It’s been a hell of a year. Near the end of October last year, I was ready to get back into 10th Planet Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. I told a buddy I would be there that Monday, November 1st.

Sunday, I woke up at 0200h with the worst stomach ache I have ever had. It took some Ibuprofen, a long hot shower with me laying on the bottom of the tub, and a few hours before I finally curled into a ball and passed out around 0530h. That fetal position was the least painful position to maintain.

I took Monday off work, thinking I had eaten bad chicken for dinner. Tuesday I worked, but still hurt. That evening, I went to the doctor. He promptly scheduled an MRI for me the next day. By 1230h, the other doctor was telling me to get to the emergency room for my acute appendicitis.

The surgeon removed my appendix. He told my wife he had nicked something, but I’d be okay. A few days later, I was back in the hospital with a 102.7 fever and an infection. It bled more than he expected. I spent almost a week on fluids, antibiotics and morphine. That was fun.

I finally got out and my mama died. We weren’t exactly expecting that, but I was there at her bedside, holding her hand when she passed. Then I spent the next few weeks dealing with blood settling internally, bloat, infection, and pain. I was off work for almost a month.

By February I was back in the gym lifting some and trying to regain some aerobic capacity. By June, I was ready to get back in . . . until I tweaked my darn back again.

While I have been unable to do BJJ, I have been lifting, striking and running. I’ve logged a lot of miles trail running and forging my own paths through the wildlife preserve.

Tomorrow, it’s back to the doctor to check on injuries and try to prep for getting back in class. This getting old thing sucks! But as my dad says, “It beats the alternative.”

It’s been three weeks since I have been able to roll due to my ruptured discs getting aggravated practicing single-leg take downs. There are some exercises I can’t do right now–or won’t–like squat, deadlift and bent over rows. However, I am at least able to work some stuff.

The gym finally got a new speed bag. I haven’t really worked one in a while. I was never great and I am rusty, but I can still keep it going for a while before I knock it off kilter.

This morning, insomnia kicked in. I lay in bed from about 0330 to 0400 trying to get back to sleep. Shortly after that, I decided it was time for an espresso and gym trip.

I managed to work the speed bag then heavy bag for about 25 minutes. Ran a mile after that. A slow mile. Then worked chest.

This getting old thing sucks. I advise people to find a way to stay alive without getting past 32.

Seriously, I am looking forward to getting back to the mats. I haven’t been studying long enough to justify or have a month off. I’ve just about forgotten where 10th Planet is in town. LOL. No, I ain’t that old.

Best wishes to anyone over 30 studying and practicing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Practice and stretch now if you’re under 40 and don’t stop. Flexibility and stamina fades quickly.

I have three ruptured discs in my lower back. I did it back in about 2012. For a couple years, I did epidurals and kept running and working out as if nothing was wrong. Eventually, the last epidural didn’t last 24 hours. At that point, my drive to work was about 25 minutes and by the time I got to the office each day, I was almost in tears. I got to where I couldn’t walk, stand, sit or lay down without severe pain.

I had a discectomy in 2015 I think. Since then, I have found several exercises and behaviors that aggravate it and take me out for a while.

I found another one last week–single leg takedowns. LOL.

I’m sure a lot of this inflammation and pain has to do with working through the process slowly multiple times. Between grabbing the leg and standing and then twisting to drive my partner down, I definitely aggravated my back. A good portion is probably poor form on my part as well. If I had film to review, I would probably see my back arched much of the time instead of head up and chest out. Also, it’s difficult to drive through your partner when you’re going slowly and focusing on mechanics and precision.

Adapt

Hopefully, this will stop hurting soon. When it does, hell–possibly even before it does–I’ll try to find someone who is willing to work a little more with me on this technique. If I am doing it absolutely correctly and still having an issue, I will have to find a way to adapt the maneuver just enough to be essentially the same, but effective for my elderly body.

The Key For Me

I am studying Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and mixed martial arts for a couple reasons. One, I’ve always wanted to. It’s a bucket list thing. Two, for self-defense. I don’t believe in being a victim. I’d rather be a victor. I’ve been in enough fights in my youth to know you really don’t want to go to the ground if you don’t have to. Heck, you don’t have to have been in a fight to know that. Watch World Star and you’ll see how many friends start stomping on a single person when the fight goes to the ground. Even still, it’s definitely useful.

So, the key for me is to make sure that when I study and learn, I learn it as a sport but also think about real world application. And that goes back to the “adapt” idea above.

Will I compete? I don’t know. I say, “Probably not.” But when I ran a lot I also said I wouldn’t race, and then I found myself doing 5k races. So, the future is unknown and the path toward it, dimly lit. What is evident, though, is that if I intend to continue on this path, I must decide what is right for me and adjust to make sure I can continue without stumbling.

On Saturday, one of the grapplers, Sam Barbosa, came and taught a special class at 10th Planet in Decatur. He did a great job. I learned a lot and thoroughly enjoyed it. However, my knees can’t say the same.

These pictures were taken a couple days ago before I finally went to a doctor. (What can I say? I’m a guy and figure I’ll just suck it up and rub some dirt on it).

I got a hellacious case of mat burn. After about 10 days, my knees wouldn’t scab up. They had gotten infected or something. The doc gave me some antibiotics and an ointment and after just a couple days, they are doing much better.

What I’ve Learned

This isn’t the first time I have skinned or burnt my knees on the mats. It’s definitely the worst. On the occasion, I wasn’t wearing spats. It is too hot and humid for that. But even sometimes when I wear spats, I end up with abrasions or burns on my knees.

What i’ve learned so far is not how to prevent this from happening, but that in my old, frail age, my skin is getting thinner. LOL. I can’t count how many carpets and other things I’ve crawled over in my younger days without so much as a red mark and now it seems every time I get on my knees, my crispy-paper thin skin cracks.

I did get some advice from a not-so-old buddy. He’s mid-twenties and said he sometimes gets mat burn too, but using a lot of moisturizer has helped him with that. So, as soon as I can get some moisturizer on my knees, I’ll try that out.

Oh! Another thing I learned!

Before anyone says or thinks, what an idiot, I will admit, I often learn things the hard way.

After class that day, I realized how bad my knees had gotten. It was obvious during class. My partner actually asked if I wanted to stop, at least to go get some alcohol wipes to make sure my knees didn’t get infected. By that time, skin was hanging down.

I told him I was okay and we finished the class. Afterward, I had to get one of my critters from the vet. So, while I was waiting, I saw they had a bottle of germy gel…or whatever the heck it is. Hand sanitizer. I thought, I forgot to get the alcohol wipes. This should work.

I pumped a couple squirts into my hands, rubbed my hands to get some on each and them slepped them on my knees to try to keep from catching staph or something else.

WOW! That huuuuuurrrrrrttt!

Lesson learned: Never put germy gel on an open wound.