all right. so i am now officially back in business. sort of.

i broke my little finger a month ago, right when i was starting to get into some very interesting training. i have been given the medical ok to remove my splint and begin rehab for my finger.

right now, i have a drastically reduced range of motion in the injured finger, my ring finger (which was also splinted), and my wrist (also splinted). my left grip and arm strength are extremely weak as well because i couldn't use that hand for very much of anything for the entire month. of course, it will be a long time before i will even be able to hold a Clubbell® without lots of pain.

i have started to work on my finger mobility within the limits of pain and stiffness. finger waves are quite impossible, and circles are very, very small. i'm mostly trying to work up to being able to make a fist and flatten my hand fully. i'm working each finger individually and all together. i am starting to type with both hands again, and i plan to pick up my bass soon (though i'll be using only three fingers for a while to come).

since my wrist was also immobilized, it is also very weak and limited in rom. i am doing lots of circles and infinities throughout the day.

those are my specific impediments that need rehab. of course, i can always use more recovery work in other areas - chronic problems have been my toes/feet, ankles and elbows. for these, i am doing foot rolls, ankle circles, and elbow circles and infinities.

during my handless month, i found greater rom in my neck, shoulders, hips, and jaw. i'm going to be working to refine these ranges further and smooth out a few remaining rough edges in my finer motions.

finally, i have finally satisfied myself that my prior groin injury is healed enough to work on improving my lateral leg mobility. i had a lot of fear with raising either leg over hip-level to the side, but i've had a lot more success with stretching (educating) this region lately. probably due to 4cbd and straight-leg circles form ww.

i also increased my meditation practice while i couldn't move freely, and this has been rewarding.

so that's the progress report.

here's where i want to go now:

in addition to the rehab for my hand i mentioned above, i will continue 4cbd and dynamic stretching as staples for my kicking skills.

warrior wellness will remain a daily affair, and components of be breathed, prime bioenegy, and qi gong (actually kikou) will find their way into this practice as i feel the desire to focus on one thing or another.

since i haven't done any strength or endurance work at all for the past month, my overall levels are way down, especially for the left side. i can't do any Clubbell® practice, but luckily i ordered FlowFit® just in time. i'm going to make this my basic physical practice.

i experimented with FlowFit® a couple of times over the past few days. amazingly, i can do the moves without hurting my finger - i can distribute the pressure over the other fingers and thumb with no problems. however, the spring twist is impossible for me right now, so i substituted a kneeling twist until i can put more weight on my wrist. i can do the program at level two with exertion around 5 and technique around 9 (with the modified twist) for the side one of "kind of blue".

i have not "felt the flow" (well, not with FlowFit® yet), but i've been putting my attention on learning the movements and keeping my hand safe. i'm now satisfied that i can do the routine without any danger to my finger, and i've memorized the second flow. i find myself also naturally adding elements form higher levels (such as a quad hop, full leg-swoop, full up-down dog, and knee-drop spinal rock), but i will wait until i've gone fully through the level two series a couple of times for the full time period before i start integrating these movements into my practice.

i'm easing my way back into taido practices, but that's more of a scheduling issue than anything right now. i have a tournament at the end of june, but i'll only be competing in the team event, so it's very low pressure. i will also be performing an examination in mid-june, but that's only a matter of form and knowledge - it's a simple level up for my instructor certification that i probably should have taken a couple of years ago. my next serious tournament outing will be in september, so i will have plenty of time to be fully prepared.

so for right now, my routine is going to be FlowFit® and warrior wellness with some assorted other practice.