I was terrified when I heard the word, "sparring", but it turned out to be not too bad for my legs after all.

The lead roundhouse was the first move against which we defended. I was so proud of  my 'step-out roundhouse' until it was shot to pieces as being the most telegraphic thing you can do when it comes to the roundhouse :(.  That's fine, I got my skip roundhouse to work too. Some back and forth combos were confusing, but not just for me, so it's ok. We started out learning the x-block,which is kind of like an arm shield. Whenever I would kick, I would be blocked right into the sore spot on my tibialis anterior muscle. Sounds bad, but these are the knots that need to be worked out so it felt GREAT. It was mentioned that they do "leg fighting" in black belt class; apparently a sparring drill where only kicks are used. In Islandersword, a black belt isn't the end of the journey. While it is possible to become a master of the basics and earn a black belt in a 3-4 years by my calculations, it is also possible to earn up to a 5th degree black belt; something that would keep anybody busy for life. Anybody except Ken, that is.  Class was followed up by lunch in China Town for everyone who could come.

The day after my first double class day since the exacerbation, was my legs' best day since the exacerbation. I wonder if it is because of the fasciotomies. I just don't have the overall swelling like I do and the pain is very localized. If I pushed my activity level, the pain would be more widespread as the muscle would pull on the periosteum, though. Maybe I really did have a chronic compartment syndrome superimposed. Maybe the fasciotomies help minimize the damage. Maybe the intensive massage therapy that I've been doing thanks to the e-book is making that much of a difference. In any case I reluctantly decided to skip the pm class. It hurt to keep watching the clock thinking...."If I leave right now...". I had to skip it  because I just can't justify the risk to my legs, the time away from my kids, and the expenditure of money on a class that will not help me advance. It's a business decision.  I have to cut back on this class a bit because I have to save for my BJJ education and conserve my physical (legs) and emotional (frustration) resources. After one year, Joe and I have finally accepted the fact that nothing we can do, no perfect attendance, no amount of practice, no attempts at an intensive home self-study program will ever enable us to advance until we have an adult class. Someone mentioned to Joe that it looks like it will be June before the upstairs is finished. Maybe IK will let me work ahead during this time as my hardest belt is coming up after the next one; just about the time we can expect to have an adult class. Meanwhile, the black belt express keeps chugging along at a steady pace whether injury or anything else comes my way. That's what keeps me motivated even when I'm not in the mood to be motivated!