A Look Back on 2023

Well, this has been an eventful year for my wife and I. Fortunately, the year is ending on a good note.

Hip Replacement

As many of you know, my right hip was replaced in January. The day of the surgery was a bit crazy. My wife and I had to leave the house at 6:00 am to make the 7:30 am check-in. The problem was there was a massive snowstorm overnight. The 401 was a freaking mess. I was prepared to get up early and shovel the driveway. Use up the rest of the lousy hip before the surgery!

There was one problem. My lovely wife beat me to it. She got up at 4:30 am and shovelled the driveway by herself. And she shovelled just enough of the snowbank left by the city’s trucks to get out of the driveway.

WHAT AN AWESOME WIFE I HAVE!

I told her, “You should have woken me up so we can shovel together.” She didn’t want to.

We got to the hospital on time. I checked in for my 10:00 am surgery. However, at 7:30 am, a surgical nurse came out to the waiting area and called my name.

Me: “Is there another Brian Johns you’re calling for? My surgery isn’t till 10:00 am.“

Nurse: “The 8:00 am patient is running late due to the snowstorm. We want to move you up to the 8:00 am slot.”

Me: “Let’s do it!“

Good thing my wife and I are preparation freaks!

Family

My mother-in-law passed away in early May. As some of you know, we moved into her house four years ago at her request. We put a fair bit of our stuff into storage before moving in. She didn’t need our assistance for the first three years, except when driving her to medical appointments and in the winter. That changed in the fall of 2022 when she declined further. By the beginning of the year, we were essentially full-time caretakers.

Recovering from a hip replacement and being a caretaker was quite a balancing act. I was careful not to do stupid shit. It all worked out well until she fell and broke her hip in early April.

Some may define a warrior by how much they lift in the gym or their martial arts proficiency. I don’t disagree with this view. But why not add looking out for those more vulnerable than you are? Taking care of an elderly relative qualifies for the definition of being a warrior, at least in my book.

Going Back To The Gym

A month after my mother-in-law passed away, I returned to the gym for the first time in six months. While the hip wasn’t fully recovered, it was good enough for me to go to the gym. I stuck to the physio exercises for my hip and skipped the leg machines. I stuck with my upper body and was more into the “getting my feet wet” mode rather than getting into a serious routine.

It wasn’t until after my annual cottage vacation that I got into serious training at the gym. I settled on a “Push, Pull, Leg” routine that has worked well for me. I’ve tweaked it here and there, increasing the intensity of my workouts.

While I have a good foundation, I feel I’ve stalled out in two areas. First, I lost 12 lbs and got down to 180 lbs. I have been stuck there for a couple of months. I need to fix that. Secondly, I’ve been doing periodic push-up tests. I desire to perform 60 push-ups by my 60th birthday.

On my third test, I was able to crank out 38 push-ups. Unfortunately, I regressed to 36 on my next test on December 10th. My diagnosis is that I have not incorporated push-ups into my workout routine.

If it sounds like I’m data-driven, it’s because I am! I need data to track my progress in lifting and push-up tests to meet my goals. To that end, I have created a couple of spreadsheets to track my progress.

Here’s the spreadsheet for my push-up tests for the data geeks.

For those seeing this for the first time, the numbers denote the number of consecutive push-ups I could do before I could no longer do them.

Since December 10th, I have incorporated more push-ups. Thanks to Dougie Pritchard and Professor Chuck Gauss for their tips! My next test is on New Year’s Eve. It should be interesting since I am on a scheduled week off from my workout routine. Let’s see how that affects my next pushup test. Stay tuned!

Resuming Private Lessons

I resumed on August 1st with a test session with Alex. I had anticipated returning to teaching by May, but it was not meant to be. The recovery progressed much slower than I expected. Anyway, my hip was pretty fatigued by the end of the test session. Most importantly, there was no pain. Just fatigue.

Since then, my hip has gotten stronger the more lessons I have taught. It isn’t where I want it to be, but getting there. Some of my private clients have yet to return to training, which, oddly enough, has eased my way back into teaching private lessons. Those private clients have a fair bit on their hands and desire to resume training in 2024. If that proves true, I’ll have a busy schedule!

Oh yes, I’m closing in on a private lesson milestone. It doesn’t mean much to other teachers and other instructors in the martial arts industry. But it does mean a lot to me. I have two more private lessons to reach 3,000 private lessons since I moved to Canada in 2007. I know many have taught more private lessons than I have. Reaching this milestone means a lot to me.

Thank you to all those who have trained with me since 2007. I probably learned much more from my students than they have learned from me. I can’t emphasize enough how invaluable this experience has been for me.

Modern Arnis Camps

Of course, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the two phenomenal Modern Arnis Camps I attended this year. First up was the Michigan Camp. I entered the camp not having done any martial arts since my hip surgery. While I had to sit out a few sessions due to hip fatigue, I admit to being pleasantly surprised with the pain-free weekend. I tell you, I was one happy camper by the end of the weekend!

Then, there was the annual ArnisFest, which took place in Mooresville, Indiana. I had a great time there, and the highlight was the promotion of Ken Smith and Chuck Gauss to Professor of Tapi Tapi. Well-deserved promotions!

Thank You to Blog Supporters!

Lastly, I want to give a shoutout to those who donated to this blog to offset the expenses of this website. Your ongoing support is greatly appreciated and helps to make this blog sustainable.

My Top Posts of 2023

The top 5 posts of the year are the following:

1. The Benefits of Solo Training.
2. Self Defense Tips for Deaf Individuals.
3. Five Reasons to Suspend Martial Arts Training.
4. More Trouble Ahead For Martial Arts Schools?
5. A Freaking Lesson Learned.

Some of you may wonder why I’m still blogging. Simply put, I like writing about my martial arts journey. At the same time, I recognize that my posts will not get the reach of videos on YouTube, TikTok, or Instagram. The algorithms on Facebook and X/Twitter have strangled bloggers, severely limiting our reach. All that said, WordPress and other blogging platforms are moving aggressively into the 21st century by offering additional bells and whistles, including ways to increase our reach.

Lastly, Happy New Year to all of you! May 2024 bring you prosperity and good tidings!