Fragility

Last night I momentarily thought I'd dislocated/ broken/ sprained another finger during Krav training.

Last October I got booted in the left hand and my pinky went a bit banana shaped. I was out of training for more than 2 months and missed both P camp and my P5 grading as a result.

All for the least useful appendage on my body.

Yesterday we were doing knife threats and as I whirled to knock the hand of my partner away with my right arm, I somehow managed to jab my ring finger right into the bone on her forearm. Unlike the last time, this bloody hurt and in between cursing I frantically ripped off my MMA mitt in case I had another busted joint.

Could still flex and grip but it hurt like a bastard, so I stepped out for a minute to see how I felt and let the pain ebb. This was at 8.20, with the class wrapping up at half eight. We were about to move to a final pressure drill, something I nearly always enjoy.

I had a choice to make.

Either....

1). Go back in, "sucking up" my discomfort and pain and give it my all.

2). Take a back seat and miss the final drill, in case I tempt fate too far and end up really hurting myself.

Something I've realised in the 3+ years I've been doing Krav is that it is very easy to get hurt, either by mistake, misfortune or bad technique application. The human body is a delicate machine and toes & fingers are fragile little things. I've done gradings up to P5 with some severe fighting and an exhaustion factor that is hard to imagine...but ultimately we are padded up with shin guards, gum shields and 16oz gloves. There is a sense of caution present at all times.

Krav teaches us to be more than just people who fight. It talks about walking or running away if we can when faced with potential violence and above all putting your safety first. While I always imagined injuries sustained in training would be for reasons of macho sparring or taking on a bigger opponent, a wonky finger caused by a 16 year old girl wasn't on my list of heroic wounds. However, as I stood there with an ice pack clenched around my throbbing digit watching the others throwing punches for a tabata workout...I realised as my breathing returned to normal that I'd made the right decision

My body needs respect too and listening to it when it starts complaining is a discipline that I need to keep practicing. I've seen a G5 instructor get a cracked rib during a grading and simply carry on. While I have a lot of respect for him for that, part of me still wonders what would have happened if he'd got thumped in the same rib twice.

We've all seen boxing matches where one or both fighters are busted up, eyes like slits, faces purple and puffy but they keep going out of dogged determination.

I don't do Krav to prove I'm tough. I do it to keep fit and to give me an "edge" if I'm ever attacked on the street for real. I like the skills Krav gives me but as I've grown older I feel less and less like I need to prove I'm "hard" by going beyond my own pain threshold and then carrying on. And by that I mean pain from injury, not pain through exhaustion or fatigue.

Adrenalin is one thing but there's a time where I would rather feel embarrassed and disappointed but not carry on, than do something that might put me out of training for a lot longer.

On the Bench

After dislocating my left little finger by trying to stop a stomp kick with my hand I paid a visit to the fracture clinic..who signed me off for 3 weeks from active duties at work. This means I'm inside and not outdoors and am limited as to how much I can physically do. Awesome.

The yin to the yang is that I also can't train at Krav either.

Deciding to put a positive spin on this, I went along to the session last Tuesday, solely to watch the Sparring class.

I'd had suspicions that my sparring was lacking so thought half an hour sat watching, free from stress, fatigue or a boot in my groin would help me see just what I need to watch out for and improve upon.

As the main class filed out to go home, the four guys who'd elected to stay for Sparring got kitted up in the bomb disposal vests and got going.

I was partnered with a big Polish guy the night I busted my finger (he didn't dislocate it, that was in the "3 Vs 1" melee at the end) and he was all over me, even knocking me down on the floor a couple of times. This time I watched him fight and he's a good fighter. He waits for you to come to him, which I picked up on last week, however what I hadn't spotted is that if you get too close he takes a couple of hits by protecting his face with his hands...and then follows up with a vicious hook to the side of your head.

As the group changed partners I watched the styles they fought in and a few things became apparent that I hadn't spotted before. First of all, those that landed punches usually didn't telegraph their moves, something I do. Also, those that didn't get repeatedly walloped in the head had their hands up and their chins down, something I fail to do regularly.

I had originally thought that the list of "wounds" picked up on the P4 grading last March sounded badass (lost contact lens, lost gum shield, chipped tooth) but now I realise it's because my guard was down and I wasn't striking properly. My kicking is weak, mainly due to lack of flexibility (Devil's Claw tablets from Holland & Barret and a few "Yoga for Dummies" YouTube videos are helping that) but also stamina and cardio training issues.

For one night it was beneficial to just sit and see how other people fight, without the emotions and adrenalin (not to mention sweat) that come with being part of a class but not being able to see what's going on except for the guy facing you.