30th of June : Working of some laziness...

Today's stats:

• Weight: Not measured.
• Training location : @Home
• Duration: 1h00m
• Intensity: Moderate

Amituofo!
So... my knee is as swollen as it was yesterday. So bending/walking etc is not an option. But, the pain started to drop again. If it feels like this tomorrow then I can get some work done tomorrow and make my boss happy :)

This evening I was really gutted that I couldn't do anything with this beautiful weather. So to get rid of some frustration and to get rid of last weeks laziness I decided to do a upper-body workout like I did when the whole knee issue started.
I took my last pain killers in the morning and didn't feel to much pain during the day, so it should be fine to kick up the heart rate and blood pressure a bit. I truly believe (although I cannot back this up scientifically, just by experience) it's also help full for the healing process to get the blood pumping and to put the body in 'muscle building' mode.

I did a lying down fitness workout. In 3 sets I did a total of:

• 75 bench presses with elbows close to body, for punching power
• 75 leg lifts (to work the lower abs) 
• 75 bench presses with elbows wide, for shoulder strength
• 75 sit ups (to work the upper abs)
• 75 bench presses 'diamond' style, to work the triceps
• 75 side leg lifts right leg (for the side abs)
• 75 side leg lifts left leg ( for the side abs)
• 75 butterflies (with arms bend, since I want power for hook punches and not over stretch my shoulders)
• And finally 30 'side slashes',  don't know if there is an official name for this. Basically mimicking a neck slash from inside out, like in one of my earlier wing chun practice videos 

So my body feels like it finally had to do some work after one and a half week.
Feels so good! Now just hope my knee heels quickly. I am afraid though that I will be overloading it more often in the coming weeks, since I have the feeling that I don't get pain signals from it when I overload it. Thinking back, what I have know is exactly what I had when it all started (knee swelling up and feeling sore with no appearant reason or pain warning, and now hurting in exactly the same place), just hope that I am not back at square one... then it will take a long time to recover since now the doctor cannot see anything on a MRI scan anymore. But let's assume it is just overloaded due to my everlasting stubbornness.

For those interested in working out while keeping your leg up and un-loaded.
Here is an example (PS... didn't count this set in the list that is above... so should add 25 bench presses to the list ;) ):

Amituofo!

Hmmm... that doesn't feel good

Amituofo!

Small update.
My knee was doing very well last week. On Saterday I was able to walk without limping, and I even joined Tai Ji class (I felt I had to since it was my last class). And that went all just fine. Yesterday (Sunday) however, something went wrong. I visited my parents house and drove by car to the village that they live in. I was allowed to drive (doctors advice) when I was able to walk en bend my knee pain free again, so that didn't seem to be a problem. When I got out of the car on the way back home however, my knee didn't feel right. And I was feeling pain when I stood on it. This pain got really severe when I got home, and I needed to take pain medication again. This time I also took the 'heavy' pills, which I didn't need after the surgery, that's how intense the pain was (and now still is).

My knee got all swollen and I cannot bend or stretch is now. So I think I will be confined to bed for a couple of days.

Hope I can walk again soon.

Amituofo!

23th of June : Knee surgery

Today's stats:

• Weight: 80.6kg
• Training location : euhhh... Hospital Gelderse Vallei Ede
• Duration: 0h20m + 3 hours cooling down ;P
• Intensity: Bone crushing ;)

Amituofo!

First some errata of all my previous post:
I was under the assumption that patella was English for meniscus.
I just found out that this is not true, the knee cap is the patella...
I never had problems (or thought I had) on the patella, it was always the meniscus I suspected. Just so you know.

Today was surgery day... I have to admit that I was super nervous for the past couple of days, and I did not get to much sleep.

Today was an adventure on it's own... although it was very exiting, lying on a bed, being transported to the operating room, getting a needle and sedative stabbed in your spinal cord, and watching a video screen where you see a doctor cutting and removing parts in your knee....  although all that, I have to say that it was all over before I could blink an eye. The surgery went OK. My knee is relatively ok, no damage to the ligaments, no damage to the condyles. Just the meniscus that is busted up a bit. They had to cut a way some parts but that was the best scenario, so I am lucky.

Now I will just have to endure a couple of days of pain, and then recovery can start. (Yeah! back to moving my lazy body again!)

So I hope to be able to join our last Kung Fu training on Friday! Even if I can just do some stretching and qi gong, that would be great!

Amituofo and a good evening!

19th of June (and 18th): Most likely my last training of this season...

