My knee and my bicycle

As I wake up from the ringing of the alarm clock in the morning, I feel that something is wrong. There is something that was not there the evening before. Something I was not aware of. My knee feels stiff – carefully I move and stretch it. Oh - That hurts.
Gloomily, I reach for the small pot of tiger balm on the table: Placed there for cases like this. I need it too often as to put it away.

I put a lot of the miracle working balm on my knee; right there where the lateral ligament is. A strong smell of menthol fills the room. Thankfully my senses are not fully roused so I do not have to enjoy the strong smell. That would be a bit too much for an early morning, even though I am already used to the distinct smell of natural herb salves in my room.

Since I trained six times a week in Germany too I am used to being hurt all the time or suffering a little complaint. You do not only learn how to handle this but also to listen to your body and furthermore how to cure several kinds of injuries – from bruises, to sprains, to strains and black eyes. You see and learn a lot. Unfortunately, most of the time, you are your own experimental rat for your "medical tests". At least you know what works and what does not afterwards.

I sit up in my bed and get my legs out of the bed: It feels ok. No throbbing or pounding in the knee. With new determination I stand up and walk a few steps. Damn it! That hurts! I cannot stretch the leg completely nor can I bend it completely. Limping through my flat, I think about how this could have happened. I did not have any problems during the Muay Thai sparring or during the takedown grappling class afterwards.
Maybe a low-kick hit me right on the knee and the high impact while shooting for takedowns afterwards was too much for it.

When you are doing two to three training sessions per day, the "being-hurt"-factor reaches a completely different level. Now, I really have to be careful in every single session not to make any injury worse. Even if it is nothing bad, like just a bruise in your foot from a fight two weeks ago or a sprained finger – you have to take care of everything and adapt your training, so you can still work hard (I concentrate on boxing now, since my knee is still not fully recovered).

Sports are not really “good for you” when it starts to take its turn into being a competitive sport. No matter if it is triathlon training, shot put or swimming (but STILL a thousand times healthier than hanging on a couch and having chips with coke!). Additionally, the problem with combat sports is that you cannot only hurt yourself also get hurt by others; this is due to you letting others kick, punch and throw you every day. Sounds a bit sick and might not be that intelligent but it makes me really happy.

Because I cannot train with my injury I decide to do a bike tour with my new racing bike. Just getting out of the city and cycling along the Ping River, the biggest river in Chiang Mai, is absolutely awesome. Beautiful nature and silence along the riverside. Furthermore it does not only help the knee to recover but I found a new sport I really like. I never had a racing bike before and realize only now how fast you can go with it.

 a great new hobby

If you are in Chiang Mai, do a bicycle tour! The nature is great and it is extremely relaxing and a welcoming change from the MMA training. It burdens your body differently than MMA training.

I will keep you informed about the recovery process – when the knee is healed, I think I can face the next fight. Hopefully it will be soon.