School's been in session for two weeks and three days. I've missed almost every Aikido practice during that time. Hey, life happens. There was the Parent Information Night, the Potluck Supper, and a few other nights when I was just plain tired. Then there was the night when my daughters begged me to stay home.
I've also started reading to my younger daughter again. Somehow we got out of the habit, but now we're starting up again, because it's important.
I went to the dojo Thursday, and had a good practice, except that I torqued my elbow when I was uke on a really nasty pin. It's almost better today, so that's good. I also went today, but took a very bad fall and felt a nerve pinch when I hit the ground. I felt something like an electric shock start at the base of my neck and travel down my right arm. My hand went numb for about five minutes before the feeling slowly came back. I continued to practice with no other ill effects, even until now, except a slightly stiff neck. I'll put some cream on it tonight, and see how it feels tomorrow.
This is probably the one thing that gets to me most about practice: I'm not young anymore, and my body lets me know that at every opportunity. I would say that even after what feels like a very thorough warm up, it still takes me another twenty or thirty minutes of practicing techniques before I truly feel warmed up. That leaves a pretty good window for me to hurt myself during falls or pins. During that first twenty minutes or so, I grimace at every fall or roll, and grunt during every pin. The pain I feel during those fall keeps me from relaxing into the fall, which in turn makes it more likely that I'm going to get hurt. It seems like a vicious cycle that I need to get through. The problem is that other than warming up well, which I've already noted only has a minimal effect, I'm not sure how to get through it.
I've got some thinking to do.
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