Just part of the lifestyle...

Life gives us some adversity and it's almost as a sure thing as death and taxes.  Mine in jiu jitsu has finally comes!  I will undergo surgery May 24th (or sooner) to have my two, medial quadricep tendons reattached.  The accident occurred a while ago, but I've just been bearing through it and I didn't know the severity of the injury.  I finally got an MRI this past Wednesday and the orthopedist met with me on Friday morning to give me the prognosis.  It will be a lengthy recovery and rehab and it will be challenging.

I don't think much is served by talking about any details of the injury, but I think it's a good time to get refocused and make some short and long term goals and plans.  My jiu jitsu involves several elements which make up a lifestyle.  It's not only rolling on the mat, so I've got other things that I can still work on while I get through this injury.  My diet, strength and conditioning, and my "without the gi" training are still all intact and I will work hard on all of those.  As far as rolling, it's really just a matter of redirecting that towards some other efforts in class.  I had a good time this week getting adjusted to watching more and keeping connected with the academy.  I was able to spot some problems some guys were having and hopefully I was of help.  I'm no instructor, but hopefully I can contribute in some way.  I'm able to do a lot of the warm ups as well, at least until the surgery time.  I guess you could just say my role is switching gears for a while.

The biggest lesson I have from this experience is this:  Don't make competition results the only thing that is important to you and the culmination of your self-worth in jiu jitsu.   My jiu jitsu experience is not all about wins and losses; not even close.  I probably would be a complete mess right now and I'm not sure what I would be doing.  It's also great to have good support from friends and family. Thanks to all of you.

And on goes the experience!