Ok I don´t know yet what I can do with an inflamed shoulder but I am sick of not being able to use my right arm, at the training session yesterday I used it anyway but I take it easy and try not to do more damages.

I have an appointment with a  physiotherapist today and I look forward to it.

Remy and Michel were present yesterday , we worked mainly on the legs I think Mikael adapted the training to my disability ! which was nice so I could participate. We did some killer leg drills , lots of kicks and stability exercises.

it actually got the best of Remy at some point who felt really sick for a while, the picture says it all, great session !

This weekend was good,  on saturday I decided I would go running  all the way to my old friend, The stairs. I thought I would just run there to see how it looks like but I actually had enough energy to run them up ! twice !! I stopped three time on the first go and only once on the second, which is kind of good considering it was the first time of the year. At the top I did some shadow boxing and footwork ,  it was very cold but it felt so good, the feeling of fresh air and freedom was incredible. I still have one challenge in my head , beat Michel´s time!

On the way back I heard a noise in the woods and stopped , it is after some time that I realized I was standing at 3 meters from a deer, he was just standing there looking at me, I felt really amazed and looked for my camera and by the time I had it all set to take a picture,  the deer was gone ! I remember thinking, why on earth don´t I enjoy the moment instead !!!! Something to think about for next time…

So the result is : inflamed shoulder and nothing wrong with the elbow. This is very interesting, I have pain in my elbow as soon as I do anything with my right arm and I don´t really feel the pain in my shoulder , it is more located in the neck and all the way down the back. I feel I don´t really know what I should do here, training hard as usual will be a bad idea says the doctor, for now there is no such damage that would require  surgery but it can easily be worse if I do something wrong.

The question is what is wrong ? I will start with rehabilitation next week and we will see what my options are. I certainly don´t want to destroy my chances for life, if I need to rest my arm in order to regain 100% of its fonction I will have to do it , even if it kills me to not be able to train straight leads and hooks !!!!!

If I look at the positive aspect,  I can say I will developp a hell of a good cross and will get used to train on my left side instead. That way when I am back on track, I will be able to use both sides equally and switch whenever I want to confuse the person sparring with me !

Seriously, I have been down and really upset about this but it is time to adapt to this new situation and make the best of it .

that´s it, I am done with not being able to train, something will have to happen now. I am scheduled to the Xray tomorrow morning, I won´t get an answer right away but I decided I will start training anyway and already did.

I worked on footwork and shadow boxing yesterday, I take it easy of course because my back is limiting my movements and my right arm is not good enough , but it is better as the constant pain is gone, I only feel it when I move and if I take it easy I think it will be fine, I will try anyway because I am getting insane soon !

The sun is shining we have beautiful days in Sweden now,  this is the right time to start with outside training, biking and running, can´t wait to pay a visit to the stairs!

Scandinavia is the most depressive place to be in the winters, but the rest of the year is beautiful and the presence of the light can´t be wasted a single minut, so let´s go !

So I thought , well I will train the left side if the right is out of order for the time being, but that is not so easy. there is also something wrong with my back and the doctors say NO TRAINING !

Not only my arm is hurting 24 /7 , so does  my neck , upper and lower back , result : I can do nothing and after two weeks,  I start loosing my mind. I am tired of the pain and depressed.

I tell to myself : what was I whining about last year with my arm injury ? that was nothing, I could at least train other things, now I am totally useless because when the back is not working nothing works! I have difficulty working, walking, sleeping, you name it .

I am waiting for an X ray, it can take 10 days says the doctor, only after that can I get a treatment.

Nobody came to the training today so I had Mikael all for myself!

We worked  on my ” problems” and I have some homework to do.

That feels very good and I want more of that.

I hit the bag and worked on kicks and  footwork movement to the sides. I have a serious problem with my movement to the right, it feels more natural to me to the left but I really suck when it comes to the other side, so I worked on it with Mikael and repeated until it became better but  it did not ! I worked on it by myself on the bag and will do that at home as well until this looks and feels better.

