After last session a month ago I complained about muscle soreness which seemed to take longer than usual, today after 4 weeks I still can´t use my arm and it is because of a deeper problem, I actually have nerve damage and muscle inflamation. I feel pain constantly and cannot do anything with the right arm at all. The doctor says no training at least until I start to feel an improvement.I am going to work on my lower body instead for a while as soon as I don´t feel the tension in my back anymore.

It is very frustrating, this is always a major problem for me, I am going to loose my muscle mass again and my JKD is going to suffer from it, one more time! I have been there before and I know how this is affecting me. Even if I have trained JKD for 9 years now I don´t have the pretention to say I am good enough to take a break and get back just where I was, I know the work this is going to take afterwards and it feels like I am taking some steps back, that really bothers me.

I always try to stay positive but this is a part of a journey and the meaning of this blog, describe my feelings and experiences. I am in a pretty bad phase right now, my mission is to take myself back up again.

Yesterday after a mild hit on the head I felt a pain in my neck down to the middle of my back , nothing I haven´t felt before, I get this sometimes. Anoying and painful and I feel tired because of it but I know it will get better,  I am getting help with it it,  should be fine soon.

Micke on the other side got a real workout yesterday as Mikael tried to push him a little harder, he knows when people have more to give and have a tendency to give up to soon, this is why he pushed him a little more this time. Only good if you ask me, I know that by experience. So I felt sad I could not participate but I will next time.

one of the most common problems is to be stiff and stressed, too concentrated or thinking to much, achieving relaxation and control without showing it too much is not an easy task. I noticed that I and even some other people like Will after a while became more relaxed and by that the technique looks better. Sometimes trying too much is not the way there are things we need to accept such as IT TAKES TIME ! Noone will be good at it in just a couple of years.

For my part I have trained with Mikael for 8 years now and I still have a long way to go but I don´t get depressed because I know what it takes and perseverence is for those who really want it so if after 8 years I am still here it must be because I want it  for real ! 🙂

Nobody showed at last training session so I had my instructor all for myself ! I went through the punches and kicks tehnique to finish with rounds on the heavy bag. I was  not feeling at my best because I have been sick, I did not have too much energy so I said I would not stress myself too much and I felt no pressure,  this is where I noticed I get better when I am relaxed !

That was the theme of the wednesday session! at first I worked on technique on mitts, punches and kicks, then Mikael took a long stick and that was the real beginning of the session.

I had to punch above the stick without touching , with right technique and extension, the height  gradually increased and I also had to increse tempo. Same exercise with all kicks and both sides.

Then uppercuts from side to side also moving forward and backwards, that was hard on the legs and to finish me off I had to jump over the stick from side to side and with movement back and forth when I could not do it anymore Mikael just put the stick on the floor and I had to jump until I dropped!

This is very hard but good for the balance and the elasticity,  it is like jumping rope but harder.

I definetely need more of that, Mikael said I did good but I  will  do better next time!

Yesterday was all about lifting weights and stuff.  That was hard but needed, I try to lift heavier weights to gain back some muscle that I lost but I don´t overdo it, that would be stupid to injure myself again…

Mikael and I worked out for one hour only , we decided it was enough considering the hard work we put in it.

I so look forward to when the light is back! I want to ride my bike or go running, this year the winter has been the hardest since I live here, so I will enjoy every minute of the light as soon as it is back !

We worked on the bag and then on mitts, shadow boxing and finished with wrestling.

Mikael noticed I lack speed in my recovery and my hook also needs some work. We worked on this for a while but I have to do the work at home by myself during the week.

Wrestling is difficult, we are talking about 51kgs vs 110 kgs even if I fight like a mad mosquito I go down eventually and that´s it! There is no way I can get out of there without using some nasty stuff, but we play nice so I tried everything else…. No did not work! J

Good to work on this though, it makes me manage the stress and think about openings and solutions.

We hope for an outdoor training in the weekend, we have lots of snow so we will see if the slope is reachable.

I so look forward to the spring… there is nothing like training outside in the sun I really miss this.

Yesterday was surely the toughest shadow boxing session I have even done, Mikael made sure I worked until my arms dropped!

It was very intense for the body and for the mind as well,  I was not allowed to give up even when my arms gave up!

I really liked the mind game of the session. First I worked  in front of the mirror with intensity and speed, then in front of Mikael with movement and no touch, then light touch.

I worked on technique on the heavy bag after that.

This session was hard but it felt good, I felt relaxed. I thought about it afterwards and it is so amazing how the footwork comes naturally with the technique, even if I still have some work to do on the flow.

At some point Mikael said  not to use it, I felt so strange and unnatural which is a good sign. When I train alone I do it right and then wrong to feel the difference.

 Mikael decided to add shadow boxing to the end of each sessions from now on,  that will for sure finish me off!

Yesterday we worked with weights and wrestling. For me who is half Mikael´s weight ( ! ) it is very hard to get out when I am down, the only thing that would (maybe) work in this case is the ugly stuff, but this is training we are not here to hurt each other so I just tried my best  but let´s face it, it does NOT work! when you are 50kgs and down under a 100kgs guy who knows what to do , you´re dead! I managed quite well to stay on my feet at first but eventually I went down. This is a good exercise to mesure the level of stress and energy, the time when you are in such a position where you can´t breathe anymore, then you can say stop but in real life you can´t, that is why it is so good to train these techniques.

Weight lifting was well needed as well, we don´t do enough of that but  we have changed our training schedule now.

Yesterday´s session was not so good for me. I could not get the flow going, it is common every now and then to not feeling it. I accept it, this is the way it goes , I just have to pick myself up and keep going.

I have had low times before and felt pretty bad about it, I learnt that the negative energy does not help , keeping a positive attitude and keeping going no matter what,  helps greatly. The fact that I have such a good instructor has my confidence running on a more balanced level so I am not worried,  I get the best guidance I will pick it up !

On wednesday I was the only one training, we worked on pads , feeding and reaction , combinations and kicks .

I added some pushups situps and  weight lifting. I was happy I could do pretty clean pushups and was able to use my arm almost with no problem. Recovery for me is almost complete this is good news.

I regained almost all my muscles as well, this is thanks to the work I did at the gym these two last months.

During training especially sparring I am careful now because I cannot offer a third injury , I am now out of the tunnel and so glad I can train as usual.

I won´t be able to train on sunday because tomorrow I am going home to France, I will only be there a few days and back just in time for next group session:-)