It’s been a few days now, so I think I’m safe saying this. My knees don’t hurt.
I’m a big guy. I weigh close to three hundred pounds. In the last year, there have been days when I have weighed three hundred pounds. Staying under three hundred pounds is a major goal of mine — my BMI index says I should weigh 190, which seems like a number from Fantasyland, but hey… I’d be happy with a number under 250 for six months in a row.
In the meantime, though, I’ll settle for a far more realistic and wonderful result — namely that my knees no longer hurt. My dad just had one of his knees replaced a year ago in February with a technological terror, a thing of high-tech plastic and titanium steel. He is a large guy, too. And I thought, there but for exercise go I.
So. Tai chi: form first today, then five gold coins, then eight pieces of silk. And during the deep knee bends and the move called “snake creeps down” I was aware that my knees did not hurt. That they hadn’t hurt in a long time. That they were doing fine. That the motions were a-ok. That the tendons and muscles around my knees had firmed up and strengthened.
People who haven’t seen me in a while comment on the change in my posture. I stand differently. My weight, large though I am, hangs differently on my body. I can stand in horse stance for longer periods of time.
I know there are greater changes ahead, “further up and further in.” but for now, an absence of knee pain is good. It suggests that I’m going in the right direction.
Yay!! That is really awesome.
Wonderful, dear! I found that when I was dancing (hardcore, not club-style) once a week, my strength, endurance, balance and grace all improved steadily. Good on yer, as the Aussies would say. :o)