Back to karate - sort of

[pegkerr]

After feeding the girls and dropping them off at the dojo for their class, I dashed to Fiona's school to take in a lecture about the financial aid process for college, which I am sure made a bunch of my hairs *sprung* turn gray, and cut out partway through to hightail it back in time (barely) for my own class. This was the first time I've gone back to karate since the first week of the month.

It was a mixed success. I could do the karate marching basics pretty well. We did slow kicks, and that was fine; I just started from the pivot position when standing on my right leg, rather than pivoting when I raised my leg.

But then we moved on to combinations (i.e., back fist, back leg round kick, turn side kick, turn, repeat on the other side), that hurt. I tried moving through them slowly, not kicking at full power. But the pain continued, and finally I stopped, most unwillingly.

This is frustrating. We'll see how the knee feels tomorrow. I felt I was pretty cautious. I hope trying to go back to class won't lead to a setback. It's going to be a balancing act, to figure out how much of "dealing with an injury" means doing nothing so that it can hopefully heal versus trying to do as much as I can in class and just coping as best I can with the pain. I certainly don't want to cause permanent damage. This is really the first time I've had to balance the demands of my training with a long term injury.

What I did today to make the world a better place: I went looking for more non-profits on Twitter, which might give me leads on small things I can do. Found playpumps, JustGiveOrg, feedachild and FTWM (Feed Them With Music). I donated a dollar through PayPal to get the song video "Mountain Top" at Feed Them With Music (the money will go to Feed My Starving Children, one of the charities my church has worked with. I've gone and packed meals there myself, and Fiona's been almost twenty times, I believe.) The dollar I spent will go to purchase five meals for a hungry child. The song's pretty good, too.

Comments

[jbru.livejournal.com]

Did you talk to your sensei about your injury? I would think he would have ideas about what moves you could/should attempt while recovering and also what other activities you might be able to do in class to hone your skills while you're healing.

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

Yes, I did talk with him (he's coping with some tendon problems of his own). He didn't have specific suggestions, other than to be careful and to use ice. We have another student teacher at our dojo who damaged his ligament much worse than I did, and he's going to have to have surgery. Sensei mentioned that he's been hearing about a lot of people dealing with injuries lately.

[merimask.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you're able to go to your classes again. Even if your routine has to be modified, it's good that you're attending & being with your group. So many people let the speed bump of an injury turn into a road block, so good for you!

[piccolo-pirate.livejournal.com]

Hi, just a lurker, but I used to study karate (taking some time off while in college) and also once sprained my MCL playing rugby, so I have some experience with knee injuries. Everyone heals differently, but I found that with a little rest, compression (I wore an ace bandage a lot) and a lot of ice (ice was really the key), the knee was feeling better in about three weeks. I definitely wouldn't push the karate moves that hurt - the faster you heal up, the faster you'll get back to them and knee injuries tend to linger if you don't baby them. A neoprene sleeve or brace (most drug stores carry them) might help as well.

Anyway, it sounds like you're getting wonderful physical therapy. Good luck with healing and I hope it feels better soon. :)

-Kate

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I have been wearing the neoprene sleeve. I'll try some ice today, too. Thanks for passing along your experience, I appreciate the tips.

[wordswoman.livejournal.com]

Heh...I just earned a few gray hairs of my own, doing all the financial aid paperwork that you just learned about. I think the biggest surprise was realizing that you end up doing your taxes TWICE--once to estimate them in time to file the financial aid forms, and then for real once you get your W-2s and such.

Be thankful you are married to your children's father. It's more than twice as much fun for two-household families. Glurrggggghhhh.

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

Take care of that knee. I'm still paying for knee abuse that dates back forty years.

Pay attention to the Financial Aid stuff. We tracked down enough grants and stipends and stuff that Younger Son managed his PhD debt-free. No loans.

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

We certainly intend to be very aggressive in searching for scholarships; I started trying to learn about it a couple of years ago. We started saving for college when Fiona was two, but we could only save a small amount each month, and nothing for the past two years, with all the unemployment, so the amount we've managed to squirrel away seems pitiful in comparison to what the schools charge.

Rob was the oldest of five kids of a single mother, and he went to Carlton and graduated just about debt-free because of a combination of grants and work-study.

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

Work-study helps a lot, if you are in the right field. Wife's nephew has that at Drexel. He's in computer stuff.

Didn't do much for Younger Son, in research psychology.

[haloquin.livejournal.com]

Good luck!

I'm recovering from a back problem which overtook me, and am feeling a similar frustration trying to get back into Tai Chi... and even more, struggling to return to walking round the Welsh countryside, which I'm missing soooo much. So, you have my sympathies.

Thanks for sharing the good things you've done, I read todays and went and looked up Feed Them With Music, its a fantastic idea! I was considering leavign Twitter, but things like this seem worth keeping on it for. *follows FTWM*

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

Great! I'm glad that my reporting about decreasing worldsuck are sparking off actions and ideas for other people.

I've found that if I find a good non-profit twitter and then take a look at the entities following them, I find more good feeds that way.