I’m known to be quite a sporty person, and a competitive one at that. My favourite sport would have to be basketball, being athletic and 183cm tall, for an Asian I guess I have the basic physique for it. I also enjoyed a lot of tennis and squash over the years, but for some reason, soccer just didn’t suit me. I have good hand-eye co-ordination but I’m not very good with my feet. Sadly, the best achievement in basketball in my life would be winning the Korean basketball competition in 1995 with our uni team.
That was the best time to be playing basketball, during the Michael Jordan era. His come back after his first retirement to lead the Chicago Bulls to another three-peat (1996-1998) to secure 6 titles for the Bulls, has got to be one of the best achievement in any sports. Just imagine if he never retired in the first place, I reckon he could have won 8 titles minimum. If you haven’t seen Michael Jordan to the Max, I recommend it.
Unfortunately, I will have to give up basketball as my main sport due to a torn ACL injury I sustained last year playing basketball. What’s funny about my ACL injury, is that I didn’t get it properly diagnosed until almost a year later. I figured, there had to be something more critical even though the knee felt totally fine, after re-injuring my knee about three times while playing basketball and tennis. I even heard of a case of a friend who also didn’t know about his ACL injury and served his time in the Korean army! He could have gotten an exemption, but well, he now has an interesting story to tell, along with the many army stories he would have aquired during the time.
Much to my disgruntlement, I will have to hang up my basketball shoes, and make way for more boring sports like golf…? Nah, I do plan on learn golf properly one day, but my new target is to get some proper coaching once my knee is better and play tennis at a higher level than I ever have before. But that is some months away unfortunately (while I recover from my surgery), and for the time being… what to do? I will definitely prepare and make my legs stronger than ever before and keep up my routine of doing weights at the gym.
Did I mention I used to only weigh 62kg before I started working out at the gym? I have a problem which some people wish they had. Due to my high metabolism, It’s really hard for me to gain weight. My solution 8 years ago, was to goto the gym 4-5 times a week and drink protein shakes. Yes I used to be one of those obsessive gym junkies, carrying my protein formula and a drink container in my bag all the time. It worked though, I gained 10kg in a year, and at my peak I was about 78kg. I am currently about 76kg. You wouldn’t know it just looking at me, depending on how I dress I can actually look skinny. Not many people would understand how depressing it is to lose the weight that you struggled so hard to gain. Nor would they understand how offensive it was to hear “you’re too skinny” again and again. Do those same people call fat people for what they are as easily?
I only goto the gym about twice a week now, just to maintain my body. Some people criticize, saying I am just doing it for the looks. Well it’s partly true, I do want to look good, which in turn makes me feel good and confident about myself. But the health benefits of weight training, and the appetite it gives me to eat properly are alone worth the 2-3 hours of investment a week. Not to mention that it helps me to excel in the sports I enjoy. I eat 3 square meals a day and never miss my breakfast. It is the most imporant meal of the day.
Since my knee injury last year and my ACL reconstruction on April 21st, I have been out of action from any major physical activity and life just isn’t as fun as it used to be. Quite depressing, but I have found a new challenge to whet my appetite for physical activity, for now. Swimming. Exciting isn’t it?
I have never been a strong swimmer, although I learned enough in primary school to swim a freestyle 50m lap without too much fuss. That was about it though. I will never be a strong swimmer, but my desperation lead me to change my thinking. Why not try something I am not good at for once? This knee injury was an opportunity in disguise! To improve my swimming skills that is. I started swimming on a weekly basis earlier in the year, and took a short hiatus around my knee surgery time.
I began again a month ago, and I have broken a personal best with a 14 x 50m lap achieved in one visit to the local pool. Park Tae Hwan, although I will never even dream of winning an Olympic gold medal you first-Asian-ever-to-win-an-Olympic-400m-gold you, you gave me inspiration to at least bring my level up to a point where my biggest fan can be proud of me. Oh, that would be me. My goal is to achieve a 40 lap visit which is quite achievable in the few months I have.
Oh, Wimbledon is on now. It was quite refreshing to see men and women dressed in white and playing on grass. It kind of brings back an air of class and properness I think. Bringing the game back to it’s origins since that’s where tennis was born. I am rooting for Federer to win his 15th grand slam title, but disappointed that Nadal dropped out to make things a bit easier for him. I read in the paper today that someone bet $800,000 on Federer at 1.01 odds. Now that’s confidence. I can’t wait to start playing tennis again.
Korean Australian Blog 