You Just Have to let it Rest.
The Yellow Belt was just finishing up his first semester of Karate. Soon the Spring term would be over and he would go home for the summer. The past few months had been good. When he started the semester, he believed he would enjoy karate training. Turned out he was pretty good, too. He hadn’t missed a single day of workout this whole semster. That was about to change.
This last weekend the Yellow Belt competed in his second tournament. He came out of it humbled and with a broken big toe from a fluke accident. it was hard to stand up, harder still to walk. He was sure he could not workout. He knew that he needed to let the toe rest if it is to heal. Trying to workout on it could only add to the recovery time. Well, if he couldn’t workout, at least he could go to workout and watch. Ask any rookie quarterback about watching. it can be an eye opener, especially if you have been caught up in your own little bubble of work out experience.
The lesson was a good one, a lesson that the Yellow Belt would be reminded of many times in his life. When you are active and get into the workout groove, it is hard to step back. The Yellow Belt grew into a Black Belt, but the lesson did not change. He had gotten into the workout groove after the pandemic restrictions were lifted. Workout everyday. Then one day, he felt something wrong in his right hamstring. It wasn’t very bad and he could still strtetch and do his techniques, so he continued working out.
One day, the former Yellow Belt realized his hamstring was not getting better. In fact, it was probably getting worse. Finally, he relented and decide not to work out for a few days and let the muscle heal, but he can still do his katas, in his head. Mental practice. Imaging. Watch the videos. Let the physical rest, but stay in the groove.
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