Retired at 26 due to injury

Ah good, not stopping the head kicks, the universe is safe for now

 

A very good friend of mine regularly trains JJJ and BJJ after her hip replacement. She is twice your age!

Don't rule out the possibility of return to training those things you love but I respect your decision to take a break.


Dao

 

I admire your fighting spirit. Your condition reminds me of this quote- "Health, happiness and success depend upon the fighting spirit of each person. The big thing is not what happens to us in life - but what we do about what happens to us."

 

I empathise with your position. It's bad luck that you have to put yourself out of the sparring side of things, but at least you are looking forwards and planning things to continue your passion.

On the bright side, My global taekwondo competitor rank just went up by one place

 

Tough decision. Best of luck. Keep posting.

 

I just flew to Arizona for work! Although I barely had time to make it to my plane...but if I'm over in that area again I'll have to send you a PM.

You are probably making the smart decision. I'm always rehabing some injury and sometimes I wonder if I'm not harming my long term health by continuing to spar (both TKD and grappling).

Once you re-injure something permanently it is too late, so you are making a good decision.

 

Sorry to hear your news Van Zandt

There's always kata though!

Gary

 

Good on you for keeping going, I wish you success with your seminars and teaching.

 

That's too bad, Van Zandt, but you've reached world class levels and you've got a great looking future ahead of you in coaching!

 

I appreciate the kind words of encouragement from all of you. As gutted as I am about not being able to fight again, I'm looking at this situation from the perspective of "when one door closes, another one opens."

The support this website and it's users have given me, over the last twelve months, has been nothing short of phenomenal. Can't thank you all enough. :hat:

 

Sorry to hear your bad news VZ, but nice to hear you have some exciting options ahead of you.

Part of what you said struck a chord with me. I too found injury (in my case RSI from practising shiatsu rather than martial arts) prompted me to learn more about both the human body, its rehabilitation and the injury process itself. I learnt to modify the way I worked so as to avoid further injury. Ultimately though it didn't stop me from having to retire from doing shiatsu professionally.

But I've moved on and made good use of what I learnt in another context - ie. martial arts. The moral of the story? There's always a price to be paid for what you learn, but you can definitely take something positive from it.

All the best for the future,

Mike

 

Thanks Mike.

 

Sorry to hear that, but I'm glad you are taking the positive steps and being in control.

Me too. Various knee, back and other injuries have all contributed to the way I teach my own students now. They've all benefited from those experiences - both in avoidance of their own injuries and in the bomb-proofing of their own bodies.

Keep smiling mate.

 

Thanks Dikzzz.