The Four Phases To Healing
I consider myself lucky that I've only experienced two serious injuries over the last 35 years of training in martial arts. They were two “chin checks,” which required me to pivot the way I was training; and how my goals were lining up with those of my family, students, and school. They made me reflect on how I would or would not continue to progress in the martial arts. I’ve experienced this expedition into the abyss both personally, as well as a mentor and coach. Walking this frozen and slippery route from injury to recovery, I have discovered four phases of transformation that consistently show up and can offer us a glimpse of hope as we heal from injuries and even adapt to abrupt changes in our lives.
Getting injured directly questions your passion for anything. It knocks the wind out of your lungs and leaves you on the ground gasping for air. It "gut checks" your determination and meters your endurance like the final round of an exhausting battle in the ring. It tests your work ethic and puts even the most hardcore on the ropes with weak knees. All of your training has been in preparation to face this ultimate test that will slingshot you to a whole new dimension once you overcome it. Patience as you embark on this journey is crucial. You must understand that the depth as well as the speed you move through each phase will depend on where you are mentally during the injury. Therefore you must treat each injury as a new experience that brings its unique evolutionary process for you to confront.
“Defeat is a state of mind; No one is ever defeated until defeat has been accepted as a reality.” Bruce Lee
Phase One or the Self-Diagnosis Phase typically happens just after we realize something isn’t quite right. It is where you spend time testing your range of motion, conferring what might have happened, and even researching online. You aim to make lite of the injury in the hope that the healing process will be quick.
“You do not see your real self when you look into a mirror. You see only the house in which your real self lives.” Napoleon Hill
Phase Two or the Anger Phase happens in two different ways. The first is during a minor injury where your patience is being tested. You keep adjusting things you do to avoid discomfort or pain, but the injury keeps nagging at you. The second is after we receive news that the injury is far worse than we had hoped. Either way, during this phase, is where you get very upset. You will be irritated with yourself, your training partners, coach, doctor, and even significant other.
“We ought not to look back, unless it is to derive useful lessons from past errors.” George Washington
Phase Three of the Depression Phase can be the deepest and darkest place you can find yourself. It’s a cold, wet, and often lonely place. It is where you face all the “What If’s” to your situation. Here is where you will ask yourself whether or not you will continue doing the activities you have been doing. This phase is usually the longest of your journey and by far the most difficult as you face every ounce of doubt inside yourself.
“What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger.” Friedrich Nietzsche
After you climb your way out of the tar pits of sadness, you will find yourself entering Phase Four or the Recovery Phase. Here is when you finally accept where you are and what you have to do. Now you take the steering wheel to recovery and rebuild yourself stronger physically, mentally, and spiritually.
Bruce Lee and Jeet Kune Do (JKD) protege; Dan Inosanto said we earn six months of training wisdom every time we compete or survive a self-defense scenario. The same thing happens as we progress through these four phases. We are challenged, tested, and pushed beyond our limits to learn more about ourselves and what we are capable of achieving.
“This too shall pass” is a jagged pill to swallow because it isn’t what you want to hear. Honestly, nothing seems to calm the fires of your wrath nor help you climb out of sorrow that might be drowning you. When it happens, take a step back and detach from whatever bond you have to your notions of how “IT” should be. Accept where you are and prepare for the journey ahead. Remember, greatness exists just over the mountains that you are required to climb. All you have to do is, “… give up the way it is… to have it the way you want it.”
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Guro Larry, Sonja, Lauren & Tori St. Clair
Martial Way Legacy
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