It's Just Safer in the Dojang!

It's a given that injuries can happen in Taekwondo. Like Sabumnim often reminds his class, "This isn't ballet. We are in the business of punching and kicking!" I've been bruised and sore many a time from Taekwondo. My friend Ice Pack and I have spent more quality time together since I took up martial arts. However, based upon my experiences I'm convinced that life is just safer for me when I'm INSIDE the dojang. Basically, stuff that happens to me when I step outside is much more dangerous and painful than anything that has occurred in TKD so far! For instance...

- Last Monday, I was slicing a bagel, and the knife slipped and sliced right into my forefinger. I always thought I had a high pain tolerance...til this happened! It hurt...A LOT! I actually had to pop an aspirin. Fortunately, seeing blood doesn't bother me, or else I would've probably hit the floor. The word "gush" comes to mind. It took a few minutes and a lot of pressure to get the finger to stop bleeding. Now the cut can go without a bandaid, but my fingertip is still numb. It still has the mark of an ugly 1/2 slice. I call it "Frankenfinger."

- A few weekends ago, I was dogsitting for a Pitt Bull mix named Kasey. She's not a big dog...smaller than your average Pitt. But she is ALL muscle. To say Kasey gets a bit wound up sometimes is like saying Sabumin is "pretty good" at TKD. Anyway, Kasey had one of her crazy moments, and darted past me. Well, not really past me, because during her sprint she wacked me in the outside tendon of my knee. It felt like getting hit there with a hammer. It didn't leave much of a bruise on the outside. However, if given the choice, I'd much rather get kicked in the shin, then "dogged" in the knee area!

- Don't think my own dogs haven't caused me grief either. Anytime I'm barefoot, and take a dogs paw right to the toes...well let's just say that dogs have very heavy feet...and NAILS too!

- I can't blame this one on sharp knives, or inconsiderate canines at all. When I open it, my car door won't stay open very well. One day this past summer, I was trying (unsuccesfully) to multitask, and grab lots of stuff while getting in or out of the car...I don't remember which. Somehow my head was between the top of the car and the car door, and as I opened the door, it swung back, and I was caught on both sides of the head as it whacked me right above the ears on both sides. It hurt so much I made a noise like a wounded animal. If you asked me to demonstrate it, I couldn't even try.

-Another "car accident" - my "helpful" friend stepped in to try to assist me in manually closing my convertible top. As it was up, she let go without warning and the top came down and smacked me in the head. Luckily for my friend, I heeded the tenant of "Self-Control," because there were a lot of words I felt like saying, or rather, yelling, but kept them to myself!

So, I do try to remember to put on my protective gear during free sparring, stretch out properly, and all the other stuff to practice safe Taekwondo. Let it not be said that I am cavelier about my well-being in class because I am aware of injuries that can happen. However, I think it's clear why my life on the outside world is just more painful...literally! That being said, maybe I should just wear my sparring gear outside the dojang. Helmet and all.