Making
Choices - Life 2 Juan 0
2 June, 2017
Last autumn, I reinjured the knee I damaged in 1996. I was doing a
lot of running, getting back in shape and training towards earning a guaranteed
spot in the 2017 New York City Marathon (NYCM). I’d begun my training the
previous April and was in a good groove. As a result of my injury, I had to forego
my 2017 NYCM dreams. I followed my doctor’s instructions, did the PT (physical
therapy) and slowly my knee was getting better. Before long, I was doing some
cardio training (no running) and playing squash. Throughout all of it, I’d do
some flexibility training and some light Taekwondo training when I could
squeeze it in. I don’t have my own school anymore and I coach volleyball from
August to November so finding a time and place wasn’t - and isn’t - always the
easiest thing.
Recently, I’d gotten into another good groove. I was training
regularly, eating better, and dropping weight. Then I discovered that the
Kukkiwon (the world governing body of Taekwondo) will be holding special
promotion tests in the United States throughout the year in various locations.
One of them is taking place in New Jersey this December. This coming August, I
will have met the time requirement to test for my sixth degree black belt and I’m
using the test as impetus to up my training; all while monitoring the strength
of my knee. I don’t know if my application will be accepted and, depending on
my knee, if I’ll even be able to perform. If I am, I hope I am able to perform
that deems me worthy in the eyes of the examiners, and my own eyes, to be
awarded my sixth dan.
As life would have it, I reaggravated my knee two Sundays ago
while mowing the lawn - our uneven, undulating lawn. I maneuvered the lawn
mower to turn left but it got caught on one of the bumps and didn’t turn. My
knee did, however. All this after completing the Euflexxa treatments my doctor recommended.
So, I went back to the doctor, got another cortisone shot and was given a pair
of loaner crutches. I’ve stopped using the crutches but I still have a minor
limp and there’s still a little stiffness and an occasional shooting pain. I’m
hoping in a week or so that the pain and limp will vanish enough that I can get
back to some cardio and, eventually, light then regular Taekwondo training.
For now and for the next six months, that’s where my focus has to
be. I have to give up squash, which is going to be a killer because I enjoy it,
it’s a great workout and it’s my son’s and my ‘thing’ together. Without a
school and master to train under, I need these opportunities like the Kukkiwon
special promotion test and preparing for it is going to take up much of my
extra energy and time. Like the old Chinese adage says, “One has to eat bitter
to taste sweet.” It’s a choice I hate having to make but it’s one that has to
be made. As much as I love squash and athletic pursuits, Taekwondo is a martial
art and martial arts are about life. They’re not just the physical attributes
one develops through practicing them. If you’re reading this and you’re someone
who knows me well, you know that since 1985 I am and have always been a martial
artist before most everything else. You’ll also know that I didn’t get into
martial arts training for the physical benefits but for the psychological,
spiritual and emotional ones. If I could have a regular place to train, I would
be willing to give up almost everything else to train daily even if my knee
wasn’t injured. The other option, albeit a forced one, is to choose to hang up
my squash racquet and my black belt but that would be completely contrary to what
martial arts are all about. Quitting martial arts just because my physical
abilities have waned decision would be akin to giving up on who I am and what I’ve believed in the last
thirty-two years.
So, while life leads two-nil in our current match, I’m hoping to
pull a goal back in December. And after that, who knows? Maybe I’ll find an
equalizer and even a winner. In the meantime, trying to see a positive out of
all of this, I’m hoping that my predicament can be a lesson my son can learn as
well; that one has to make sacrifices and choices that he might won’t like or
want to make in order to get what he wants or needs.
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