Last night was the first time that I have trained at Yamasaki for a long… LONG time (since March of 2011); and boy did it hurt feel so good!

It was really great to see some of the old faces smile when they saw me and extend a “Welcome back” or “Good to see you again” nod or gesture or quick chat while warming up. It felt great to be missed and welcomed, as if it had only been a week. 

Warm ups were… well… warm ups as usual. There were some things that I couldn’t quite do yet, er well, I could do but I really shouldn’t if I want to keep coming back, or walking, or sitting. So I just stood on the side and did some jumping jacks or push ups while others did some “carrying a partner” stuff.

Fernando Yamasaki was really looking out for me last night and I really appreciated that. He really knows that I am stubborn, and that it’s hard for me not to push my limits and risk injury. After working on some spider guard pass drilling, Fernando set me up to work with a Blue Belt to defend side control while the rest of the students rolled live. Since it’s been a while… and I am quite a bit rusty, I got choked and arm-barred a few times more than I would have liked. Fernando is a genius though; He knows that I have a wrestling background and don’t feel very comfortable there in side control. He said to me “Let’s take advantage of your injury and work on defending side control on your back only! No bridging or crazy stuff… I don’t want you to get injured again.” Well, I rolled into a few arm-bar attempts, some successful - others not so much, and also successfully executed a sweep while mounted but not without a bit of pain. 

If I am going to continue this, which I AM, I NEED to remember one of the first things I learned from Jiu Jitsu over a year ago… SLOW DOWN! You can still be in beast mode…. slowly. :-)

In any case, It’s great to be back on the mat, more than I can express with text. I look forward to continue writing as long as you keep reading… or not.

Thanks for reading. I hope to see you for my next post.

As always, comments and support are welcome!

Peace!

So as I mentioned, and as the picture showed in my previous post, Thursday I received a Caudal Epidural Injection. It was definitely the most painful of the shots that I have received to date. Lots of pressure and stabbing pains through my butt.

Now…before I continue, Let me share a quick anecdote about the preparation for the procedure. As you may have noticed in the picture of the X-Ray, the needle for the injection is inserted by the Coccyx (tail-bone) and pushed vertically up the Sacrum. The nurse came in to clean the injection site, she apologized to me as she pulled my shorts down to expose my entire backside. “Sorry, I have to do this.” she said. She began to use alcohol, iodine, and whatever else they use to clean the injection site (the top of my butt crack!) and mentioned that the doctor would be “right in” to get started. Well… “right in” turned into a 10 minute conversation with the nurse about tattoos and such, all while I am lying face down with my exposed butt propped up in the air. All the doctor had to say as he entered the room was “Sorry to keep you waiting, How are you doing today?”. I thought to myself “How am I doing?… I’m mortified!” but came out with the standard response instead, “Good, and you?” as I shook his hand.

Anyhow, about 5 to 10 minutes later, the shot was done and I was on the way home, I felt a lot of tightness in my lower back and butt muscles. The Doctor said this was normal and I should expect it for a few days. After all, they are injecting fluid into an already tight and inflamed area. so i just took some of my muscle relaxers and dealt with it.

The next day, I woke up feeling great! I mean GREAT!! I mentioned to my wife that I think this is the shot that did it. I was more mobile than I had been in months and almost pain free with NO MEDS. I couldn’t have been happier. I was ready to have my life back. Well, on Sunday, I drove for about an hour to drop my grandmother off who had been visiting for a few days. On the drive back, I started feeling some really sharp pains down the left side of my leg, where my IT band is. They got increasingly more painful as the ride went on. It felt as if my nerves were being stretched like a rubber band. I couldn’t find a comfortable position, no matter which way I moved. By the time I made it home, I was sweating from the pain and couldn’t get the meds to my mouth fast enough. About 45 minutes after my arrival home, the meds began to do their thing and I was able to bare the pain and go to sleep.

