Finding new muscles to be sore in

Ah, late again! But for a good reason, of course; I had one hand-in and one home exam/test, both of which were due yesternight, the one between Sunday and Monday.

I had a surprising amount of muscle soreness after my little forest jaunt, or then again, perhaps not so surprising. I forewent any more training that week, apart from the everyday things like chosing the stairs instead of the elevators and suchlike. My cough has finally eased up, and now only breaks out occasionally, once or perhaps twice a day. I was absolutely delighted to prepare my smoothie (made, this time, with two oranges, one apple, a lot of frozen berries, some pumpkin seens and a few hazel nuts and almonds, and two coffee measurements of proteine powder) and set off towards sparring practice on Saturday.

There were only me and the Fighting Furies, plus the trainer, which is a pity because hot damn it's gorgeous, lovely fun! I ended up partnering the trainer, Theo, most of the time, which I don't mind even though I always steel myself - I know how good he is, and how hard he hits.

We took a good look at kicking and hitting, and, again, this is something I really appreciate with these Saturday sessions. Theo knows the importance of going into the most basic of basics, and to build from there. He is good at showing, too, with his body how it is supposed to move. I daresay I finally got some idea of how to properly execute a hook, and uppercut!
Now, one would think that, as an iaidoka, I would have all the leg muscles I need, even after a two-week enforced rest. As my thighs, bum and other leg muscles all attested to when I woke up on Sunday... I do not. Executing a proper kick is tricky. Again, I am happy that I've been doing martial arts for so long, and that my "mitorigeiko", that is, learning by looking/watching, is fairly good these days. Getting the body to do it is another matter, but, hey...
I've had a lot of trouble with kicking, or rather, using my muscles correctly, keeping my stance and not get unbalanced. Now, however, I've felt what it's supposed to feel like, and know what I must strive for.

And that is important, in every physical thing one does - know what it's supposed to feel like, and look like, so that one can strive for it.

"Opening" the hips is a bit of a dodgy description, but it really is the best. Suddenly, I had balance! And lifting the leg correctly, rather than doing a dance-like swipe, as well as doing the quick kick rather than let it hang in the air... aye, it felt a lot better afterwards. Going back to basics is never wrong, no matter how advanced you are.

We donned gloves and did one of Theo's trademark "learn to move your legs, damnit"-exercises, which are always, always useful. Switching around partners was good here, because one of the FF, who is damn fierce and hits like a sledgehammer, nevertheless needs to move her feet a bit more, and when Theo, after explaining patiently, eventually actually puts you through some rather intense practice whether you think you're ready or not, you have to move your feet. ...and it feels a lot better avoiding his punches than standing there, taking them...
The ensuing easy sparring that followed was very enlightening. Distance, closing the distance, moving here and there, ducking, the "oh shit"-block, allowing your opponent to do their stuff, coming up with combinations... very enlightening indeed. It is worth going out of one's comfort zone, always, stop thinking and, well, as they say, "It is essential to let go of the mind". I think it is Mencius saying that. If you let go of the mind, it will be in all directions. If you put your mind in your hands, in one strike in "I must block", it will get stuck there, and you will be undone. (Yes, I have read "The Unfettered Mind" quite a few times and yes, I can almost quote it verbatim by now... still good, though).

We finished with using heavy sticks, and hitting hard. For longsword practice, we call it "tip control", but it is always the same, no matter if you call it "pulling your punches" or "stopping" or whatever. Hit with full force, but keep control so that you can stop within a centimetre from actually connecting.
It was, again, enlightening, to use heavier sticks and hit with full force. It does help, even when you're defending, because you really get something to defend against. And still your partner retains control, so that if you would be too weak, you'd still not get all blooded up.

I do have a bit of an advantage when it comes to parts of single-stick training, but I must always apply myself fully to what we are supposed to do. Single stick and katana are not the same, even if similar!


I write about Saturday's practice in detail because it was, as I've said, enlightening, and very rewarding. I may have felt very weak (two weeks, I say, two weeks of a stupid cold!), but I came there in good spirits, and left in even better. Even when it's tricky and hard, it encourages me to try even harder. And to have such an emotional state in relation to your physical exercises is important! It makes it all the better. Of course, you can't have it all the time, but to know that you have it sometimes, or at least feel it sometimes, is a very good spur to keep on, to not stop, and even to keep upping your own game.
I want them muscles, and I want them skillz, as they say.

