I am released for full activity I'll be able to jump back in without missing a beat.

Home-Grown Physical Therapy

Greetings from the beach!

My family and I arrived in Old Orchard Beach, Maine late this afternoon, in time to enjoy a seafood dinner in a restaurant only a few hundred yards from our beachfront hotel. Afterward, instead of returning by way of the sidewalk, I thought I would try walking in the sand to see how my knee held up on the uneven surface. It was hard work, and I was glad I had my crutch.

My daughter and my grandson and I went all the way out across the tidal flats to the margin of the waves, carrying our shoes. Each section of the beach presented its own challenges: the dry soft sand furthest from the water was, strangely, the most stable; the damp sand on the slope leading down to the tidal flat was the least stable and most difficult; and the wet, compressed sand of the tidal flat was easy to walk on, except that I had to remember to move the tip of the crutch frequently so it wouldn't sink too deep. We let the waves tickle our toes for a few mintes, and then made our way back up the slope to our hotel.

By the time I got there I was pretty beat, but seeing the hot tub revived me, so I peg-legged my way up the steps to my room, changed into a swimsuit, and went back down, straight into the hot tub. Ahhhh! Now this is something I could get used to!

After a while we decided to try out the pool, which we had been told was kept at 85 degrees. At first, after the hot tub, it didn't feel that warm, but we quickly got used to it. I spent most of the time doing laps with a gentle backstroke, just keeping my knee moving with a flutter kick. It really felt good.

My goal, of course, is to get back to training as soon as I can. Tuesday's class won't be possible, of course, because it conflicts with my doctor's appointment in which I expect to be cleared for full activity. But I would love to walk into Thursday's class and pretty much pick up where I left off. And if walking on the beach, soaking in the hot tub, and swimming laps in the pool can help me acheive that goal -- well, that's a regimen I think I can follow, at least for a couple of days!

On the Mend

After my fall on Sunday, I had an x-ray of my knee - no results yet, but my doctor recommends that I stay on crutches until I see him again next week.

Actually I am feeling so much better that it is tempting to put the crutches aside, but I will be a compliant patient and use them, to give my knee the best possible chance to heal. I can put weight on it now, but I still don't have full range of motion, and twisting motions don't feel good.

I've had enough of sitting in one spot, though. I've had plenty of naps, caught up on all the recorded episodes of "Deadliest Catch" and "Jon & Kate Plus 8" and so forth, finished two books, cleaned out my e-mail, and played innumerable (losing) games of Jewel Quest III. So today I started trying to do things in the kitchen.

I had to have help reaching into the refrigerator for apples, grapes, and celery, but I could stand by the sink and cut them up for a Waldorf salad. If I wear an apron I can carry small things in my pocket, but for the most part I rely on my wonderful family to set and clear the table, etc.

Small victories. But Sa Bom Nim always tells us to appreciate every gain that we make, no matter how small, so I will try to content myself with staying quiet for now. I can't make the healing progress any faster, but I can be patient and appreciate every little sign of improvement.

How Big a Setback?

As an organist without a regular "gig" I am frequently called on to fill in for other organists who need a break. That was what I was doing this morning when I got hurt.

Actually I wasn't playing the organ at the time. One service had ended, and before the next one started I visited the restroom. On my way back to the organ, I thought I saw someone I knew, so my attention was across the room, not on the shiny marble floor at my feet. There was a step down which I missed, and I landed on my left knee, ending up flat on my face in front of the altar.

Instantly I was surrounded by people who wouldn't let me move. There was a retired cop, an off-duty fireman, a nurse, and an EMT. One of them called an ambulance; two of them asked me questions to assess my condition. I didn't think I was badly injured, but my knee hurt, and so did my hand (that turned out to be because I somehow ripped the nail as I fell). I cried some at first, but I think that was partly the shock of the fall combined with embarrassment at making such a spectacle of myself.

