Karate did not Kick My Chronic Condition: Endometriosis as an Athlete
My earliest memories of pain were entering puberty. While most girls had pain for a day or two, mine would last for weeks on end. Sometimes I was even hospitalized. At this time endometriosis was not a hugely understood concept, so far too often I was sent home under the guise this pain was “normal.” I do believe as women we are raised with the belief that pain is an all too necessary part of puberty – but what if that level of pain is not the norm?
Endometriosis: Ah, that painful and debilitating condition.
I recently read that girls are often undiagnosed due to a lack of communication. Honestly, I can vouch for this. My pain journey began at the ripe old age of twelve. I had pain leading up to my first menstruation for months – that’s right, months! Something was wrong, even as a child I knew this but as all women too frequently do, I pushed the pain aside and learnt to live with it. Sure I had moments curled up under my desk in pain, and there were occasions I would skip out on class to hide at my friend’s house – all too conveniently located down the street from my school. Basically, it became my way of life. I didn’t love it but I had a ballet background (R.A.D), so being self-disciplined and managing pain was standard.
Fast forward to a horrific running injury where my leg was torn open and my bone was sticking out…
My ballet career was ended before it had a chance to begin. My parents really went above and beyond to ensure I didn’t lose my dream of dancing professionally following rehabilitation. However, anyone within the world of dance would know how competitive that industry is, and six months is a lifetime to catch up from when everyone is competing for a place within the Company. My knee was dislocating every time I spun a pirouette, which hardly makes for stable dancing, and really is quite painful. The diet of a ballerina often delays moments of puberty for young girls, so my endometriosis story hadn’t really begun until I was mid-recovery. Wow, that pain was something else!
As my ballet dream was now a dead one, I threw myself back into running track. Before long I had built back my stamina – three cheers for muscle memory! Though as I was accustomed to discipline, I was becoming quite bored. My father came from a background of martial arts; naturally he knew that the neighboring town held the dojo of the Australian Kata Team Sensei. He suggested I try my hand at karate, and it was honestly the best suggestion he could have made. Kata is all about forms, which holds many similarities to dancing. Furthermore, it strengthened my joints which minimized dislocation.
I began karate, and within the first twelve months I had tried out for the Victorian State Team –and was accepted.
Training became a regimental process – there was no room for weakness of any kind. My schedule consisted of four hours a night, five days a week, and a special class held each weekend – four hours away. All I did was train, but I adored every moment! Well, mostly every moment. My instructor was old school and we were conditioned under more traditional techniques. There were four of us from that dojo in the state team the first year, and our training was slightly different to that of everyone else. We were punching rocks, conditioning our feet on gravel and forced to withstand pain of punches until the four of us were black and blue – with a few blood spatters here and there. It sounds horrific, but it was effective. All four of us placed at competitions, so you really can’t argue with results. It did get a little funny how many times during school I was taken aside by a concerned faculty member to ask “…if everything was okay at home,” while placing their hand on one of my arms – which to be fair didn’t have much area of skin that wasn’t purple. Sure I was standing there with a few bruises, but my mother was a counselor and my family life was happy, supportive and wonderful – home definitely wasn’t the problem! The questions did eventually stop as more staff members learnt of my chosen sport, though it’s nice to know they cared! My friend was a circus performer, she had the same questions. It’s still a private joke between the two of us that we to this day often laugh about.
Standing there with an endometriosis flare up, while you have a one hundred and twenty kilo man of muscle throwing punches into your stomach … Ouch!
Knowing what I know now, I honestly don’t know how I managed it. Holding a plank for six minutes (with an endometriosis flare up) while trying not to black out from the pain was insane. We pushed ourselves beyond what I think now to be humanly possible on a daily basis – but again, we got results. I placed third for my first year at the Australian Championships, and first the year following.
The other three did even better than me – they made The Australian Team, which is something I was never able to quite achieve. This was all before Karate became a part of the Olympics, so I kind of wish now I hadn’t have quit when I did, but living in the land of ‘if only’ is a dangerous place. Realistically I am super glad that I got out when I did, because as I have gotten a bit older the pain has definitely worsened. My instructor was from a different era; what I had thought to be mere ‘time of the month’ pain was not a viable excuse for slacking off in his eyes. There were so many times I had to bow out of the room to be sick in the bathrooms mid-training, and I cried on the mat more times than I would like to admit.
As an adult, I am much more gracious towards my body when I am having a bad flare up.
Staying in bed with the room shrouded in darkness, popping as many pain killers as I think my liver can handle - that’s a huge yes from me! Forcing myself to exercise when I literally cannot move –huge no! CBD of any kind is probably not something you can take as an athlete, but it sure does help with those bad days! More athletes are beginning to speak up about the difficulties of training at an elite level with this condition, so I know I am definitely not alone with what I went through. Even now I don’t regret any aspect of my former training, though I have no idea how I handled any of it at the time.
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