Yesterday I attended my final test for my purple belt. It involved breaking a board using what is called a double front kick. Sadly, I was unable to break the board doing so. I remember my last attempted kick impacting the board with a really nice, meaty thunk. At that time I felt fine, so when the Master asked me to try breaking it with my side kick (a more advanced kick) I was certainly game. I broke it on something like my 5th try – not stellar performance by any stretch.
On the drive home with my new purple belt around my neck my big toe started to hurt. Not a little hurt, like a cut, a scratch, or a dropped box landing on it. No, this was a nice, deep, soft tissue type of pain. I limped into the house and immediately applied the ice.
Today I’m able to walk, but not without a limp. I’m sure I’ll be fine, but I sure do hate those double front kicks.