I've taken a few tentative steps back into training with a few gym sessions, a hapkido class, a bit of cycling and a bit of bag work.
I can't fall properly and I can't turn properly into hooks and uppercuts or roundhouse kicks, but at least things feel like they're slowly meshing back together.
I've also been doing some BJJ reading and video watching. And one of the things I can work on is grip strength, so I've bought some grip strengtheners and I'm playing with these at every opportunity.
There's always something you can train.
I'm now into three weeks of not training due to an injury - or a 'ninja-ry' as a martial arts injury is referred to in our house.
This has been quite frustrating as I felt I was getting up to speed a bit at BJJ while I was preparing for the last competition, and now it's about rebuilding things again.
I have been doing some exercise, though, and my weight has also not rocketed, but it's still frustrating.
I have to remember growing at any martial art is a marathon and not a sprint and injuries and training lay-offs will happen. It happened throughout my hapkido studies, once very painfully when I was preparing for my black belt grading, and it will happen throughout my BJJ studies as well.
Patience and perseverance in all things is always rewarded...
