Friday, August 29, 2014

Ehlers-Danlos Karateka Philosophy

I *destroyed* my body running every day and that's how I got my Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome diagnosis. Six years of physiotherapy later, I'm just barely functioning enough to work and practice karate. I continue to push, but I am much more careful now. I limit my movements to one or two planes of motion at a time if I can, limit impact, and follow body mechanics religiously from the time I wake up to the time I turn back into a pumpkin at night.

I've been on hiatus from karate because I'm moving, and that has given certain body parts time to repair.

Karate has been amazing for chronic illness. Maybe it's radical to think this way, but I have decided that if my body is the Titanic and I'm going down with the ship, I may as well play in the band. My physiotherapist said, "While you have time, go live. Because when you're lying in that bed you'll want those memories." My attitude about things I have already lost (e.g., running) is that, when I could, I did.

So, I don't know if any of that is interesting, but there it is. Be well.

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