Today on my drive home from Krav, I realized I wasn’t in any pain. I wonder how long I’ve been not hurting.
Oh, and BTW, I’m drug free. No ibuprofen before or muscle relaxers after.
I’m looking forward to taking my Krav evaluations when I get to that point. It’s not what I was looking for, but it’s nice to have a measure of progress.
Still haven’t done a lot of fencing lately, but I’ll keep you posted when I do.
I know it’s been awhile since I updated. I got a tattoo last Tuesday and am letting it heal, so I haven’t done much fighting.
I did attend a fencing event last weekend. I took classes and marshaled the field. It was nice to absorb knowledge without worrying about when I was supposed to be on the field to fence. It was lousy that I couldn’t fight, but my friends were all supportive even if they were disappointed. People I respect told me that I’m on the right track. I’ll be cleared to fight next Tuesday, and after that, I have some specific things to work on.
Tonight I’ll be co-presenting with Nik at the university tonight. We put together a panel for this year’s Pensacon about the portray of swords in the media versus the way swords were (and still are) used in real life. It was the most popular non-celebrity panel, and we actually had to turn people away, so we’re trying to make it more accessible to people who are interested. We’re hoping to have a bigger space next year!
So basically right now I’m all talk and no fight. I’ll let you know when I’m back.
Doing the advance-lunges at home is difficult in the space I’m in, but I did it.
I’m having a lot of trouble with this exercise from a pedagogical standpoint. I’m going to keep doing it while I’m looking into how exercises like these help people. However, I’ll be modifying each day’s routine into a paired drill.
Today I went to practice and helped teach. I did my official lunges before class and while Nik was explaining hand position.
I also did lunges and basic footwork with my students. Sometimes I go to the front and help teach, but I like being in the ranks with everyone else to show that even if you’ve been doing this for a few years, it’s always good to go over the fundamentals.
The shoulder is okay. Lowering the target helps. My quads are still tight. I stopped to stretch frequently. I think this tightening might be causing me to narrow my stance a bit. I don’t know how much this change will impact my fencing. More on that later, I suppose.
Krav was rewarding but brutal today. I think my attempts to improve my running have only fatigued me and tightened my legs up so far. In addition to fighting and yoga, I spent some time on the elliptical twice last week. I guess I need to slow down or do something else for cardio. I’m also going to add more rigorous stretching no matter what I do. I always stretch before activity. Apparently I’m not doing enough.
As always, if anyone out there knows good stretches for the quadriceps, I’m open to suggestions. My calves could probably use some love too.
Today I skipped Krav and went to fencing to see off my friend who is moving. I got to help teach and spar a little bit. I also worked in 100 lunges. Now we’re adding an advance step.
My legs are sore, but my shoulder is finally piping down. No anti-inflammatories or muscle relaxers for the past few workouts.
Yesterday I hit the gym with Nik and worked the left arm more than the right as much as possible. I figure if I’ve overdeveloped the muscles on the right side without trying over the course of 30 years, if I make a concerted effort to catch up the left side, then it should take less than 30 years. Wish me luck.
After our gym time, we did a demo with the UWF fencing club. The event itself was poorly organized but well-attended. Our students were awesome, as always. They were where they were supposed to be and doing what they were supposed to do regardless of how hectic everything got.
Even though I didn’t do my usual regimen of ibuprofen before and muscle relaxers after, I wasn’t in pain after the gym and the demo (which was short, I admit), so I feel like that’s a step in the right direction.
Today I did my lunges after doing 30 minutes on the elliptical and 5 minutes on the punching bag at the gym. My punches are getting better. The big knuckles are the ones with the chafing from my gloves!
I don’t know how much lowering the target for my lunges helped me because I’m still sore around the edges from Krav last night (it wasn’t nonstop like Monday, but it was a challenging class, and we did go over our time). I hit the target more often than not. When the movement gets robotic, I get sloppy.
I’m taking ibuprofen before combat activities and a muscle relaxer after (like as soon as I get home so I’m not a zombie the next day). Shoulders are stiff but starting to get back to where they were, flex wise. Now my calves are angry with me. Fortunately, what I’m experiencing now is soreness, not pain.
long term goal: 108 years old, isolated from society, referred to by the children of nearby village folk only as “the crone,” holding a sword at all times
I did an hour of yoga today and then decided to revisit the lunge challenge. As soon as I started, it felt wrong. I couldn’t figure it out right away, but I’ve decided that my target is too high. I moved it down so that it’s more or less parallel to my heart. Maybe holding the sword lower (you know, like I do when I fence) will help.
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