When the ambulance came, they did more assessment and finally let me up. I was able to stand under my own power, but they immediately had me sit in a chair while they took my blood pressure and so forth. They looked at my hand and my knee, neither of which showed any significant injury. Finally they asked me if I wanted to go to the hospital, but I just wanted to go home. I called my husband and asked him to pick me up.

All this time people were arriving for the next service, which was scheduled to start in a few minutes. The song leader came in, looking worried, and I felt terrible about leaving her without an accompanist. I just wanted to get out of the church, so once the EMTs released me I asked the off-duty fireman to help me get to my car, and I sat there while I waited for my husband and my daughter to arrive. They brought me home, and I have been sitting with ice on my knee all day.

I realize how lucky I am. Aside from my knee (and to a lesser extent my hand) I was not hurt at all; I didn't break my wrist or hit my head or break my glasses or my teeth. The floor was nice smooth, clean marble so I didn't have any abrasions. And I am fairly well padded in the front so I didn't break a rib or anything like that. It could have been much, much worse.

And yet, as the day has gone by, I'm getting worried. My knee is not tender to the touch, but it is swollen, and now I can't put weight on it. (I'm using an old pair of crutches to get around the house.) I will be calling my doctor for an x-ray first thing in the morning.

So what am I worried about? How the heck am I supposed to prepare for my Black Belt testing if I can't walk? How much time am I going to lose?

My grandson keeps trying to reassure me. "I'll help you review your forms," he says, "even if you can't do them yourself. And besides, it'll probably only be a couple of weeks."

I hope he's right. Stay tuned.

Keeping My Balance

I'm not talking about physical equilibrium here, like standing on one leg. I mean maintaining the right balance between family time and training time. This week family time won out.

Tuesday and Thursday are my normal training days in the morning; in addition, I train Friday night and Saturday morning, along with a couple of afternoons when I am not needed to assist with administrative tasks at the dojang. But this Tuesday I missed my class to be with my grandson at school; he had been asked to bring in his bagpipes and play them during the fifth grade chorus, which meets at the same time as my class. Because the pipes are not suitable for carrying on the school bus, I drove him to school and waited until he was finished so I could take them home. (Incidentally, the bagpipe demonstration went very well; even the principal came and listened.)

I planned to take the afternoon class that day, but Sa Bom Nim had other plans for me, so that didn't work out. I did get to my class Thurday, but only by the skin of my teeth: my husband and I had an unexpected opportunity to meet both of my sisters and their husbands for lunch at a restaurant about an hour's drive from my house. This is the first time in a long while that all three couples have managed to get together, so I really wanted to see them. But I also wanted to get to my class, and I figured that I could rush home afterward, shower, and get on the road in time to meet them about twelve-thirty. When I told my daughter about my plans, her response was an eye roll. "Oh, my God!" she said. "You really have to go to karate today?"

"No, I don't have to," I retorted. "But I missed Tuesday, and I don't want to miss two classes in a row." I didn't point out that I am, after all, entering the home stretch in the marathon leading up to my Black Belt testing.

Then tonight I had another choice to make. My grandson and I were both signed up for a Sparring Clinic at seven o'clock, and we had our regular Red Belt class beforehand at six. But the day before yesterday he came home from school with the news that there was a dance tonight that all his friends were going to, and he wanted to go too. (I must add that this would be his first experience of this kind, and Mommy was very excited about it.)

We had seen nothing in writing about this dance, so we spent most of yesterday trying to get details, and until this afternoon we still didn't know if registration was still open. My daughter planned to take him and pick him up, but she asked me to be available to step in if she should have to work late.

As the afternoon wore on, I began to feel more and more like a martyr. I called the karate school and explained that my grandson would not attend the Sparring Clinic and that I probably would not either. Nobody in my family (except my husband, after I pointed it out) seemed to notice that I was giving up something that I really wanted to do just so I could wait and see if my daughter would get home on time. As it turned out, she did. She drove my grandson to the dance and he had a great time.

