Quest For The U.S. Open - World Martial Arts Championships » Injury

Just Arrived In Daytona Beach…Time to Re-Center and Re-Gain Momentum

admin — Sat, 16 May 2009 02:34:00 +0000

Holly, Michael, Nathaniel, and I arrived in Daytona Beach, FL a while ago for the Gator Nationals Martial Arts Championships (at the Ocean Center if you are anywhere nearby). This is a big tourney with a lot of very talented people competing. I’m here to observe, soak it in, meet up with Lauren (my coach), and basically re-center mentally.

This week was brutal. The injury…closing the business (nationally all our stores are closing)…having a full plate of other responsibilities…AND still training and trying to be careful so as to not make the injury worse. Two days ago, I thought I was past the worst of it, then yesterday..WHAM! I felt as bad or worse than I did at the beginning of the week. Lost a lot of recuperative sleep this week too, which hasn’t helped AT ALL!

I haven’t been able to get through a full practice session with my kata this week, which is driving me nuts because time is so very critical right now. For me, I can’t simply focus on the kata…but also the physical training to be able to present the kata. It is not easy, but then if it was, it probably wouldn’t be worth it. Right?

The best thing I can do is breathe, relax mentally and use this time in Daytona this weekend to get it together, so to speak.

My back feels so-so today, but I am not taking any chances.

I’m going for a light workout with Michael tonight at the hotel just to keep my body “awake” to the fact that we are still in this thing. Won’t be going too long as I’m going to hit the sack and sleep in just slightly tomorrow before heading over to the tournament.

We will break away at some point tomorrow and get some beach time in then be back for the live stream of the main events tomorrow night beginning at 7pm on http://www.kickgen.com/. I will be tweeting throughout the day updating on the event. Posting some pics too…probably here and at Kickgen.com.

I really need your thoughts and prayers right now. This has been a hard week, and I desperately need to regain the momentum I had going into this week. We are almost at the midway point, and if I ever needed your prayers and encouragement…it is now.

Talk to you some more tomorrow at some point. Night!

Holy Gnat, Batman! + Injury Update…

admin — Thu, 14 May 2009 01:18:00 +0000

It must have been in the thousands…swarms and swarms of gnats tonight while working out. I mean, random, sudden bursts of gag-reflexing gnats out of nowhere like thousands of enemy battleships defending what, apparently, they think is their homeland…against me, on the way to the U.S. Open.

Aaaaahhhhhhh!

We just couldn’t get away from the little things. Every once in a while I would take a chance to take in a deep breath (before I passed out from holding my breath) and SCHWOOOOZZZZSH! Mouth full of gnats. I was coughing up gnats, blowing them out of my nose, wiping them out of my eyes, and even digging them out from under my headphones! I wear board shorts to workout in and at one point I thought they were flying up my shorts…almost ran off the flippin’ road at that point…terrifying!

They lie in wait, I tell you. Strategically picking off their prey… I can’t stand ‘em…enough of them.

On to more critical items…

Injury update: I did a full workout today/tonight, but only about 80% intensity (better than Monday and yesterday). Still small traces of the pain that set in earlier this week, but nothing like it was. It has caused some trouble sleeping a few nights this week, but I think I am catching up there. I have been receiving treatments each day and using hydrotherapy, stretching, massage, and other light therapies to help.

It was a bit scary, not knowing what was happening. But I think I am on the mend fully and should be back to full capacity following Gator Nationals this weekend. (btw…my friends over at www.Kickgen.com will be streaming live part of this event this weekend. Check out their website for some more info and tune in to some amazing martial arts action! My coach Lauren Kearney www.LaurenKearney.com will be there too.)

The worst thing for me this week is that I have missed a lot of time working my kata (martial arts form), and self-defense techniques. I am going to try and make up some time the next couple of days in that area, but without pushing too hard.

I had also felt like I hit a transition just before this happened where I was really beginning to burn a lot more bodyfat each day and was beginning to see some significant results. I don’t think I lost my ground there, but the momentum has shifted and it will take a few days to build that back up again.

The important thing is that I am still going forward and overcoming this. This is part of what this Quest is about…overcoming those things that have kept me back for so many years, and doing things that other “experts” said I would never do again.

I am learning so much about me, my art, my body, and my relationships through all of this and these things are definitely worth it. I can honestly say I have already won, and we are still just under two months out (that is scary all to itself!).

Thank you so much for the support, encouragement, and prayers. Keep them coming and I hope we can all show the world what living a life of a Champion is really about together. You, after all, are a HUGE part of the Quest team and I love that we are accomplishing this together.

I spoke with the guy/company who is designing our shirts, and he says he will have something soon, so I hope to unveil the official “Quest for the U.S. Open” shirt mucho fast!

Do me a favor and pass the word along to your friends about this Quest and the U.S. Open. I would love to make some more friends along the way and hopefully inspire even more people to live the extraordinary life!

Updates…

admin — Wed, 13 May 2009 02:59:00 +0000

Still working on some new tech stuff with this site…should be up and running or at least where I can share some good stuff in a couple of days.

Update on Injury:
I am working out lightly. Very light right now. Taking advice from trainers, family, and my coach to take it easy. Really listening to the body right now. Feeling much better, but can still tell I need to be careful with it. Thanks for the support from everyone so far.

Gator Nationals This Weekend! I will be there hanging out with my friends from www.Kickgen.com and watching all the amazing martial arts action!

www.Kickgen.com will actually be doing some live feeds of the event. Be sure to check out www.Kickgen.com for more info and to tune in to one of the strongest tournaments in the nation. If you are near Daytona by any stretch, you definitely will want to try and stop in for this event.

One-count, Possibly Two-count, Injury…Frustration!

admin — Mon, 11 May 2009 03:43:00 +0000

I wasn’t planning on posting anything today, but I felt I needed to keep you in the loop…

Woke up this a.m. with some serious pain…mid back left side…muscular. Not sure what I did or when but this thing knocked me around today (still knocking me around) even after massage treatment, some hydrotherapy, planned rest, stretching, and generally taking it easy.

I mean, I’m not down for the count or anything crazy like that, but at least a one-count or a two-count. I’m hurting folks and I can’t afford this at this point in the game…ever, to be sure.

Doing some more therapy tonight on my way to sleep and re-assessing in the a.m. This is not good, and has put me a day and a half behind in training plans. I have to be wise here though so I don’t screw it up even more. My mind wants to go way ahead of my body right now though, and that is my greatest battle this weekend.

Holly said it reminds her of previous injury…complications from one of the accidents that I have had to deal with…not what I wanted to hear, but she has been in my corner all these years and is very keen on what is happening with me.

Gotta’ get this under control and take care of it. Gonna’ have some training to catch up with this week, especially getting ready to travel to Gator Nationals on Friday.

Frustrated…