A Warrior's Guide to Battling Illness

LESSON FOUR

The foundation of all martial arts lies in the stances that are taught. The greatest power is delivered when the body is firmly rooted to the ground. When the feet are in their proper place the techniques are faster, harder and more fluid. Much time is spent on learning where to place your feet.

In this lesson we will work on the front kick. Stance plays an important role in everything that is taught, but more so in learning how to kick properly. Start this exercise by standing comfortably with your legs about shoulder width apart. Using the distance between your feet as a reference, move the right foot straight back that same distance. Your left leg should bend to forty-five degree angle with the shin perpendicular to the floor. If you need to hold on to the back of a chair to maintain your balance during this exercise, that’s fine. I have a cane I use often to help with my balance if I am not felling well. It is important that you fill comfortable in your stance so make any adjustments that you need too. Now that you have your stance, bring the right knee up in front of you about waist high. Now be sure to curl the toes up. Hold this position for a short time then extend your right leg. The foot should not go any higher than your knee. Remember to keep your toes curled up. Hold this position for a short time before bringing the foot back down. The knee should remain up in its raised position. Now return your leg back behind you returning to your original stance. Repeat this about ten times. Please repeat this exercise using your opposite leg. After each kick take time to find your stance. We are looking for a strong and sturdy foundation from which to work from. Remember a strong foundation is what every great thing is built on.

In this exercise we talked about the importance of a strong foundation. The foundation of all human interaction lies in the ability to communicate. The strength of that foundation lies in your vocabulary. Every profession has its own vocabulary. Accountants talk about debts and credits. Lawyers talk about contracts, writs or depositions. To understand them you must understand their vocabulary. Your disese has its own vocabulary. To be able to successfully communicate with your doctor you must be versed in the vocabulary of your dieses. When your doctor orders blood test he might ask for a CBC, Set Rate, or any number of abbreviations that help tell the lab what he is looking for. Each test has its own parameters. Dealing with kidney dieses my doctor routinely asks for a blood cratnian lever. It measures the amount of waste in the blood stream. The reading will come back as a number; a blood cratian of 2 is great. A blood cratian of 3.5 or 4.0 and your kidney function is down to about 15%. That’s not so great. If you know what the test is looking for and what the parameters are when the doctor tells you the results then an informed decision can be made by you and your doctor in determining what steps should be taken in your health care battle plan. Remember it is your health care and you should know and understand what is happening to your body.

Communications also involves relating to your doctor, you’re loved ones and other people in your life how you feel. Feeling blah is not the same thing as feeling sick. Try to develop some standard terms that describe how you are feeling. This will help the doctor in determining what course of action to take. If you come into his office on three different occasion and you use a different word to describe that same feeling you will waste time as your doctor tries to figure out if this is something new.

Have you ever tried to describe how pain feels? Is your pain sharp, dull, stabbing or throbbing? Where is the pain located? Is it in the muscle or the joint? Is the pain on the surface like a cut or scrape or is it deep in the body like a pulled muscle or stomach cramps.

As you can see knowing the right vocabulary is an important part of your health care battle plan. If a general gives his warriors a command and they don’t understand it, the result is disaster.

Now do exercise three again. Stand shoulder width apart, move the right leg back about that same distance. The left leg should be bent at a forty-five degree angle and the left leg should be straight. Adjust your stance to be comfortable. Now lift your right leg up so the upper part of your leg is perpendicular to the ground. Be sure the toes are curled up. Hold this for a count of five. Extend the right leg out in front of you for another count of five as high as you can go. Remember, no higher than your opposite knee. Now lower your leg down, still with the upper leg in the raised position. Count to five. Now return to your stance. Take time to check your stance after each kick. . Remember whatever you do is fine. At least you are doing something positive and this should make you feel better about yourself.

As you do this exercise try to develop a vocabulary that is short and to the point. Words that will help you talk with everyone that is involved with your health care. One word often works better than a sentence. Start a list of abbreviations that are used in the test you are given. Study them and get to know what they mean, what they are looking for and what their parameters are. This one step will be your greatest advancement in battling your disease.