Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Three Days after Surgery

The weather was nice and as long as I kept the sling on, my shoulder didn't hurt, so I figured why not have class?

We had a good turn out although they came at different times. Aaron Miller shows up early so he can get some practice in before he goes to work. A visiting missionary, Elder Huntbach, was his workout partner.

I use the padded swords especially for beginners so they can learn proper form and if they hit too hard, no damage to their partner. We're working on getting protective headgear and even armor. While we're working on getting the appropiate fencing gear, I've been looking at using moto-cross helmets and armor. My neighbor is a welder and we're going to make a wire mesh to fit where a visor would be on a normal helmet. If that works, we can strengthen the helmet with ABS strips and even make a neck apron. One of our group is looking at making suits of armor from ABS.

One of our regulars, Scott Hathaway and a visiting friend were working with bokens (wood samurai swords) and got a little sidetracked on what I was teaching the rest of the class. Here you see the results of no headgear. Just a little ding on the forehead but it could have been worse. Proper protection and good control are very important! One step at a time, next class I think we'll review the pell and controlled strikes.




Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Post-op

Today I had surgery on my left shoulder, consequences of an injury five years ago. http://orthopedics.about.com/cs/generalshoulder/a/slap.htm I tore the labrum where the biceps tendon connects. The county (LA County-my employer) finally approved the repair since it wasn't getting better. Luckily, the injury was on the job so I'm taking two weeks to recover. Maybe tomorrow I'll type with two hands! While waiting for approval, I was trying to build up my shoulders with Clubbells and circular strenght training. http://www.rmaxinternational.com/home/ I even entered the first RMAX fitness challenge. The exercises were helping a lot but I still had trouble with pushing out or in. Shortly after I finished the fitness challenge, I was injured at work again. This time with a sternoclavicular dislocation. http://www.orthogate.org/patient-education/shoulder/sternoclavicular-joint-problems.html My right clavicle came off my sternum! I felt like my warrenty had expired! After two surgeries, that was repaired. When I'm done with rehab for the latest surgery, I'll start up with the clubbells again. A lot of the movements are great for sword work training.
I won't be using a sword for a few weeks but I can still supervise the training.