After a crazy morning, we arrived at the taekwondo tournament. Isabella did an awesome job in her Tiny Tigers competition!
Then it was my turn. I collected my self and got ready for my competition. We started with the forms portion of the day and I felt pretty good. I was very happy with a first place fininsh! Then it was time for sparring. The first round went well and I moved on to finals.
There we were, my friend Kerri and I in finals together. We smile and get ready to spar as we have many times before. We bow to the center judge and to each other. We shake hands, "do your best ma'am" and off we go. The first move of finals was "the" move. I came in and landed a left a kick to her chest pad, then OUCH! Contact. The knee of my planted leg moves right... and I don't. I fall like a sack of potatoes.
As most athletes have experienced, I take a minute to assess the situation. Is this just a sting because it just happened? One that can be worked through? There is no way to know for sure without giving it a try. Up I stand. Sore, but still somewhat in the assessment process, and a bit of shock. Not because I got kicked, but because of the collapse. We get our warning about low kicks as I try to stretch and move my right leg. Time starts again. I try to continue the match as normal and quickly realize that things are not "normal" anymore. I continue to feel the knee "pushing out" for lack of a better term. I don't feel stable on the right leg and I'm afraid I am going to collapse again. I switch to the left leg as my support leg and finish the match. Still somewhat in shock.
We couldn't reproduce the accident again if we tried. Bad timing I guess. One of the inherent risks of contact sports. Accidents happen, and I'm thankful that it wasn't worse.
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