The Start of Something Epic

I must say, I'm not the "most" dedicated jiu jitsu student.  I have a career, a family, and other interests.  But it's my "thing."  It is what I do when I have a free night.  It's my exercise.  It's my sport.  It's where I set goals with like minded people and try to push myself.  I've had a hiatus here and there, but I always come back.

  

I've been doing jiu jitsu for over two years.  It's something I've gradually implemented into my life.  I started off with one or two days a week, and progressed to a point where I was doing stretches of 4-5 days a week, going to multiple classes on some days.  I'm sure my coaches wish I was more consistent, and I'm working on it, but at the end of the day I have higher priorities and jiu jitsu is what I do for fun.

Unfortunately, on October 20, 2012, in my first round of the IBJJF Miami Open, a sloppy guard pull versus my poor stance (mixed with a little bit of horrible timing) resulted in my knee bending really far in a direction it was not supposed to.  It dislocated and tore three ligaments - one completely.

It's been pretty depressing. I had just gotten myself back into a groove and was really looking forward to the competition.  Now I'm sidelined with an injury that takes months to heal - sometimes up to a year.  I was lucky in the sense that most parts of the knee that get damaged and lead to long term injuries - nerves, meniscus, cartilage - went relatively unharmed.  But that doesn't change the severity of my injury.

   

So a month after my injury, just days before my surgery is scheduled to take place, and after two weeks of pre-surgery physical therapy, I decided to start a blog about this journey - for a number of reasons, which I will share as the blog evolves.  For now, just understand that I hope it will help to keep me focused.

One last thing.  So many people have asked "so, you're not going to compete any more, right?" or "what are you going to do instead of jiu jitsu once you heal?"  In case you were wondering, I'm already planning my come-back video, background music suggestions are welcome.