Today's stats:

• Weight: 78.6kg
• Training location : Malden Gym
• Duration: 1h30m
• Intensity:Moderate

Amituofo!
Sorry, I forgot to post an update yesterday...
My knee is getting worse since yesterday :(. It feels like something is pushing against the posterior cruciate ligament. So I have been taking it easy a bit. Walking is also a bit harder now. It also feels like my calf on the left leg is getting short and stressed.. I did join the Tai Ji class yesterday evening but it did not go so well. Couldn't focus.

This evening I did Kung Fu training. Next week is the last class of this season, and since Tuesday is surgery day, I guess today was my last class. (I still hope I can walk and do stretching and qi gong next friday, but the odds on that are fairly slim.

Tomorrow is my birthday, which I never really celebrate since I get a day older everyday, so I don't see the point.... I don't even like getting older, so why would I celebrate such an event, strange habbits we humans have...

Since it is my birthday, I will go to Tai Ji class :) I just love kung fu so why not practice on my birthday :)

I think this is my last post for the coming days. Since I want to give my leg some rest before the operation. I'll do some stretching and such, but I will not go for intense training until next week is over...

So hope to see you back here next week!

Amituofo!

17th of June

Today's stats:

• Weight: 78.6kg
• Training location : Goffert Park
• Duration: 1h00m
• Intensity: Low

Amituofo!
My body felt sore from yesterdays training. So today I decided not to do the planned upper body workout, but to do stretching, Qi Gong and Tai Ji. I really see a pattern that each time that I do a 'kung fu' workout, either external or internal, after it my knee feels better and has more mobility. Could be just because I like to think that, but its really starting to form a pattern. I also noticed that walking and sitting with my knee bend 90 degrees, decreases mobility.

Tomorrows workout will depend on the weather. But in the evening it is time for Tai Chi lessons anyway.
For now, have a good evening!

Amituofo!

16th of June : Good news and bad news

Today's stats:

• Weight: not measured
• Training location : Gym Uranusstraat
• Duration: 1h30m
• Intensity: Moderate

Amituofo!
Last couple of days where exiting. Had to go back to the hospital for the results of the MRI scan. Good news and bad news: All the ligaments are in place and appear OK on the scan. The medial meniscus however looks pretty damaged on the scan. I have to have knee surgery to determine the exact amount of damage and to remove or repair broken parts.
Pretty scary that they are going to put probes and camera's and pliers and such in my knee and remove parts of me...

Last couple of days my knee started to swell as well. I think I am walking to much. 2nd part of the day I worked from home with my leg up, and that seemed to work. Swelling was a bit less after a couple of hours... still went for 1.5h of kung fu training though... Was a nice training! We did a quick warm up, Ji Ben Gong, Wu Bu Quan, Lian Huan Quan in groups, and some free Tao Lu training. Then we spend some time on sparring, haven't done that in months! (Traditional techniques, not modern sparring). So I finally got a chance to try some Wing Chun techniques in practice. Man that is hard. I really enjoyed sparring especially with Sam, who has done many years of Pack Mei Pai Kung Fu. I do have to say that Pack Mei has some really good penetrating punches that are really hard to block/counter. This really got me in the mood to practice more Wing Chun again :)

Coming week I will take it a bit easier with my knee, so that means I'll try to walk less... I don't want to break more before the surgery. I think I will do some upper body fitness work out and some stretches tomorrow, Tai Ji on Thursday (last lesson is approaching), Kung Fu training on Friday (last official one for this season for me)... But that you can read later this week.

Here some of the material I use for inspiration!

Have a good day,

Amituofo!

13th of June

Today's stats:

• Weight: not measured
• Training location : Fitness Body & Mind
• Duration: 1h00m
• Intensity: Low

Amituofo!
I felt tired today. Mentally, not so much physically. But after Tai Ji class I was feeling quite well again, still a bit tired though. After Tai Ji, Linda thought me some more Mandarin, but I couldn't really focus today. Was fun never the less though :)
Although I made the choice not to continue this style of Tai Ji for now, I will sure mis it on the Saterday morning, it is a really nice group of people to be with.
I hope I can learn Shaolin Rou Quan soon, then I will practice that in the morning!

My knee is protesting a bit today and it seems more sensitive then previous days, so rest of the day I took of from training and instead spend some time in the kitchen and doing some other house hold tasks.

Have a good day,

Amituofo!

