I had my first physical therapy session today and it went pretty well. I went in on Monday for an evaluation and my trainer gave me some stretches and exercises to do at home, then scheduled me for three sessions a week. I’m to continue taking the anti-inflammatories, continue icing the knee two or three times a day, do my exercises, and avoid excess stress. There’s no way to tell exactly how long I’ll be unable to train. The general rule of thumb is “until the pain is gone,” which is going to be different for each case. I’m still betting on a couple months, which would put me back in training in mid-December.

The good news is that I feel like I’m responding well to the therapy. I did all my exercises with a 2lb ankle weight today, along with a bunch of these, plus ten minutes on the exercise bike. I always walk a lot better after working the knee, too, so I’ve got an immediate incentive as well as the long-range goal of getting back to kung fu.

While I’ve been unable to actively train, I’ve been trying to keep my hand in. I still go to class, but as a spectator. I take notes on stuff that stands out. I talk to the other students about the stuff they’re working on and if I can help them with their training without stressing my knee, I do. Sifu says that when I’m able to return to class, he’ll allow me to make up the November test so that I won’t lose momentum toward my black belt. He’s a good guy like that.

I’ve been spending some of my downtime with Yang Jwing-Ming’s Applications of Shaolin Chin Na, dissecting the techniques (of which there are many) and studying how they are done. I’m working on categorizing and cross-referencing in order to come up with a system for learning these techniques. I like the chin na that we learn in Lung Shou Pai, but I’m impatient and I want more. If I could, I’d do an extra hour class twice a week just on chin na.