Over the past few years I have received several comments asking why I’m in the gym all of the time. Originally my fitness journey started because I had injured my knee in college when I was preparing for my Cho Dan test. The full recovery story of that is for a different post on a different day. After surgery I had to start rehabilitating my leg to get back to a place where I could do the things that I love; and so began my fitness adventure.
I started with just basic physical therapy. However, that really only gets you to a place of being able to live a “normal life” but not an active life. I’m someone who loves not only martial arts, but also snowboarding, mountain biking, wakeboarding, and other high impact activities. I needed to know that my body could continue to withstand those things. I also knew that in order to get there it was going to take a lot of effort on my part, so after I was officially cleared from physical therapy the real work started.
It was time to hit the gym and grind because I needed to start doing more strength and conditioning training. At first my main focus was still on my bad knee, but I quickly figured out that in order to get back to martial arts I needed to strengthen my entire body. This time it was my knee, but the reality is that the next injury could be my back, my shoulders, my core, or any other part of me that wasn’t up to snuff. I knew that consistently strengthening myself would help to prevent further damage to my knee and potential future injury as well. I needed to make sure that my body was in the best possible condition that it could be in. Otherwise I knew that I risked having another severe injury, and maybe one from which I wouldn’t be able to make a full recovery, and it would put me out of the dojang or off of the mountain for good.
At this point I had been able to meet my bare minimum goal: condition my body so I could get back on the mat. However I had developed this great routine that I knew I could maintain, and ultimately I would be better for it. Now, not only do I have the endurance capabilities that I need to live an active life, but also if I do wipeout snowboarding or take a kick to the body, etc. I will be able to handle it and recover a lot faster, and more easily, than if I didn’t condition myself. And being a little bit injured is way better than facing a larger injury that causes more lasting issues for me later on.
I’m not saying it will be easy, but if you want to continue in the martial arts as you get older, it will be worth it. Start small with your routine and build from there. Even if you meet the bare minimum requirements, it’s good to keep going because that builds habits from which you only stand to benefit. Find an accountability buddy if you need to; I’ve found this helps a lot! And I’m not going to lie, I don’t always love going to the gym and lifting and running. There are many times when it feels like an absolute grind. But I do love Tang Soo Do, and snowboarding, and everything else that brings joy to my life. So I keep grinding anyway.
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