12th of June : Getting back in the zone.... and getting a swollen knee :(

Today's stats:

• Weight: 79.5kg (what!!! and that before the weekend)
• Training location : Goffert park & Malden Gym
• Duration: 1h00m & 1h30m
• Intensity: Moderate & Moderate

Amituofo!
Today was a fun day. Weather was beautiful and I felt like working up a sweat during the lunch break. So instead of Qi Gong I decided to do Tao Lu practice, internal style (Which means focus on breathing and power/speed explosions on certain points). I started out with some stretches and did all hand forms I know twice. After that I did some Qi Gong anyway to relax.

In the evening we were with only a couple of people on our Friday training. So we did a short Shi Yan Ming warm up and some Ji Ben Gong, and then we continued with free practice. Since my knee got a bit swollen today I took it easy and practiced balance today, still quite intense cause you are using a lot more muscle when you do things slow and intense and focus on balance.

Here's an example of Lian Huan Quan balance practice :
(and please don't mind my residue of my fat days shining through my white t-shirt :P)

As you see I am not limping anymore :), but that doesn't mean my knee is ok :(

Tomorrow it's Tai Ji again, and if the weather is nice, I might go for some Wu shu practice in the afternoon, but lets first see if my knee is not acting up tonight...

Have a good evening,

Amituofo!

11th of June : From excitement to disappointment

Today's stats:

• Weight: 78.6kg
• Training location : Goffert park & Fitness Body and Mind
• Duration: 1h00m & 1h00m
• Intensity: High & Low

Amituofo!
Got good and bad news...
I thought, lets turn my injury in a opportunity, so I decided that after my knee is fixed, I will go to live as a Shaolin monk for a month this summer :)
I send Shaolin Temple Ottenberg (Germany) a mail if I could live and train there for a month. And today I got confirmation that I can!
So I posted the joyful news on FB and 10 minutes later I received a message from a Shaolin kung fu friend, that the Ottenberg temple might not be connected to the Shaolin temple as they claim on their website. So that was very disappointing! This is indeed confirmed on the website of the (official) Berlin temple, but it is an old message (2008). So I now send the official temple in Berlin a message to check on the status of the Ottenberg temple. If the temple is not connected I don't think I will go there... not because that its not connected, that doesn't mean it is not a good experience, but because I do think lying and mis-using the Shaolin name pure for commercial benefit is not in line with the Buddhist believe, which they also claim to follow/teach.

Anyway... back to training....
Today I tried a high intensity workout at the Goffert park. I tried if push ups are possible (since that requires some force from my knee) and that went fine. So today I could do a good upper body workout.

So after a nice walk to the park, which now takes a little more time since I normally would run, I did the following divided over 3 rounds:

• Push ups 45x (Elbows close, good for punch speed)
• Sit ups straight 90x (With 2 punches on each lift)
• Push ups 45x (Arms wide, good for shoulder strength)
• Sit ups sideways left 90x
• Sit ups sideways right 90x
• Push ups 30x (Diamond style, good for triceps)
• Superman's 75x (Good for the back, also have to train that to outbalance the abdominals

As mentioned, the above divided over 3 sets. I did each set in one go without pause. After each set a one minute stretching pause. After this workout, which was quite intense I finished with a 25 minute Shi Yan Ming style stretching session.
Then I walked back. It was nice to see my friends the bunnies again :)

In the evening it was time for Tai Ji practice at Clemens Kwee's school.
Some stances in Tai Chi are still quite hard with my knee problem, but also that is going better and better.

Tomorrow it is Qi Gong and Wu Shu time again!

For now I wish you all a very good evening.

Amituofo!

Some old motivational movie (in slomo) :)

10th of June : First trip to the goffert parc since weeks

• Today's stats:
• Weight: 78.6kg 
• Training location: Goffert park
• Duration: 1h00m 
• Intensity: low

Amituofo!

Today I resumed training in the park during lunch break. Of course I cannot run or do burpees or does kind of things, but I did a nice Shi Yan Ming style stretching/warm up, followed by some stance practice and Qi Gong. It felt really good being back out in the park. Really makes the mind more relaxed. Tomorrow I will do a strength and stamina training in the parc, but I don't yet know how exactly since walking to my normal training spot with benches and such takes too long... ah, we'll worrie about that tomorrow. If no other options then just a floor will do :).

For now good evening!
Amituofo!

