The "So There" Thread

I have no idea what that is, but I hope a short course of antibiotics clears it up.

 

Been to see an Ortho surgeon, had an MRI and will get the results of that next week when I see the Ortho guy again.
In the mean time he's referred me to a physio (think the MRI was just precautionary really but be interesting to see what it shows).
She's done her assessment, had a prod and a fiddle, tested movement and mobility in the lumbar joints (and all over), where the pain manifests (lower back, sciatic nerve and also over both hips down into the IT band and knee) and concluded probable L3/L4 rather than lower down (which is where I thought it was).
She's basically said the whole area is now sensitive and it needs "resetting" (not in a chiropractic way) so the brain and body can move on without it being painful.

 

There is a heron above my head.

I am on a small jetty in my hammock. Bellow me a shallow coral lagoon, with baby barracuda, cuttlefish, and a random artist’s pallet of parrot fish. The jetty is open at all sides. A gentle breeze cools me as I rock in my hammock. Just a ¼ of a mile over the water a ridge of volcanic hills rises from the sea to create a long island covered in dark green forest. Here and there clouds cling to the tops of the hills. The island I am on is also forested. insects click and chatter in the trees. Birds call, their high voices shine through the deep lapping sound of the waves against the shore. Above me a roof thatched with banana leaves gives protection from both the tropical sun and rain. Upon the roof sits a heron, watching the crystal blue water with an unwavering jet black gaze.

 

She probably was referring to desensitizing the tissues and resolving compensatory patterns you may have developed. Pain is a funny thing; it doesn't actually exist in your body but is rather your brain's interpretation of signals sent by the nervous system.

 

Yep. Ortho guy again tommorrow. Physio on Saturday.
Watched my daughter at TKD last night and I'm itching to get back into things but I'm determined to take it slowly and set up some sort of plan for health and longevity.

 

speaking as someone with chronic pain in spine (in my case neck problems) - swimming - (i swim with a mask and snorkel even in the public pool that way I dont need to turn my head to breath). swimming is great, builds cores stability, builds muscle mass. builds muscle coordination. and almost zero impact.

 

So MRI came back and I have a dried out disc with protrusion right at the base of my spine.
The other discs were white as they are still full of fluid but the one at the bottom, that takes all the load, was a black gap. The protrusion is aggravating but not directly impinging the nerve.
So not the higher up LS3/4 as my physio suspected although could still be issues there too. The other discs above it (according to Ortho guy) look pretty good for my age as it happens.
So it seems partly age related (drying out joints), partly 20 years of martial arts injuries and being a tool, partly poor lifestyle as I slip into middle age and have kids, workload, etc and partly about surrounding structures taking the strain as this disc isn't as pliant and shock absorbing as it used to be.
So physio again on Saturday and then it's all about core stability, increasing hamstring flexibility, getting regularly active again, shifting some middle age spread and freeing up that area to be functional again.

 

Alexander technique also good for reducing the drying of discs.

 

Think I mentioned this before, but Back Mechanic by Stuart McGill is a great book. His "daily big 3" (McGill curl-up, planks/side planks, and bird-dog) are fantastic for rehabbing duff backs.

 

I'll be enjoying 12 hours of training, taking place over 2 days, at a joint Kris Wilder / Iain Abernethy seminar this weekend, and you won't be* - So there!!!

(*unless you will be, in which case I'll see you there...)

Travess

 

Five of my kid students passed their grading on Saturday (4x white-yellow; 1x yellow) and a sixth will hopefully do so tomorrow, because he couldn't make it on Saturday due to his Arabic school.
So there!

 

On the laziness of island life and the benefits of not keeping your eyes too firmly on the prize.


They have on the island a tiny humming bird a little smaller than my thumb. Unlike other humming birds it is not overly flashy in appearance. Its wings and tail are dark grey while its body is mustard yellow. Its only adornment is a patch of black feathers on its chest, that when the light catches them just so shine a vibrant metallic red. It’s needle thin delicately curved beek is about half as long as its body. It is a light and agile flyer perfectly adapted for hovering and sipping the nectar out of the local flowers. However it seams that this bird has forgotten how to hum. Generations of island life have left it with a laid back attitude that frowns upon the zipping abound. In stead it flies to a branch lands on it then walks to the nearest bunch of flowers. The flowers, it would seem, are not going anywhere, so why hurry. Better to take the time and enjoy the flower and the moment. You get there in the end.


There has been unusually strong tides and heavy current on the reef for the last couple of days. All the better for the exercise and getting into shape. I was paddling in place watching the fishes when a majestic turtle glided past. Its shell was about half the size of my body. Its head the size of a large mango. It fixed me with a deep and thoughtful gaze as if it were trying to impart some deep wisdom. Then produced a huge dense cloud of grey green phoo. In a flash a rainbow coloured blizzard of fish rose up from the reef and set upon the cloud. Each fighting each other for the tastiest morsels.

Then, “whhhham!”, a hundred fishy tails beat at once. The reef fish disappear. They are replaced by a Giant Treveli three foot long, two foot tall, made of bone muscle and teeth. It hangs in the centre of the cloud of pooh (now beginning to disperse). By the angry look in its eye and its surly demeanour it looks like it missed its prey. For reef fish it would seem that it does not pay to have your eyes to firmly on the prize. But instead to always have half an eye out for perils from the blue.

Sent from my hammock with a view of a volcano.

 

I'm German Champion!
So there!

Of course, there were only three starters.
And it's only JJ-Elements; which is only showing a throw and a lock (or hold; but I showed a leg lock) and three times and that's that.


But German Champion!
Sounds awesome, as long as you don't go into the details

 

I submitted after 40 seconds playing with Ryan gracie jnr so there

 

Rio claro soa paulo