I wanna go Kung-Fu fighting....

[Harpoon]

Oy! What the hell was I thinking anways????


I started this up back in November some time. I went fairly regularly through about February when the whole family started getting sick and I could never work out going "healthy" on a Wednesday night when my classes were. Then SOMETHING happened to either crack or break a free-floating rib (outside of kung-fu) and I had to lay off until that was completely healed.

THEN I started doing some light reporting duties which including police blotter stuff a half hour after the class started so I'd never make the class...

NOW I'm back, but this hacking thing (they STILL say it's not CHF related) is keeping me to just a lot of stretching stuff and no new "action" things. My instructor wants me to just focus on making my body more limber and flexible and to that end, he's not charging me for my sessions now (it's during an open work-out night, not structured classes like you see in the movies and on TV.)

So there I go, 90 minutes Wednesday nights before going into work I'm at the dojo (is that the word? it's actually in the basement of an art gallery) cringing ever so slightly as I contort my body into positions it SHOULD be able to handle with ease but refuses to!

I'm still a few years from being able to break cinderblocks with my fingertip, but that's more of a karate thing though. Kung-fu types tend not to do such stunts to prove their abilities, the "good" ones don't need to prove anything....

Oh, and I'm still doing the Chi Gong (energy breathing) which is supposed to expand lung capacity and is helpful in all sorts of interesting ways....

I can't run very well without hacking fits and about the same is true for anything other than moderate walking.

Been thinking about trying to get my bike back into working condition (or getting a new one) but I haven't decided yet. Maybe I should get a child seat for it, they still make those?

Are they still considered safe for toddlers? The rules for such things change all the time now...


Still mulling over the 5k run for ALS thing here when I probably should be doing SOME kind of "training" for it....

Oh well.







Oh, on the cinderblock thing, a friend of mine that also does kung-fu (he's the instructor's son) taught me how to blow out candles with the palm of my hand many years ago... Freaks the wife out when I do it, almost like a Jedi trick...

 

[ticktock]

Harpoon
I would guess that your Cardio does NOT know you are into Kung Fu. I don't know if it is at ALL similar to karate or jujitsu, but my Cardio warned me as a child not to even THINK about either of those activities. Oh yeah, or the Congo drums!! hahahahaha.........what a combo. I should have grown up to be a congo playing kung fu movie star... kinda like a cross between Elvis and Chuck Norris, but different.

Something about blunt trauma.. I'm going to check into that breathing you mentioned, may want to ask some questions. Chi Gong ... will read up on it tomorrow.

Mindy

 

[danielgilboa]

Hi Harpoon,

The bike sounds like a great idea. If you do street biking you have little to worry about. Its a great aerobic, excersizes most of your body and if you go to nice places its fun. I do mountain bike so I need to hold out with technical trails for quite along time a. because of the jumps and vibrations and b. because of the possibility of falling and getting injured (it's a built in risk). So I tried one mostly downhill easy trail and had a great time at it. I hope to go for another one this weekend.

You sound like a tiger locked in a cage, so you are surely a tiger!

 

[Harpoon]

Actually... My cardiologist knows.... =)

He also knows I'm not totally stupid and will never spar with anyone. He knows that what I'm doing is "low impact" and being taught by an instructor who's also a certified occupational therapist who works at a local high school with special needs students.


What I'm doing is intended as "non-contact" and that's generally how the instructor teaches anyways.

At some point I may be giving blows to a punching bag or some other type of "hard target" but I'll never be hitting anyone and no one will be hitting back. he doesn't teach that way. Even when there IS sparing, you are told to hold back your punches and kicks and it's very well monitored.

Again, I'm YEARS (if not decades) from that level yet.


Most of what I'm doing is stretching work right now, almost like tai-chi. It's slow, methodical, fluid motion. No hard strikes or anything.

I guess at some point I'll be doing hard strikes against an immobile object (punching bag) but my plan is, when it comes to that, to listen to the instructor and give one decent blow then call it a day. If I develop bruising or ANYTHING untoward from that one blow, I just won't do it.

He's smart and he's not going to push me to do something that would be dangerous.

VERY laid back which is EXACTLY why I like him and wanted to work with him rather than another guy I know pretty well who teaches karate. The karate school is more "formal" and "regimented" and he wouldn't work around my medical issues as well, would rather just say, "you can't do this and probably shouldn't be here..."



I really should get my bike back in order. I used to ride a few miles every night through the summer while I was in high school (and before) and it was great.

 

[Harpoon]

WHOOHOO!!! 501 posts!!!


And all hot air too!

 

[Mark Wagner]

Harpoon, How long are you going to procrastinate???????????????????????????????????????? Just wondering! Now get your butt out their and lets go!!

PS Here is some motivational quotes for you ... think of them as a boot kicking you right square in the .....


"The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start."
? John "The Penguin" Bingham


"When you are moving forward,
there will always be wind in your face."


Laziness is nothing more than the habit of resting before you get tired." - Jules Renard


"Pain is temporary. Quitting lasts forever." - Lance Armstrong

 

[Mary]

Do we have a challenge here?

Do we have a challenge here?

Harpoon,
I think Mark is trying to tell you something! Gee, I wonder what it is? Hey Mark, do you think you could make yourself clear
I'm just trying to stir stuff up! It might be good exercise!
Mary

 

[AJBU]

Karate after surgery

Karate after surgery

I was scheduled to get my brown belt on the day I am scheduled for surgery (this coming Monday) Am supposed to get Ross Procedure to replace aortic valve with pulmonary and then pulmonary with cadaver. Also have enlarged aortic root which will be taken care of too. Never had any symtoms and attend karate classes and average of 6 hours a week. Also teach classes. I was wondering if anyone out there knew how soon I would be back to normal and if I ever would be able to weight lift to build upper body strength. Have worked toward brown belt since I was 13 and am just now 18 so this is really upsetting.

 

[Harpoon]

There's another thread here in the Active Lifestyles regarding strength training.

The sternum can take up to a year or more to completely heal and it's really not a good idea to engage in any real strength training again until you've been cleared for it by your doctors. You can probably do some light work at a 6 month mark or so, again with your doc's approval, but ONLY to regain what you might have lost and only VERY slowly.

Now on the other side of that, ANYTHING cardiovascular can only help you (within moderation of course) recover. Light workouts and stretching would be ideal. Stay away from sparing obviously and anything that might cause upper body strain such as push-ups or squat thrusts. When you start push-ups again, do them against a wall or at a high angle (hands on the edge of a couch or stairs in front of you with your feet on the landing below.)

If you're advancing to a brown belt then you've been in karate for a while and your body will be used to that kind of exercise. You'll loose a fair amount with surgery but should be able to recover it well if you're careful and don't rush yourself.

Contact stuff may be out for you from now on though. You may be able to get away with hitting dead weights (punching bags or other "soft targets") but you don't want ANYTHING hitting you back.


You can still teach of course, with the added angle of "I survived open heart surgery and I'm STILL doing this, you can too!" under your belt.

Talk to your doctors and your instructor about it. You probably won't have to give it up all together, but you may have to modify on some of what you do.

OHS is a big lifestyle change for ALL of us. it can take a LOT of getting used to, but it's not neccesarily an end to your life as you know it now.

 

[Tom F.]

AJBU - I just responded to your private E mail on your question. I have appx. 35 yrs of martial arts behind me, across several arts. At your age your will be fine, just give it some time. Your test is probably delayed 6 mos., but while that seems forever, 6 mos from now you will be alive and well. In my e mail I gave you (and your dad) a fair amount of information, as well as my home and work phone numbers. Do not hesitate to call. Let us all know how monday goes.