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!