The injury that highlights imbalance
Tuesday, October 24th, 2006The sound is what I remember the most. It was a kind of cracking-grinding sound. I thought to myself, “thats funny, it doesn’t hurt that much but it sounded really bad.” I kept thinking that until I realized that I didn’t want my weight on the foot when it is at that angle. I fell, intentionally, to get the weight off of it. Not because it hurt, mind you. Not yet anyway. It was half a calculated decision and half a instinctive reaction. As I fell the plan formulated that I might inspect the ankle after landing to find it undamaged or slightly damaged and either continue sparring or sit out and call it a night. No big deal.
Well, the plan went out the window after I landed. The pain came on in the slow and steady fashion typical of sprains. The quick check of the ankle turned into a minute or so of the desperate struggle to find the angle or position in which it hurts the least. The pain was familiar but surprised me so much that I was at a bit of a loss for what to do about it. As everyone gathered around to be helpful and supportive, I coiled back and began to wonder what could be done to prevent this from happening again. The extremes that always come to mind in extreme situations are the first.
No sparring anymore? No, thats ridiculous. Sparring is a fun and vital part of your training.
No sparring with this guy? No. Thats dumb, saying that gives him control over my injury’s. At least in a hypothetical sense.
Well then no sweep kicks. Hmm. That makes more sense but still something that I cant have consistent control over.
Then, the most logical answer to the problem came to me. One that maintains my control over my life experience. I prefer this type of answer because it is the only kind of solution you can rely on. It really is simple: after rehabilitating the injured ankle I will strengthen it to withstand much worse abuse than what caused this injury.
So, the next step is to patiently wait for recovery and proceed with rehabilitation. In the mean time I will calculate a stretching and basic workout routine I can do anywhere.
You see, this is something I should have been doing all along. Without this kind of regular stretching and strengthening I was bound to get injured eventually. My training has been imbalanced, with stretching and strengthening only accompanying the training I was doing. Three days a week is insufficient, at least in regards to how hard I push myself on those days. So now I will balance my training and gain better overall physical fitness as a result no doubt.