9th of June : MRI scan and tuesday training, strange combination

Today's stats:

• Weight: 78.7kg
• Training location: Gymzaal Uranus straat
• Duration: 1h20m
• Intensity: Moderate

Amituofo!
No training yesterday. I visited the hospital instead :(
They made X-rays of my knee, and I got my knee checked by the specialist (knee surgeon). He clearly noticed some pain points but could not conclude what it was. The pictures did not show signs of a cracked meniscus. So today I had to visit the hospital again for an MRI scan of my knee. Coming Monday I have to go back to the hospital to get the diagnose based on the MRI research and to determine a treatment plan.
For now there are still 3 options:

• No help possible, then I have to wait till the pain goes away.
• Probe surgery (in case of meniscus damage)
• Open surgery in case of problems with the ligaments.

More news on Monday again.

My knee hurt a little more then yesterday, due to some nasty hyper extensions that the doctor made me do. But never the less I went for training this evening.
I start to feel better and better what I can and cannot do. As long as my knee is pointing in the same line as my toe I can do almost anything... which is strange cause I am still limping when I try to walk normally.

Any way, after the warm up we trained Tao lu this evening. We did:

• Wu Bu Quan (We always do this as first form)
• Lian Huan Quan (Which is starting to look good)
• Tong Bei Quan
• Weapon forms

Tomorrow I think I will try to go for some training at lunch again :)

For now I wish you all a very good evening!

Amituofo!

7th of June : ahh... screw 'resting' day, the weahter is to beautifull ot to train

Today's stats:

• Weight: 78.6kg
• Training location: Kopse hof Nijmegen Oost
• Duration: 1h30m
• Intensity: Moderate

Amituofo!
Hmmm... yesterday I planned to have a day of rest today. But after sitting down all day and as a remedy against my nerves of the hospital visit tomorrow, I decided to go do a nice evening training,

Yesterdays training did not seem to affect my knee pain to much so it should be ok.

We (Katja and I) went to parc Kopse hof around seven o'clock after a family visit. Katja did the same as yesterday, skateboarding, inline skating and some karate practice. I did 1,5 hour of Kung Fu training. After I quick warm up I practiced Gun and Jian Ji Ben Gong (basics) and Tao Lu (forms). And I continued that for the whole training session. My head is nice and quite now but since tomorrow will be hospital day, hope I can catch some sleep tonight and not be too nervous about what they are going to say about my knee...

For now I wish you all a very good evening!

Amituofo!

6th of June : Nice weather = outdoors training :)

Today's stats:

• Weight: 78.9kg
• Training location: Gym Fitness Body & Mind + Kopse hof Nijmegen Oost
• Duration: 1h00m + 1h45m
• Intensity: Low + Moderately high

Amituofo!
Beautiful sunny weather today! Good day for practice! My knee feels better than yesterday again. I actually am starting to doubt if this won't heel by itself when I keep moving... But lets not live in the future, lets live in the now! This morning I went to Tai Ji class again. And it really went a lot better then last training although it still hurts when I move incorrectly. This is sure a good exercise to feel how one should or shouldn't move ones muscles (due to the knee). After the Tai Chi class Linda from Tai Ji is teaching me how to speak Mandarin. How cool is that! Today I got my second lesson :)

After eating some lunch I went to Kopse hof, where my honey Katja did some inline skating, long boarding and Karate practice, and I did nearly 2 hours of Kung Fu practice.

I started out with Ba Duan Jin (Qi Gong), followed by 2 Tai Ji froms. Than after a short talk with a friendly by passer who I met there a while ago, and a short fight between our dogs (nothing serious, just showing who's boss), I continued with some stick and sword basics and Tao Lu practice. Of course again with 1k weights on each arm.

I actually did all forms at least 3 times today I know: Wu Bu - Lian Huan - Lian Bu - Ba Bu Lian Huan - Tong Bei - Wu Xing - Zhao Yang - Tai Zu Chuan and Xiao Hong Quan, and Yin Shou - Zhen Shan Gun and Da Mo jian, although of course with some adaption for my knee situation. I always like to do this ones every week cause all other training sessions focus on just a couple of forms. And this way I can keep all moves fresh in memory and better trained in muscle memory.

Tomorrow I'll be taking a rest day and work on my car a bit. Monday will be hospital day, so you can expect an update then.

For now I wish you all a very good evening!

Amituofo!

5th of June : Yes! Tao Lu practice again

Today's stats:

• Weight: 78.1kg
• Training location:Malden Gym
• Duration: 1h30m
• Intensity: High

Amituofo!
Getting a bit nervous for the appointment at the hospital coming Monday. So what better distraction then Shaolin Wu Shu training.
Today my knee is feeling pretty good (for a damaged knee :P). And since I could do some what of Tai Chi yesterday, I thought... well lets try Tao Lu (forms) this evening. So after our regular Shi Yan Ming style warm up I put on the weights on my arms and started practicing Tao Lu with focus on the upper body.
I went for maximum intensity for as far as that is possible with only upper body freedom of movement. Never the less I worked up quite a sweat and I am pretty tired now... My arms feel quite 'heavy' at the moment, so thats a good sign.

