Hello... long time no see!

[LBTC]

Sending lots of healing butterflies, SD. Let yourself heal and don't be a stranger!

Hugs and butterflies,
~T~

[tygab]

slink - cycling is one of the BEST ways to recuperate your leg strength after ACL surg. In fact, your PT will demand it early and often! It will probably hurt a bit at first... I would highly recommend you jump on that stationary bike when comfortable to do so because your quad will atrophy a lot in just a short time.

The surgery is daunting but it really is much better than most make it out to be. I tore mine via TKD originally too (and re-injured stupidly a few years later, but #2 one's held up awesome and I am in better overall fitness now than I was while doing TKD). Don't hesitate to ask questions of your care professionals and find out what they think. And feel free to PM me or ask others here, think several of us have had the surgery.

Good luck with everything, and welcome to the re-engineered

[slinkedog]

Thanks for the advice, Trek and tygab. Right now I'm in a fair amount of discomfort and would like to get back to doing TKD and being able to run around the soccer field with my kids and all that. My doctor did say I could live with it and strengthen other muscles and all that, but when I told him the activities that I would like to be able to participate in (soccer, TKD, skiing, cycling) he suggested having my ACL replaced. He said I can ride until the cows come home with no intact ACL, but the other stuff would be more dicey and I could do further damage to my knee. So I'm torn. (pun intended. )

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

Thanks for all of your support and advice. I still have almost 2 months before the surgery to weigh my options.

[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

[slinkedog]

Flying side kick? Why even bother,

Any jump kick scored is worth 3 points in a sparring match!!

Honestly, my kids and hubby are way more into this than me. I don't really plan to spar, but I love to do forms and I enjoy the fitness I've gained from my mat time.

[Trek420]

Any jump kick scored is worth 3 points in a sparring match!!

Ah. Points. Well if I saw that coming at me I'd get the deer in the headlights look while thinking "ooooh, that's sure a puhrty technique, wow, she's got some height on that, probably too much, I'm 5' nothin" so why jump at all? She could just hit my head with her knee. That's fewer points I guess if you've got it flaunt it Should I move? Which way Omote I'd be behind her but would I get whacked in the head by the other foot while I move? Ura blend? She'd back-kick me? Is she ever gonna come down? gosh I wish I could do that I'll just casually step to the side but I want to see her stick the landing and ...." splat whack biff bam (picture Batman animations )

my kids and hubby are way more into this than me. I don't really plan to spar, but I love to do forms and I enjoy the fitness I've gained from my mat time.

What does your Sensei say?

To me one of the signs of a good teacher is how they deal with injuries. Recently one of the students where I train broke his foot (think it was outside of class). He did his Shodan test (first degree black belt) seated in a chair. Pat adapted the test for him.

She encourages us to train even injured, not train hurt that's different. But to talk to her and she'll wrap the training around you. I remember when she had an arm injury and for weeks we did techniques one-handed. It was very tough but funny. For those who just could not do ____ without using both hands she'd hand them something "here, hold this phone book. Now do it."

'Cause you never know when you'll be holding a precious phone book and someone attacks

Slinkdog I guess what I'm thinking is whatever you feel is best for your knee is fine. TKD is a lifetime of study so work with your teacher to do whatever will keep your training. Think longterm goal not short term getting back on the mat.

This is what I'm dealing with on my toe. A surgeon happily said "we can put in an artificial joint, you'll feel great! 10 years later the joint will fail. Then we fuse the toe". Well that puts me at 62 unable to train. Nope. I'm doing the PT as long as I can.

Ever seen an 80 sumthin year old TKD master? They might not be doing flying side kicks but dayum are they impressive. I would not do anything that could endanger your being that person.