So I went to the morning class today...and as it always seems to go, whenever I take a day off to go to a different class, I end up in a class covering something I LOATHE. Today...standing guard passes.
I've gotten MUCH better at them that I used to be, but they'll never be a go-to pass for me. Too much risk of knee pain (I'm low on cartilage) and bad balance (high center of gravity). I talked to KickboxerInstructor about it for a bit today, and he made some suggestions (again, not trying to dead lift my opponent) that should help some, but the whole thing got me really focused on the difference in emotionally dealing with things about myself that I CAN change, vs. those that I can't. I love self improvement and I can will myself through just about any quest I care about and set my mind to--but accepting short comings isn't always easy. I realized today that...
I can...
Lose weight
Build muscle
Increase my lung capacity
Improve my cardio
Fix my clicking hips (going well btw with the use of some of those stretches)
Improve my flexibility (The 100 day chin-to-toe challenge has restarted and is going well)
Eventually get my heels to my glutes when lying down. (Thanks to my chrio for finding the root cause of that issue)
I can't...
Become one of those "fast people"
Have good knees (weighted squats won't be in my future, and I may never do all the exercises in FlowFit)
Totally eliminate my breathing issues
Not gonna lie...having to talk to yet another instructor about my knee issues, it shuts me down. I was deeply frustrated and mentally checked out of the lesson until we got back to being 100% on the ground. As much as I've made peace with body, there are a few issues (like the knee deal), that I'm just starting to accept as limitations. I guess that's because before training, it wasn't THAT big a deal, just annoying and occasionally painful. Now though, it's kept me from working huge portions in class.
I think going into training this art, I had the mindset that I was going to "clean house"...break down old walls and find new horizons to work toward. I have, but I really didn't expect to find new ones that I didn't really know (or maybe admit) existed. I guess that's part of the process too.
knees are the achilles heal of BJJ. because your legs are in constant movement and twisting they are more easily hurt. I have learned to roll with partners who aren't overly aggressive, and the ones that are aggressive, i try and control, whether by holding them or even stalling. No sense in risking long term injury for a short term submission.
ReplyDeleteI love your approach to this. Instead of the somewhat childish approach to martial arts (or life itself) with the I can do ANYTHING I put my mind to, yours seem more like I can do anything I put my MIND to. It's not about the "anything" part but what is actually possible and practical and then excelling in those.
ReplyDelete@Manny, that is so true
ReplyDeleteTrudy, I love the twist you made on that saying. T-shirt!