This week, I wonder a little about what you do after training? When you're full of energy, endorphines and cheer, exhausted or not, mind clear or full of new things, what's your favourite after-training activity?

See you all next week, until then, good luck with your training!

First run of the year

There was no post last Saturday, and that was because I did, indeed, not get well. I had a whiff of fever coming and going, the throat soreness wandered into the lungs and became a rasping cough, my nose blocked up.... and so on. So there was no practice, no physical exertion out of the ordinary, for over a week. I was going crazy and my body, as usual, reacted. It started feeling creaky and painful in some joints, and I had to do a sort of gentle massaging of my lower arms and hands, to prevent it from feeling as if ants were living inside them. That can happen otherwise, too, but it definitely turns up after over three days without some kind of exercise.

So I had to take it easy. Until today, when I had a go at some easy core strengthening exercises, some stretching, some easy kicking and a quick run of no more than ten minutes. It was the first time I could run since winter came, so I took it easy on purpose - quite apart from the fact that I am still coughing. It felt incredible, to be able to move, stretch, use my muscles and... to run. Oh, what a feeling of freedom! On with the sandals and out I went into the bleak late-winter's light, up into the forest and onto paths well travelled. Snow lay in patches, the ground was often waterlogged, and at times rather muddy. I loved every step of it. But I reined myself in - it wouldn't do to go too hard, and take myself out of commission again!

I would have gone to iaido practice instead, had I been where I usually am. But I am not, and so I did something else instead. The same will have to go for most of this week, I'm afraid, but, there you go. At least I can do something, and not just sit still any more! And, I was recommended an Aloe Vera lotion, for muscle pains and other, and to my enormous joy and surprise it kicked the buttocks off the pain in my shoulder! So, I am going to get one for myself, and then let's see if we can't overcome that shoulder injury once and for all!

Now, I'm wondering, some people stay strictly to their training regime, while others take a break during, say, holidays. Have you taken a break during the Easter holiday?

See you in about a week or so, during which I hope we will all be able to enjoy training!

The frustrating shoulder

Well, I was happy last Saturday, when I was able to do so many pushups, even if they were with the knees on the floor. I shouldn't have been. My shoulder has been very troublesome ever since. I'm even having trouble typing.

The aching shoulder meant I forewent iaido on Monday, but Wednesday I took the place as teacher, so that went well, at least. Kali saw me in a wee bit of pain, and in the end I had to forego one of the exercises on Tuesday, thogh Thursday was better. Yesterday, however, when I was so very, very much looking forward to the weekly sparring, I was down with a nasty cold which, as they always do with me, lodged itself firmly in the throat, and has now evolved into full-blown coughing-apart-my-lungs. Of course. They always do.

I get incredibly frustrated with my many issues, illnesses and aches, big and small alike. After all, I have started resting, but when that doesn't seem to help - what then? And, resting is all good, but the frustration in the head when I miss out on something, is definitely not enjoyable! Nor is the one in the body. I'm worried about my back, and the muscles there, so I am going to focus on trying to do "fifteen minutes a day" at home, too, and not just iai and Kali.

Now, rest is all good, but my shoulder has been like this for years by now. I'm thinking of trying some kind of private doctor or bone-tweaker - it can't hurt anything but my wallet, after all.

When you have recurring aches and pains, what do you do? Do you have a recommendation for me? If resting doesn't make things better with your body, do you have some sort of go-to? Or, if you do rest, how do you cope with not being able to work out? Maybe it's a relief, a well-earned rest, or maybe it's frustrating - do tell, and I'll reply!

Fun in training

Monday's iaido practice was certainly one of the better I've had lately, intense and focused. Not as good as last Monday's, but good all the same. Some of it was led by the sensei, but other parts were "do this kata, I'll come around if it's needed" and I definitely managed to focus quite well. I may have ironed out a few details too, that I've been having trouble with. Wednesday, however, something upset my stomach, and I had to stay in bed.
Tuesday and Thursday were given over to Kali Sikaran, of course, and oh my did I have fun. I was exhausted after Tuesday's practice, and found out that 10 oz gloves get really, really heavy after a few hours of hitting people and things, and acting as a punching bag, or blocking... etcetera. Lovely. Though my blood pressure did that odd thing that happens sometimes when as soon as I calm down, I feel close to fainting, and have to sit down for a while. Bloody annoying.
Thursday, oddly enough, we were only three at practice. This meant a lot of focus on details and techniques. Some kadena de maño, some knife fighting, mostly, and I had my one Valentine's Day greeting: me and Jen were practicing cutting eachother over the chest with mockup knives (before learning to block such a proper cut), and suddenly grinned. In Sweden, Valentine's is called something which is translated something like "All Hearts' Day/Day of All Hearts" - thus making cutting eachother's heart out quite funny indeed! Quite cheering, which gave us new energy and focus.

