As the title suggests, it’s been 6 weeks since I underwent surgery to reattach my left bicep muscle to the bone. I’m finally able to type without any aggravation, I’m also able to supinate and pronate my hand (there’s only minor pain now) and I can straighten my arm fully with effort (yay! progress!).
To keep my head in the game I’ve gone to my local BJJ club and taken copious notes. My two regular Judo clubs are further afield so I’ve not shown my face other when I’ve taken my children in for their classes. I have really missed it. I’ve missed the push and pull, the camaraderie, the excitement of randori and the intense workout.
In this time I’ve become more at ease with the complexity around alot of the BJJ techniques so this period of rest has helped. It’s given me space to more deeply understand a shown technique I may have seen before rather than trying to replicate it almost immediately. That said, I’m well aware my learning is very incomplete due to my non-participation. I’m also cognizant of just how much my gym mates are going to completely hammer me once I’m back in the game. My upcoming ego destruction when I am defeated by previous foes who were easy pickings is a philosophical benefit. Fantastic! Who am I kidding!?
My mini-project before injury within Judo was to get more fluency with the basic movement of pushing Uke away to set up a desired reaction for a forward technique. So simple and fundamental yet I never really felt it naturally – to get that ‘feel’. No matter how much I read about this, it can really only be achieved through physical practice. It’s these mini-projects that really make a sport, any sport, the challenge that it is. It’s so fascinating how deep a sport can get once you dabble with it for long enough. What’s a real shame is how destructive combat sports are for the body… once you progress in a certain aspect aftera period time your body will halt you. More training = more likelihood for injury.
In the meantime, I’m undertaking some light exercises to my left arm which were prescribed by a physiotherapist. It’s significantly smaller than my right arm now but I’ve stopped caring really. I’m also working on the rest of my body so I can maintain a strong musculature when the time comes to return..