After they left I felt sort of let down. I sat and watched TV for a couple of hours before I worked up the ambition to start cooking for the karate school picnic tomorrow. So I guess I wasted my time - but maybe it's not so bad to put my family first once in a while, even if they end up not needing me after all.

The First Milestone

My first Black Belt Pre-Test went well yesterday. I arrived almost an hour early, allowing plenty of time to warm up and stretch, and also to review my lower belt forms. I was expecting a very tough afternoon. But as So Bom Nim explained at the outset, the purpose of the session was not drill-and-kill, but evaluation, to see what candidates need more training in what areas.

So for two hours we moved quickly and efficiently through terminology, forms, Il Soo Sik (One-Step Sparring) and kicking. It turned out that some other subjects, including sparring combinations, Ho Sin Sul (Self-Defense), and history/culture, had been covered the night before in the Black Belt Prep class.

Terminology is one of my strengths, so I had no trouble for the most part. There was one combination that threw me, but I can't remember now what it was. All I know is that it didn't sound familiar, so I hope it comes up again in class a few times so I can figure it out before the next pre-test in July.

In forms I was doing okay until I got distracted in the middle of Pyung Ahn Sa Dan and had to bow out. The same thing happened a couple more times on other forms, too. I was by no means the only one having trouble, though. I think there was only one form where nobody bowed out.

For the Il Soo Sik portion, after a change in proctors announcing the techniques to be performed, it took a few minutes to establish a rhythm. During that time I fumbled a few times, but after we all got squared away I did all right until we got to #17 and #18; then I started out with the wrong foot. Sa Bom Nim stopped me and gave me this correction: Whichever foot your opponent leads with, you mirror with the opposite foot; so if your opponent steps in and punches with the right foot, you step out to the left. (Does that sound right?)

My partner for the kicking portion of the pre-test was my friend Janet, who received her promotion to Ee Dan in April. She is younger than I am, but we are both members of the gray-haired sorority, and I feel much more secure with her as my partner than with a bored twelve-year-old. She must have made me look good, because afterward my grandson complimented me on my kicking.

At the very end of the pre-test, Sa Bom Nim announced that each of us candidates would be assigned to a particular instructor who would help us prepare. My mentor/tutor will be Ms. Hennessey; her other charges will be two other adults (Power-Break Jim and my friend Jennie) and two of the younger, smaller children. Should be interesting if she decides to have us all meet for extra training together.

I really appreciate all the effort that Sa Bom Nim and the staff are taking to make sure that we candidates are well prepared. It takes away a lot of the anxiety associated with testing to be assured that they truly wish us well. As Sa Bom Nim expressed it, they want us to be "pre-framed for success."

So now we can buckle down and train even harder, focusing on areas where we now know we need to improve. Then next month's second pre-test can bring about even further refinement, so that by the time we come to the actual testing in October we will really be ready.

The Only Dumb Question

During tonight's Red Belt class, Sa Bom Nim spent quite a bit of time talking to us about the importance of asking questions, emphasizing the protocol involved: Choose the appropriate time, stand at attention, raise your right hand high with the left hand tucked under the elbow, and wait to be called on, then bow and ask the question. He recalled that in his formative years he was always the one with his hand up, because he wanted to learn everything he could. "Seek and ye shall find," he quoted, putting the emphasis on the "seek" part. It is our responsibility as students to dig for the answers.

The Black Belt Prep class which followed was devoted to a review of all our forms, from Basic One all the way to Naihanchi, and then to Ho Sin Sul (Self-Defense), with plenty of opportunity for questions, such as:

"In the opening move of Chil Sung Il Ro Hyung, after the knee strike, which hand punches first?"

"In Bassai Hyung, in the chop-block-punch sequence, is the rear foot supposed to be raised or flat?"

"What is the proper breathing pattern in the opening move of Chil Sung Sam Ro Hyung?"