I feel a bit guilty that I haven't made use of the snow that's been lying thick outside, but I really haven't been feeling up to going outdoors for anything but "musts", which have been going to training, this week. My social phobia seems quite mild compared to before, those times I go out with such a definite goal in mind. I did make up for it a little by going to Open Practice (Security Fitness) for its two hours today. And it was great fun! Nastily (and therefore awesome) exhausting warmup and strengthening exercises, and then, variations on the same fighty theme with empty hands, knife and stick. The theory behind it was also explained, which is always beneficial, at least to me. It was all finished with an "all on one" circle - one person in the middle, the others around, making attacks that the center person meets with, well, anything, really. It is a very good exercise, helping one to not get a narrow focus, meet a variety of attacks and learn to take hits - we used soft padded sticks, for example, and so, a bop on the head when I didn't manage to block an overhead hit was a good lesson rather than annoying or painful. One learns to act on instinct instead of over-think, and, if having a weapon, using it. In Miyamoto Musashi's way of thinking, taking over the initiative from your attacker.

So as you can see, I've been having fun in practice lately. Sometimes it seems pure drudgery, and then one have to push through no matter what. And sometimes, one feels elated and happy and, well, one has fun! It has kind of been what's been keeping me alive lately.

And this aspect of training, fun... Do you have fun, training? Do you have any ways of making your training fun, do you ever do that, or, is it perhaps something you've never thought of?
I have of course spoken at length about the joy of running, the lovely feeling of cleansed mind after iaido and so on, but... sheer fun, that's a bit different. Joking too much must not be done, because that frazzles concentration and focus, but still - sometimes you need some smiles, some grins, some laughs, or at least something that just feels... well, fun, amusing. So what're your takes on that?

Return to power

Dear me, but I have let this blog fall asleep. Well, there was a lot going on, and I had rather better things than sit down and type...

The Kali Sikaran Christmas camp in Gothenburg was a blast, of course, and the ensuing soreness was glorious. I struck up an old friendship again, the person who once mentioned the very thing of Kali Sikaran to me in the first place. That was really nice, and we are a rather good team as far as practice and sparring goes. It was clear to me that my talent this far lies mainly in unarmed combat, "chaining" techniques, knives or improvised weapons. This is a nice thing as the movements for one can usually be used for the others as well... Karambit was inordinately fun to learn, although apparently it is not a very good idea, juridically speaking, to protect yourself with them in a real-life situation... (Open-palm slapping however, is, to my great pleasure, as I have also proven to be quite adept at using open hands rather than closed fists if applicable).
It was also rather cool to see the advanced classes and those I did not participate in - and there were a few, and oh, how hard it was to choose at times! Good fun, all in all, and great to have many different partners of varying skill levels and body builds.

And as soon as I got back, the very day after, I went to iaido practice, of course. To my disappointment, the holidays, during which I had been rather looking forward to going skiing a ridiculous amount, went... well, soggy. One good long ski tour was had, but then the weather changed for the worse. And of course, bad enough that it wasn't possible to have a good run either, until later, and when I did, well, I borrowed mother's shoes, and had blisters that are still healing (not hurting anymore, though, just... the last loose pieces of skin are falling off). But damn, it went well! I had to slow myself down again and again to pace myself, and not come back home completely exhausted. So, of course, I did have energy to spare when I had completed the run, but... well, I think my lungs still thanked me.

