Just Arrived In Daytona Beach...Time to Re-Center and Re-Gain Momentum

Holly, Michael, Nathaniel, and I arrived in Daytona Beach, FL a while ago for the Gator Nationals Martial Arts Championships (at the Ocean Center if you are anywhere nearby). This is a big tourney with a lot of very talented people competing. I'm here to observe, soak it in, meet up with Lauren (my coach), and basically re-center mentally.

This week was brutal. The injury...closing the business (nationally all our stores are closing)...having a full plate of other responsibilities...AND still training and trying to be careful so as to not make the injury worse. Two days ago, I thought I was past the worst of it, then yesterday..WHAM! I felt as bad or worse than I did at the beginning of the week. Lost a lot of recuperative sleep this week too, which hasn't helped AT ALL!

I haven't been able to get through a full practice session with my kata this week, which is driving me nuts because time is so very critical right now. For me, I can't simply focus on the kata...but also the physical training to be able to present the kata. It is not easy, but then if it was, it probably wouldn't be worth it. Right?

The best thing I can do is breathe, relax mentally and use this time in Daytona this weekend to get it together, so to speak.

My back feels so-so today, but I am not taking any chances.

I'm going for a light workout with Michael tonight at the hotel just to keep my body "awake" to the fact that we are still in this thing. Won't be going too long as I'm going to hit the sack and sleep in just slightly tomorrow before heading over to the tournament.

We will break away at some point tomorrow and get some beach time in then be back for the live stream of the main events tomorrow night beginning at 7pm on http://www.kickgen.com/. I will be tweeting throughout the day updating on the event. Posting some pics too...probably here and at Kickgen.com.

I really need your thoughts and prayers right now. This has been a hard week, and I desperately need to regain the momentum I had going into this week. We are almost at the midway point, and if I ever needed your prayers and encouragement...it is now.

Talk to you some more tomorrow at some point. Night!