I practiced: Gun basics, Wu Bu Quan, Wu Xing Quan, Lian Huan Quan, Lian Bu Quan, Ba Bu Lian Huan Quan, Xiao Hong Quan.
I also practiced Yin Shou Gun and Zhen Shan Gun (stick) and Da Mo Jian (straight-sword) with weights on the arms, which really gives a new dimension to the movements. So I hope I didn't push my knee to much, cause it did hurt sometimes, but no pain no gain...

So this proves it again, injury is not an excuse not to train. You can always adapt training in some way or another. It doesn't have to look good (see prove above)... it has to feel good!


For now I wish you all a very good evening!

Amituofo!

4th of June : Jey... Very carefull Tai Chi session

Today's stats:

• Weight: 78.4kg
• Training location: Fitness Body & Mind Nijmegen
• Duration: 1h00m
• Intensity: Low

Amituofo!
My knee is again feeling a little better. The pain I felt in the ligaments is fully gone, pain in the meniscus remains but only when I torque or load the knee in the wrong way. I can also carefully put some weight on the bend knee without feeling pain. So, since I paid for taking classes till the end of June, I felt that I could try to join Tai Chi this evening and I did, very gently of course, so it looked like crap, but at least I could focus on connection movement and breathong for an hour. Now after 2 weeks of not doing much I can really notice how that relaxes the brain!

Anyway, the rest of the week I took it really easy and did not do much. Which is really putting my body in lazy mode... I can literally feel the energy fading away from my body. But.... I visited the doctor today and I finally got forwarded to an orthopedic specialist. Monday I will go to a hospital with a orthopedic department that is specialized in doing things good and fast. If I am lucky I could be in surgury (if needed) within a couple of weeks.

Tomorrow it is time for Shaolin Kung Fu practice again. And I really feel like pushing my limits with some upperbody workout... but how....
Come back and read that tomorrow.

For now I wish you all good evening!

Again, a small motivational video from a couple of weeks ago.....

Amituofo!

1st of June : Working up some sweat

Today's stats:

• Weight: 78.3kg
• Training location: @Home
• Duration: 1h30m
• Intensity: Moderate/High

Amituofo!
My knee is slowly but gradually feeling a little better. The pain I felt in the ligaments is nearly gone, now there is only pain left in on the place where the meniscus connects to the bone.
I first spend a couple of minutes doing Qi Gong. Then I did the Shaolin Kung Fu warming up. But without serious knee bends. I did do a care full Ma Bu and Gong Bu again. But now (afterwards) I do not think that was to smart, since the ligaments feel a bit sore again now.

Starting this week I will again start doing a little more practice. I can very gently move and very gently bend the knee... but still not load it. But the slight bend and move is enough to also do some TaoLu practice, well... that is just to remember the sequence of moves, proper execution is of course not possible.
Today I spend the evening doing a nice mixed workout. And I finally worked up some sweat again! After the warm up I did a nice intense fitness workout. This was the routine:

Shi Yan Ming warm up (adapted for my knee)

Punch practice (with 1 kg weight around wrists):

• 50 Palm punches
• 50 Straight punches
• 50 double gong bu punches (Xiao Hong quan style)
• 50 double ma bu punches (Xiao Hong quan style)

Fitness -:3 rounds of the following:

• Fast 20kg bench press 'elbows close' : This imitates a fast push up with arms close to the body and is good for punch force and speed (trains chest and triceps, focus on chest). 25 reps
• Crunches 'straight' : Just a regular crunch but with hands below the lower back so the back does not get strained when moving up. 30 reps
• Fast 20kg bench press 'elbows wide' : This imitates a fast push up with elbows wide and is good for blocks and acrobatics (trains chest and back). 25 reps
• Crunches 'side' : Chrunches while lying on the side. 30 reps  per side
• Fast 20kg bench press 'diamond' : This imitates a fast push up diamond style and is good for punch force and speed (trains chest and triceps, focus on triceps). 25 reps
• Supermans : pull up legs and chest while lying on stomach. 25 reps 

Afterwards I spend another 15 minutes on shoulder, neck, hamstring and buttocks stretches. Finally this was a work out that made me tired and happy.

Tomorrow I'll do some very relaxed and gentle taolu practice and some jian basics.
For now I wish you all good evening!
Amituofo!