3months...

As the title states it has been 3months since my surgery.

This week I was told I am able to go about my daily life "without" the aid of my trusty knee brace. I have kept it as I will probably use it for the next few weeks/months when I am doing karate, just for peace of mind.

Still no jogging or such, however, my regular exercise routine has increased in intensity and range of movement exercises. Speed, jumping or any exercise that could "jolt" or "jar" my knee is still a NO NO. Light jogging will be ok after another month and a half, and soft jumping after my 6month check-up.

My knee is healing well, all tendons etc. are healing as they should. I have almost full extension of my leg (5°) and flexing (140°, still needs work). 
My muscle mass was measured during the check. My calf muscle is still -2cm and my thigh -5cm, so I still have a way to go before stage 3 of rehab can begin.

Stage 1 of rehab is getting your leg up to the level of being able to support you strength and muscle wise.
Stage 2 is bring your leg to match your good leg is respect to size, strength etc.
Stage 3 is bring both your legs to an even balance in respect to all movement, strength, balance etc.

I talked with my rehab doctor and was given the go-ahead to resume training with Butokukai Hiroshima from June.
There are more than a few restrictions though....
My training is to comprise of slow, controlled movements. NO jumping, No fast movements and NO power kicking. 
I asked my teacher, Naito-sensei, if this was ok as I do not wish to disrupt the other students' progress and training, and was given the ok to return to training.
The other up-side to returning is Zenkutsu-dachi etc. are great stances for getting my thigh muscles to build up some more!
Still unable to sit in seiza....so that will be an interesting experience!    

First day back...testing time

First, to my surprise, my knee held up fantastically well!

Balance was the best it has been since before the injury. Strength still has a way to go as I am still building my muscle mass back up. General movement was fine with the exception of turning.

Kicks...still a NO GO. (Slow, controlled and movement only was fine. Still a little unsure mentally on putting excessive weight on my left leg)

Blocks and punches...while being conscious of my left knee blocking and punching is fine. As karate involves using the entire body for punching etc. I have to take care and be aware of "pulling" the power and "snap" out of my blocks and punches (only to a degree) to stay safe.

Movement...straight foward and back movement is great! I am also able to put a fair amount of weight on my leg as the rehab comprises of a "lot" of squats! So in essence its the same as rehab. side to side is do-able but only if done at 30% speed and I have to super conscious of my balance "centre". Turning is a NO NO!

Kata...As turning etc. is still a problem, I am only able to "walk through" my kata. However this has an up side....I am able to focus more on the "little" things like placement an angles. It also offers me the opportunity to work on getting my Gensei-ryu kata firmly placed in my memory.

Kumite....NOT GONNA HAPPEN! This was a strict instruction from my surgeon, doctors and rehab docs!! It will probably be winter before even "light" kumite will be allowed!

I had my 3month MRI last week and have my 3month check-up this Wednesday. This will give me a better idea of how far my knee has come and how far I have to go.

Will post the results with my update of next weekends training!

A shout out to my Gensei-ryu teacher Naito-sensei and Kamohara-sensei from Shukokai. Their conversations and guidance have helped me keep a positive mindset to rehab and not giving up! 

 

5 days to go...

Teaching will resume in 5 days. I will post how it goes next week. Not just the teaching aspect, but how my knee feels before, during and after.

I also have my MRI this Friday. Following this my 3month check on the 13th.

I am hoping my doctor will give me the OK to go back to training at the Butokukai Hiroshima Honbu. Of course it will only be very light training and mostly only upper-body.