Ring Rust
I have recently moved to Vancouver and I think I am finally in a position to be able to get back to training. It has been four months since I have been on the mat. It feels like even longer. My ankle was hurt badly in a toe hold in November not allowing me to train. I limped my way through my belt exam in December (during which I had my eyebrow split open), but couldn’t get in more then a three or four classes in early January. The result? One word; rust. I went to my first Gi class at Universal on Granville tonight and I must say, while it was good to be training again, I felt very rusty. I felt like I was fighting entirely on feeling. I wasn’t seeing anything, I might as well have had my eyes closed. I fought against things I shouldn’t have, I fought for things I was never going to get, but most of all, I just wasn’t thinking. All in all I am sure it will come back to me pretty quickly, I haven’t been out for that long. I just need to get comfortable again. I think I am going to pull out my old white belt sequence tomorrow and go through everything to get it back in the front of my mind. I will mime what I can on my own, but I think that even just visualizing will be of great benefit. On the one hand it would have been nice to have a triumphant return to training, it probably serves me better to be humbled a little. My face at the moment looks terrible. I have a lot of abrasions and general redness. My face has always marked up easily in Gi classes and it never lasts very long, but right now I look pretty bad. If it clears up overnight as it often does I may go back tomorrow night. If it looks like it is going to linger I will have to wait, I can’t go into work on Sunday looking like I do right now. My skin will just need to get used to it again I suppose. In terms of scheduling Universal looks like the gym for me. I work Sunday through Wednesday and need to find a gym that offers me the most for my money on the days I can train. Universal seems to the place.
When all is said and done, it is good to be back and I am looking forward to feeling good again.
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