Day 23
The shoulder keeps getting better. I’ve only been wearing the sling maybe two hours per day plus while I’m sleeping over the last two days. It is more comfortable out of the sling than in. I’m wearing the sling while I’m teaching martial arts, because otherwise the temptation of using the arm would be too much to ignore. The pain in my elbow and forearm that I mentioned in my last post was probably at its worst yesterday. Today it still hurts to straighten my elbow, but not as much. The skin around the incision still has a slightly decreased amount of sensation, but nothing big.
I ran the warmups for the beginner TKD tonight. There were 17 there tonight, which is a pretty large showing. We had some of the blue folding mats out, so I used those as the base of a different kicking surface. Some calisthenics, punches, then spent a decent amount of time isolating some of the basic kicks. Some of the white belts still want to drop their hands when they kick, so that was one of the points of emphasis. Once we broke down into smaller groups, we worked on poomsae and one-step sparring. It was a productive class. And afterwards, as part of my normal Tuesday routine, I hit Kali sticks for a little bit.
Mats as a different kicking surface…interesting. Every once in a while we practice in jeans and sneakers to get a different feel. Pivoting in sneakers in not easy. Next class I am going give the mats a try. Thanks.
@Michele
With the beginner class, I only did straight kicks. Last thing I want is for beginners to start twisting knees. But I do find it good to try kicking on those mats. You really have to keep your heel very light to get any sort of pivot.