I am a capoeirista, a practitioner of the Brazilian art form of capoeira that combines martial arts, acrobatics, music and culture. I started capoeira late in my life, well past my mid-thirties, because I wanted to learn something that was fun, and could teach me how to kick ass as the same time. Fast forward five years, and my skills had improved. I had better coordination, agility, strength. And I was fitter, too. So imagine my surprise when surgery was required to fix the shoulder injury that had appeared out of nowhere. Now I’ve had my fair share of pain from this sport, but this was on a whole other level. What was worse was that it happened to my right shoulder, that allowed my right arm, and my drawing hand, to operate. Post-op, I was all kinds of bitter. This injury was threatening my livelihood. And no sport, or hobby, should impair you so unilaterally, it compromises your ability to provide for your family and loved ones.
That was five weeks ago. The recovery is underway. I can thankfully do work, albeit slowly, but my right arm feels at the moment like it belongs to someone else. Am I still bitter? No. But it will be a long while before I find my feet in capoeira again.