Testing into Brown Belt
Last night was my first attempt at Kung Fu after breaking the toe 14 weeks ago. If you missed how the toe broke in the first place, check out the XTERRA Trout Creek post and the post-break update.
Over the past 14 weeks, I haven’t done much. Lots of walking in Seattle and Vancouver and Philadelphia and New Jersey. Oh, and some biking in Vancouver and in the Orlando area. Otherwise, not much.
The toe is still twice its normal size. It no longer hurts when I spread my toes or lift them, but it does still hurt to curl them. So, last night was an experiment.
Upon my arrival at the kwoon, Sifu asked me to warm up class (welcome back?). Class began with kicking a bag, so instead of being paired up with a partner, I was paired up with myself to kick the air. I was worried about pivoting on the ball of my foot for kicks, but that didn’t seem to be a problem. Neither did foot positioning for front kicks or side kicks. Round-house kicks were fine when my foot was positioned to kick with the ball of the foot, but I couldn’t curl my toes to kick with the instep.
Class continued with a review of “recently” learned material (recently is relative). I was a bit disheartened to learn that, while I was out, a few people I’ve been training with over the past year (since coming back from knee surgery) tested out of my rank and I won’t be training with them for a while. So, I was on my own (not without instruction, just without familiar training partners). Once I got going, most of the “recent” material came back to me. I had a difficult time with the broadsword form, but I wasn’t particularly comfortable with that one before I got injured (toe injured, not knee injured). I stayed away from jumps, jump kicks, and rolls, so the forms weren’t executed to their full potential, but ‘it is what it is’.
I watched my classmates spar for the last few minutes of class. Overall, I think it was a relatively successful experiment. On the other hand, my muscles haven’t been this exhausted in months!