Pretty sophisticated questions from students whose average age (not counting mine, of course) is probably ten or eleven.

And what was the only dumb question? That's the one that didn't get asked.

Establishing Landmarks

This morning in class I was practicing spin inside-outside kicks and spin hook kicks, because I don't do these very well. I can't seem to get enough rotation. Oddly, I have less difficulty with jump spin kicks; this is probably because when I'm off the ground (admittedly not by very much) I can pivot without putting too much torque on my knee. Sa Bom Nim has told me that it's okay for me to substitute a jump spin kick for a regular spin kick in techniques like Il Soo Sik (One-Step Sparring) #11 and #12, but I want to be able to do both versions.

So today I was really trying to figure out where I need to plant my feet in order to execute the kicks successfully. My target was an adjustable pad set into a heavy-based holder. After about forty repetitions I thought I had the solution; all I had to do was set up with the heel of my kicking foot lined up with the seam in the floor mats. But then after another forty repetitions I realized that using a floor seam as a landmark was really dumb. What would happen to my alignment if somebody moved the target?

What's important is not the abolute position on the floor, but rather the relative position with regard to the target. That meant I had to change what I was looking at. I found that if I reached out at arm's length and touched the target, then stepped backward six inches, that seemed to put me in just in the right place.

This coming weekend is the first pre-test for those of us who are testing for Il Gup, Cho Dan and higher ranks this fall. I hope I can remember and apply what I figured out this morning.

Keeping in Step

One of the many things I do when I'm not training is to act as "sherpa" for my grandson, who is learning to play the bagpipes. This involves a weekly forty-five minute trek to meet his teacher for a lesson or, more recently, for band practice. He has been practicing for almost eighteen months now, and according to his teacher he shows real talent. She expects him to be able to march in the street with the band this summer.

But first he has to memorize five "sets" of tunes. He's pretty sure of the notes when the music is in front of him, but he only has one of the tunes solidly "by heart." So this week at band practice his teacher arranged for him and another newbie to go off by themselves with one of the veteran pipers and just go over one of the sets - and over, and over - until they got it right.

Band practice is held at a local firehouse; there is one very large meeting room where the pipers stand in a circle to practice and another upstairs room where the drummers work on their craft. My grandson, the other newbie, and their mentor ended up in the bay where the firetrucks reside - a very large and resonant space for three bagpipes!

After repeating the tune "Let Erin Remember" for about twenty minutes, my grandson's group was called back to join the others for a practice march. Marching around the village on pleasant summer evenings is a tradition for the band, much anticipated by the local residents. As soon as the first drum roll sounded, people began coming out into their yards or onto their porches, carrying their toddlers, waving and smiling and taking pictures. I heard one man say as we went by, "Ah, summer! The pipers are back!"

Because the streets and lanes in the village are so narrow, the band was arranged in rows of three - five or six rows of pipers plus another four or five rows of drummers. My grandson and the other newbies were place in the middle of their rows so that the experienced pipers on either side could keep track of them and help keep them in step. I marched alongside, just for the experience. We marched in a big figure-eight around the village, moving to the right occasionally to make room for the two or three vehicles that we encountered. It was a lovely night, cool and pleasant, with the scent of wild roses drifting through the soft air. We marched for about half an hour, up hills and down, at the moderately brisk pace of seventy-two beats per minute.

Although in many ways my grandson's karate training has helped him learn to play the bagpipes, it has not prepared him for marching to a beat. Karate definitely has a rhythm, and we learn to move as a team, but there is no specific association between movement and sound. Therefore it has been somewhat of a challenge for my grandson to learn to keep in step. He is definitely improving, but he still finds himself slowing his pace instead of shortening his stride, and vice versa.

As for me, I have marched in parades a few times before, and I have consistenly noticed how much longer and quicker my stride is when I am marching to a beat. Left to my own devices, I tend to stroll at a leisurely pace, which drives my husband crazy. But put me in a line with other marchers and I can step out smartly with the rest of them. I guess this is another example of how teamwork improves the performance of every member of the team.

