Hello... long time no see!

[Trek420]

As far as the injury, I was doing a flying side kick and landed badly... my knee went sideways. Not fun.

Flying side kick? Why even bother, opponent has a half hour to wait there and be impressed by the skill and utter beauty of the move as you fly through the air with the greatest of .... and I simply step to the side and watch you land.

Lovely move. Wish I could do it, I can't jump at all anymore.

I'm just sayin' we like to keep our feet on the ground in Aikido, so we can run away or simply not be quite where you wanted us to be when you land. behind you maybe. Whah?

I tore my ACL throwing someone. He was supposed to fly way over there, he went the same distance but straight up .... then straight down on my knee.

Would have been ok still if my stance had been correct.

Your foot must be aligned with your knee always. You probably landed toed in or out, it's not strong enough for any move. .

I still train even with torn ACL, blown meniscus (both on both knees) and arth from the neck down. I do the strengthening, and on the mat I wear a knee brace.

That's not so much because I need one but it's preventative. I can't tear the knee again because there's no surgical option for me. My sensei knows, for example I'm not doin' high falls, I take the same falls just roll out.

Your teacher should be willing to work with injury.

If you decide to do the surgery that's ok

But I'd hit the weights, stretching, conditioning the area, and ride of course. In the dojo focus on your stances. They must be perfect in every part of every technique. Do tons of kata in front of the mirror and focus on stances.

Aikido is a full contact sport, the contact is with the ground And the falls are hard. Most at my rank or higher have arth at least, and we train. Martial Arts is a lifetime of learning so take care of your body 'cause you'll be at it for a while. I assume I'll still be training in my 80's should be lucky enough to live with good health that long. So think long term not quick fix and back on the mat.

Trek-humble-Nidan-420