The next morning, (Monday) I woke up feeling a bit tight as I usually do and got into the shower to begin my daily routine. When I got out of the shower and dried myself off, I put my left leg in my boxer briefs first, then stood on my left leg to put the right leg in, and I nearly fell over. so I tried again, and nearly fell over again. I couldn’t balance on my left foot. I held on to the sink and finished getting dressed and thought it was probably because I was just tired. But then I noticed that skin on the top of my left foot and my shin were NUMB. Like poke me with a needle and I cant feel it kinda NUMB! Since then, they have stayed that way, and to top it all off, I am having some constant twitching or mini spasms in my hamstring and hip or IT band areas.

So I called the doctor and he is sending me for an MRI (AGAIN!!!) on Thursday afternoon. Until then, and probably for a while after, I will be numb, tight and twitching, waiting for the next way to approach getting all this worked out so I can train again. These have been some of the most frustrating months of my life!!

Thanks for reading , and I’ll see you next post. Hopefully with some good news!

I decided today… “That’s IT! I’m going back!”… It’s been a bit over four months since the last time I stepped on the mat(t) at Yamasaki! I just couldn’t take it any more. My back still hurts like hell (but better) and I want to train… Badly…. like FOUR MONTHS AGO!!!! So, I messaged my Master, Fernando Yamasaki this morning and asked him if it would be OK if I return, and his reply was “See you tonight!!!!”

Well I picked a hell of a night to go back. First of all, When I arrived, they were just packing things up from filming a commercial at the Academy. I’m not sure for what but I guess I will find out eventually. I assume that because they were filming the commercial, Master Mario Shigueru Yamasaki (Father to Fernando and Mario Yamasaki) was in the house. What an honor to meet this 8th Dan Judo Black Belt. We were asked to join the children’s class as Master Mario S. Yamasaki spoke instruction in Portuguese and his son, My Master, Fernando Translated. It was Awesome! 

After a warm welcome back from Fernando and the other students who wondered where I was, I made it through the next class’s warm-ups, and guard choke drills with a bit of pain as expected… but not too bad. The next class began, and I asked Fernando if he had any exercises that I could work on, because I was beginning to tighten up. I mentioned that I tried a shoulder roll in warm ups and that was NOT pleasant at all. He thought it would be a good idea (and I agreed!) that I call it a night, see how I feel and come back in a week. Slow and steady… I’m not trying to hurt myself again, but I still want to keep learning.

So I am home now… I just did a heck of a lot of stretching and I am now laying on the couch with my TENS unit on, writing this post. Thursday, I’m due to go back for a third round of Nerve Rot Injections at The Spine Center in Rockville, which has been treating me for pain the past two months. Below is a picture of my last treatment. So I can’t wait until next tuesday so I can train again.

I’ll be back soon and keep you updated… But all I have for now is DAMN IT FEELS GOOD TO BE BACK!

It’s been a while since I have posted but this morning I go back to the Doc for my follow up and I’ve been hoping that I would be getting cleared today. The past few weeks have been up and down. I’ve actually been improving quite well. Between the meds and Physical Therapy, I have been improving steadily. I was actually running again and it felt great, and even did some light rolling with my friends from St. Albans last Wednesday. Things were looking great and I was eager (and still am) to get back to it…. That is… until Sunday morning.

When I initially threw my back out, I knew exactly what I did to make it happen. It was Judo night at Yamasaki Academy. Repetitive motion of hip tossing did it. This I know.

Saturday, I had a small get together with some friends to watch UFC 129 at my house. Everything was fine…. I felt great. Right before I went to bed, My back was starting to tighten up, so I took some advil and off to bed I went. When I woke on Sunday morning… I could barely get out of bed… let alone walk. I was shuffling around the house like a geriatric.

This time, I have no idea what happened, and the pain is just as bad or even worse than last time. It has really taken the wind out of sails. The most frustrating part is not knowing what I did to throw it out again. That’s all I can think about. How can I prevent this from happening again if I don’t know what the cause was this time? these are all the questions I will be asking the Doc this morning.

Let’s just hope that this episode doesn’t set me back another month!!!

……Frustrated!!!