Writing It Down

People say there are lots of different styles of learning, such as visual, tactile, aural, etc. I haven't figured out yet which style fits me best. I do know, however, that with regard to studying, I have most success with writing things down. With this in mind, I have been writing descriptions of karate techniques ever since I started.

Actually I experimented at first with stick figure diagrams, and then briefly looked into using dance notation as a way of recording forms, but I eventually abandoned these ideas as too labor-intensive, and also too arcane to share with other people. Now I just write stuff down.

Here's an example of my notation for the first Cross-Hand technique in Ho Sin Sul (Self-Defense):

One-on-One Cross-Hand Grab (Opponent grabs defender’s right wrist with his right wrist.)
1. Il Ban (Number One)
a. Rotate right wrist inward and pull toward left shoulder, breaking hold; simultaneously deliver right elbow strike to face.
b. Stepping out to the right into side stance (45 degrees), chop to jaw with right hand.
c. Pivot into right front stance, while delivering left palm strike to face. Ki-hap!
d. Pivot into left front stance, while delivering low spear hand strike to groin, right. Ki-hap!
e. Pivot back into right front guard stance, with left hand forward (open hand).

Forms, because of their complexity, can get very lengthy. Bassai, for example, with fifty-two moves, takes up two full pages and then some. I try to have each bullet point correspond to a move in the form as it would be announced when going step-by-step, or "by the count."

Recently I realized that I had neglected to write up notation for my newest form, Naihanchi Cho Dan. When I started to work on it last night, I found that even though the form itself is quite short, many more words were required to describe it. This is because so much is packed into each move. A defining characteristic of this form is the utilization of the hip, which takes longer to describe than, for example, "punch left."

I haven't finished writing up Naihanchi yet (I kept having to get up and actually do the form until I was able to include all the features of each step before going on to the next. After that I will work on recording Il Soo Sik (One-Step Sparring) techniques #17 and #18. That will bring me up to date, at least until October, or whenever I receive my promotion to Cho Dan. Then I will begin learning and recording a whole new set of forms and techniques.

Getting Ready to Get Ready

Reading about my friend Gregg's experience in his Dan testing last weekend has helped focus my thoughts on my own upcoming Dan test this fall. Because of my experience in testing for Il Gup last fall and my grandson's recent experience testing for his Dan in April, I know what to expect, and I'm glad I have the summer to accomplish a lot of the preparations. But up until now it's been sort of hiding out in the back of my mind. Now, with the First Pre-Test scheduled ten days from now, I realize that I have to stop marking time and get moving.

The first thing I did was to arrive early for class yesterday and do a complete review of lower-belt forms. Some of them I had to repeat two or three times before I could do them without hesitation, proof that I haven't given them as much practice as I need to. During class we reviewed Il Soo Sik (One-Step Sparring), something we haven't gone over very often, and I discovered that I wasn't doing too well on those either. In addition, during the Terminology portion of class, there was one combination that I had a real hard time getting right. So I have a lot of catching up to do.

My friend Jennie is testing for her Il Gup in the fall, too - the only other adult (besides instructors) in the test cycle, as far as I know. She and I were training together yesterday, and in between techniques we talked about getting together to train this summer. I think it will be very valuable for both of us to have a training buddy, especially one who is more or less a peer. Last time my grandson was my training buddy, but his fitness level and natural talent are so far beyond mine that I can't really keep up with him or even relate to what he is doing.

Jennie and I are much closer in ability, so even though she is younger and I am at a more advanced level technically, we should be a good match. Besides, she's fun to be with.

So I am already starting to think about how to organize my schedule to accommodate all the kicking drills, endurance exercises, forms review, repetitions of Il Soo Sik and Ho Sin Sul, and running that will be part of my life from now until October. Oh, and keeping up with my blog entries!