Busy, Busy, Busy

Well, where to start…

Last month my blog was very depressing.  Not only to me as I wrote it, but by judging from the replies I received, depressing for the readers as well.  Nothing has changed as far as the condition of my knees.  They still hurt, throb, swell, clunk, lock, etc, etc.  At one point I was ready to give up on all that I love (not my family but my hobbies/passions).  My wife said it right, I was completely heartbroken.  It wasn’t because I had been injured.  I mean, between Muay Thai, BJJ, and skiing, I’ve been injured a lot.  I’ve learned to accept it and hope to heal quickly.  This was different though because it had been so long since I’d had a major injury to my knees.

Growing up as a kid/teenager/young adult, I suffered several traumas to my knees resulting in several surgeries (6 to be exact), crippling pain, and months and months of rehab.  I was very upset this time around because I know exactly what I face.  There’s no, “Let’s wait and see what happens.”  I know what is on the horizon, and I’m REALLY not looking forward to it.

My initial reaction was to cancel all my competitions/trips/fun.  I was supposed to go to the Provincial BJJ Championships put on by the OJA, but I canceled that.  I lost my hotel fees and still haven’t been refunded my entry fee.  Then I was going to cancel my Whistler trip.  I basically decided that I would eat the money that I had spent.  Well, my wife was against me canceling.  The guys that I was going with were against me canceling.  Basically all were against me canceling.  After a lot of thinking and a lot of research about ACLS and leg muscles, I decided to go.  I had expected to come back on crutches.  My aggressive style of skiing doesn’t bode well for ACLless knees.  Somehow though, I came back with only a little swelling.

The final thing I was considering calling off was my Blue Belt grading.  This was actually to be my first ever grading if you can believe that.  All of my promotions in SAW and Muay Thai were based on performance.  I received my SAW black belt by defeating a Judo black belt in a grappling match.  I received the rank of Kru in Muay Thai by spending my time training and getting in the ring to fight.  So this something new I was facing in my martial arts career.  Like I said, I was considering calling it off.  My wife was right, I was heart broken.  It was like my will to look on the bright side of this situation was gone.  Anyways, after talking with my wife, my professor, and receiving a surprise email of encouragement from a team member, I decided to go ahead with it.  Result…  Blue Belt!

Tomorrow I will attend my first BJJ class as a Blue.  I’m going to keep it up as long as I can.  I know that when I have surgery, I’m going to fall way behind all my team mates.  This is actually the first time in my BJJ career that I feel like purple, maybe even brown, is attainable…