I had a go at being ill in mid-January, to my great unhappiness. It was no fun at all! Just when the training had started up, too!
Buuut, then, I hit the ground running and have been keeping it up since. The muscle soreness is a joy to feel, and this week, there's been a lot of it. The two arts truly do complement eachother well regarding my muscles. My shoulder has not been giving me too much trouble apart from a brief spell around the time I was ill, when I could hardly sleep for the pain in it, and the rest of the neck - I am uncertain as to why this was, but, it passed, and I now sleep with a plastic teeth-protection-bit-thingie. This helps my jaws to no end, and I no longer wake up with my front teeth in a new shape every morning....

For me, it was easy to get back into training after the involuntary hiatus over the so-called holidays. I occasionally run to the train just for the hell of it, or, jog, at least, as I can't run properly in my big boots, I challenge myself in every training session, and I am working on my cutting technique in iai, and, well, whatever is thrown my way in Kali. I have really started to have the various pieces fall into place, even double stick. Today's practice was a joy, with and without sticks. And it's not just me who find that speed is one of my strengths - one of the others grinned and muttered that it'd be far easier to "hit" me were I not so quick. ("Hit" because it was warmup, and all about a light touch to the shoulder or knee, rather than a punch). Also, today I had a truly epic smoothie after the training. I usually only take a sandwich with inordinate amounts of cheese, sausage or something such, usually with salad on top, but I had the chance to mix up a pure-fruit smoothie, and so I did. Strawberries, raspberries, an orange, a banana, an apple... ecologically grown, too, or as locally grown as I could get them - because it damn well tastes better, and is better for the environment too. And, I added a dash of that powder (Gainer or Whey-80, can't remember which and can't be bothered to go and have a look right now) from StarNutrition which I used for a while when I went from pretty much easy workout to four days of hard training a week and very little sleep - it saved my health and I am not ashamed to use it, though I do not use it as a substitute, but rather a complement to the food I eat, a dash of extra help to avoid muscle soreness and promote muscle growth. It's Swedish made, tested for pretty much everything and one of th brands with the best reputation there is, as far as I have found. And if I take just a dash, and blend it into a LOT of other things, well, then I can hardly taste it, and I can stomach getting it down. So tomorrow, I shall see if it has helped the muscle soreness somewhat! I will not overuse it, but, like I said, use it as a complement to give that extra little bit that my body needs. I didn't slack off too badly muscle- or fitness-wise over the holidays, but I am certainly not going to let my evolution stall here...

Over to you, now - was it easy getting back into stride after the holidays, or did you just not stop doing your regular routine?

I hope you're going to follow me yet again, because I am back, and so should you be! Oh, and that enormous blue blotch on the inside of my knee, pay it no heed. That was caused by a well-placed heel, and is now being treated with a very helpful gel, hopefully to be vanished soon...

When old injuries get a makeover

My right shoulder started, today, late in the afternoon, to wreak seven kinds of hellish pain upon me. It is growing steadily worse. I can now not type without pain, and lifting it higher than waist-height is almost out of the question. This is after a does of Voltarol/Voltaren/diclofenac gel on it. But it clearly originates too deep. I do know I tend to fall ill after an exam, but this is something quite new. I can see no trigger for it either, other than possibly sleeping on it weirdly during an afternoon nap? Updates will follow. Tomorrow I try iaido again. Have been away for the past few days to write big test in other city. I am going to try and find out if someone could spray some cortisone into it. It's about time anyway, damn it all.

First post

Snappy title, eh!

This is a blog that popped into my head during a jaunt in a rather snaggy forest with few clear paths, after I had ran to get some groceries, taken a detour to get home for the sheer joy of running and then didn't even stop to put the yoghurt in the fridge before deciding that what the hell, that forest behind the house, how bad could it be?

It turns out I am out of luck with easily traversable forests nearby, but that's merely a minor setback.

You see, what is at the moment of writing seventeen years ago, I started having constant pain in my knees. Bad pain, at that, rendering every step and indeed every moment even sitting down, a torture. I was told it was merely growing pains, but didn't really buy into it. X-rays and catscans were done, people looked at it and poked at it, but no clear diagnosis could be given. Many years after the catscan, a reumathologist told me I had "joint pains", which I still consider a waste of many SEK, since I had been telling them that all along.

In any case...

