Coming back

My ukemi always needs work. (I suspect it will always need work!) Thursday two weeks ago (September 8) I came down from a koshinage... well, wrong.

I put my hand down.

I should never put my hand down!

Why? Because I am not nearly strong enough to do a one-handed hand stand. I landed with full weight (300+lb) on my elbow and I felt my right shoulder dislocate. As I lay on the mat, I asked my nage to pull my arm and it popped back into place. That pretty much ended practice for the night. I loaded up on anti-inflammatories for the next day or so and used ice packs. It never swelled up or discolored.

The following week I was back at practice but out of uniform. I did some of the warm-ups but no ukemi and nothing that would take my right hand behind my back or above my shoulder. (Try it - there isn't much you can do.) Buckling my seatbelt was a challenge for a couple days!

This week I'm back in dogi but still not taking any rolls. I can do kotegaeshi ukemi as long as it's not very vigorous. All my training partners have been very gentle with me.