Repeating the movement again and again is helping me, on the bag I stepped to the right side with a showel hook and right after that with a corkscrew, the footwork seems easier on the heavy bag but when Mikael throws a punch at me,  I can´t get it right , I am just too slow…!  I felt a bit frustrated but I know that the more I work on it the better it will get, it cannot come out right all of a sudden like magic! Mikael says my form is changing and it feels like it, I got a deeper understanding of what I am doing now, this is good but the thing is,  I have so much work ahead. I really get it, JKD requires so much work before anyone can be any good !  There is always something you suck at ! but well, accepting it and training on it until you get better is the spirit so … let´s do it .

Yesterday at the gym,  I tried to increase the weights, I have to get stronger.

I was just looking at the last sparring videos,  it is good for me to do that every now and then, I see more clearly what needs to be worked on.

Without any doubt,  I am too light and it seems I don´t have any strength at all ( especially when I sparr against Mikael,  it is like a bee fighting an elephant 🙂 ) . I also need more stability,  I am  bouncing too much, I  need to be more clean in my technique and get more power, the list is long so I will only concentrate on that for now.

These videos are old,  I have worked on this since then but I need more work and we will see if there is any improvement next time we get the sparring on film.

Mikael told me yesterday I have to work on determination, he will show me how next time,  I look forward to it.

We did not have a group session yesterday; I had a private training with Mikael instead.

First he asked me to show him my footwork, then we worked on mitts.

Special attention was made to the hook, I could feel the difference as Mikael corrected my position, and we worked on it quite a while.

Then we used the focus paddle for more hooks and we added side and hook kicks.

We did some rounds with the large kicking pad

Punches with full power / knee kicks / hook kicks

Then rounds with only punches

And rounds with only hook kicks

All this on both sides

Then I fell down on the floor to catch my breath 🙂

The session was very intense, I am happy to have improved my hook and also happy for the session, it was hard work as I was the only one working all the time, there were no breaks whatsoever.

These sessions are so good for the stamina, body and mind. During a private session I get all the attention and it allows me to progress even faster as I get to work very hard until Mikael is happy with the result.

There is no question about the fact that my personal training during the week is so important, I could not get better with only training on Sundays this is impossible, the work that I do alone is the base for me to absorb that private training with Mikael even better, and then the group training is application.

We talked yesterday about improvement, how crutial the personal work is and that it is the reason why so many people drop off.

It honestly takes years of dedication and hard work and this is first after a couple of years that some techniques can be understood better.

It is part of the reason why I love JKD so much, first because I have a great instructor who makes me want to succeed, then because JKD is my life style,  I would not have it any other way.

So even if my back and my arm hurt like hell today,  I will train by myself tonight according to my schedule and I look forward to next private session with Mikael and next group session !

I worked almost one hour on footwork and on guard position, trying to find my center, basically that is all I did yesterday. Let me tell you that sounds boring, but is is a lot of work, I felt it on both legs and this is really good news for me !

OH My … yesterday I asked Mikael for an additional sparring session because I think I really need it.

When he arrived I had dressed in the Bruce Lee yellow suit and it was difficult for Mikael to start the session as he was laughing at me all the time. I is actually impossible to train with the suit on because it is far too warm, I had to change after 10 minutes.

That was the funny part. Now, yesterday was NOT my day, I took many straight leads right in the face and punches in the arm and I just had not any feeling for it at all. I felt worthless and heavy as two elefants,  at least !

Mikael told me I had to accept days like this and that it will be better,  I can´t just have lost all I learnt, this is a set back. Of course difficult to accept when the body just refuses to do as I say ! But I think it is also a mental problem and considering all that happened lately,  it is not that strange.  

But  I am not too worried because I have felt like this before and it came back. So I ´ll just keep on working ! and have a POSITIVE attitude.