Living with pain became second nature. I resigned to using only the softest, most padded sneakers, never walking or standing for more than two hours in a row, and being utterly unable to run, at all. Pay attention to that statement. I was in my teens when I gave up on running - skiing was fine, that didn't hurt, but running? Some investigations showed that I had no cartilage around and under the kneecaps. Imagine that - it's bone grinding against bone for me, no padding at all.
Around ten years after it all started, I began practicing iaido, which is a martial art from Japan. It trains the mind as well as the body, and at that, the entire body. Cutting is merely an afterthought if you look at what the rest of the body has to do! Explosive strength and static strength are both developed as a side-effect from learning to handle a katana, whether a sharp one (shinken) or not (mogito or iaito). I couldn't do the sitting kata (forms), until about two years after I had started, and that was after buying incredibly expensive knee pads - but oh what a good thing that was! Suddenly, I started building muscles around the knees. The excercises I had been given previously were probably good, but my will to do them always petered out eventually, but here, oh, here it came as a side effect of something fun! I had to start slow, but my strength grew, and some years later I realised - wait, there was no pain in my knees! I could go for almost a whole day without pain! I still had to be careful, though, and running still seemed to be out of the question.

Fast-forward even more, to when I had been doing koryu (old-style iaido) for quite a while, and realised I was fit as a... well, I was practicing at elite level. It was a thrill to be able to run when I was late for buses and the like, even if it was only a short distance. Sure, my shoulder had by this time been bothering me for a while (no, it never ends - there's always something new!), but oh, the knees! I could walk and stand and work!
And I started to sometimes join in the warm-up running during practice. Now, in iaido, we wear keikogi consisting of hakama, obi and what is known in the West as "gi" - that is, jacket. Our feet are bare. Therefore, we teach our beginners to run not heel-to-toe, but to land on the front of their footpads and spring from there. It is a glorious sound, when the thudding gradually stops! And though it did at times still hurt, and I had to be careful, well, at least I could join in. The rest of my posture was fairly straight, a little bent forward, since I was used to running heel first...

And then, a mere week or two before I write this post, I read the wonderful little book "Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen" by Christopher McDougall. Now, I am an academic, at heart and mind and by training, so I seldom read things and accept them unquestionably. But I am also an archaeologist (in Sweden, we make a distinction from the title of anthropologist). And chapter 28 really struck a nerve. Never before have I seen such a plausible explanation as to the evolution of the Homo Erectus becoming Homo Sapiens and Sapiens getting the upper hand over Homo Neanderthal.

So... I thought to myself, why shouldn't I try? A lot of what the book presents makes sense, apart from being an entertaining read.

Ergo:

I had the chance to walk around barefoot a lot this summer. It's an absolute joy, and I love doing it. Jogging on the grass, I found that putting down my foot like I had in iaido practice, like the book described, was far more comfortable.
I strapped on my relatively new, but rather simple, sandals, with a little padding, and set out. Just on random, to see if I could, and I took a backpack since I figured why not take a little walk to the grocery store? I knew I could always take the bus part of the way back.

...and it worked. I focused on making it smooth, and quite soon, the body adjusted itself. Straight back, head high, hands above waist level. My run settled into a gliding fashion rather than up and down-movements, and soon I was grinning widely. I couldn't help it. It was euphoric. So I ran to one store, and then, just for the hell of it, to another, to pick up some other things. And then I ran back, and when I returned, I had run about five kilometres, with a few pauses for walking at a fast pace for altogether about a few hundred metres.

I had run five kilometres. Could it be true? With sandals, hardly no padding, and certainly no insertions. I had floated over the ground, grinning like a madman or just someone insanely happy, and I came back and felt full of life and energy, so I did some other excercises too.

Suddenly, I want to run everywhere. My thick boots doesn't feel comfortable anymore, and I dread the winter.


I went from being hardly able to walk, to being able to run, barefoot or with only thin-soled sandals.
As mr McDougall says, "Instead of hammering down on my heels, the way I’d been taught all my life, I learned to run lightly and gently on the balls of my feet."
My energy for training and practice has been reinvigoriated, so I will record it all here. After half a year of reclusiveness and only occasional practice and training, I feel energised and wanting to treat myself to another run, another few dozens of crunches or back excercises. Come join me - if I can, with all my mental health problems, with a body that is unwilling, then, take inspiration and energy from me, and try you too! Now, I may see everything as being of benefit for my iaido, but you can train even without such an incentive. Just because I need one...

With fleet feet and pointy ears I will run into the future, lightly, happily, like the Tarahumara if you will, and I will do it gladly.