"Debulked"
Met with the PA today to debulk my bandages, and boy does it feel good to take off the layers! I feel so light I feel like I can fly (ok not really, but kind of). My leg definitely does feel better and I don’t feel as restricted as I did over the weekend. Can’t wait to start my rehab tomorrow with my PT, Melissa. I’ve worked with Melissa with a ton of stuff including my shoulder after my bicep surgery so she knows knows me really well. Either way, I feel like I have so much pent up energy inside me that I can’t wait to start doing some exercises, even though it’ll probably only be minor stuff in the beginning.
In a week, I get to take out the stitches. Can’t wait for that either! It’s crazy how the smallest stuff makes you happy when you’re injured. It definitely helps me realize I shouldn’t take things for granted and I should always be appreciative of being healthy. Anyway, thanks to everyone for all the “get well” wishes. Leg is getting better by the day!
Bank of the West Classic
Just got back from the final tennis match of the Bank of the West Classic, and it was great to see Venus Williams battle it out with France’s Marion Bartoli. I have to say, it doesn’t matter what kind of sport I watch, the final competition is always intense because so much is on the line.
Bank of the West Classic
In the end, Bartoli won the match but it was exciting to see Venus bring it close. As always it was motivating to watch such an intense match. I’m starting to feel antsy because I want to get in the gym. I took it pretty easy this weekend because I just had my surgery on Friday but I’m hoping to start some exercises by tomorrow. Plus I’m having my post-op appointment tomorrow morning so after talking to the doctors, I should get a better idea of the things I’m capable of doing and things I should still be careful of. Can’t wait to see what’s up!
On the Road to Recovery
Good news! Finished surgery yesterday and according to my doctors, everything went as planned. Although I couldn’t hold a conversation with the doctors because I was too groggy from the anesthesia, they did give me the thumbs up so I’m assuming everything went well. Either way I’ll be having my post-op appointment on Monday to talk about the surgery in detail.
My leg is actually feeling pretty good. I’ve been told to do a bunch of ankle pumps to keep the circulation going so I’ve been doing about a thousand of those a day. I’m also hooked up to two machines: One runs ice water through some pads attached to my leg in order to keep the swelling down. The other machine bends and straightens my leg so that it doesn’t get stiff while I’m laying around.
Me hooked up to some nifty machines
I’m supposed to stay in these for about 8 hours a day. And yes, I’ve gotta admit, I do get pretty bored. That said, I’ve been playing a lot of games, reading, and doing a bunch of sit-ups.
Anyway, thanks everyone for all the good wishes. I’m gonna take it easy this weekend but I’m definitely on the road to recovery! Can’t wait to get back in the gym and start doing gymnastics-related strength training!
Puttin' It Back Together
So the surgery date to repair my ACL is confirmed and it’ll be tomorrow. I’ve been doing a bunch of pre-hab exercises and am eager to get this surgery going so that I can be on my road to recovery. I’ve also been doing a bunch of upper-body exercises so none of what’s happened has really slowed me down.
I’m sure everything will go well because the doctors that are going to perform surgery on me are very experienced. In fact, one of the doctors that is going to work on me tomorrow has fixed up my shoulder before. That said, I have a great team behind me so I’m confident that I will bounce back in no time. Plus, ACL surgeries are fairly common these days so the techniques they use for them are very advanced.
I guess the only thing I’m not looking forward to is waking up groggy after the surgery. I remember the last time I had surgery, I ate some lunch a couple hours later and ended up throwing everything up. My stomach couldn’t handle it because of all the anesthesia and all the medication that was inside me.
Anyway, surgery early tomorrow morning…so early that I get to wake up before the sun does!
Sho's Coaches – Part 3
Yoshi Hatakeda coached me along with my dad from 2000 to 2002. He went to the Olympics as a part of the Japanese team in 1992 and 1996 and has a team bronze from the first one. He’s won several world championships as well. From what I remember his best events were pommel horse and high bar but he still kicked butt in the all-around also.
Currently he’s back in Japan coaching at a university. Cool thing is he also coaches Kohei Uchimura (Olympic silver medalist). I also recently got to see him because he was part of the coaching staff for team Japan at the Japan Cup (picture below)!
From L-R: Yoshi, Kohei, Me, Koji
Sho's Coaches – Part 2
The next person I’ll be introducing is Vitaly Marinitch. Vitaly was my coach during the two years that I was at the Olympic Training Center (’02-’04). He was on the Soviet team when they were dominant and he’s racked up a bunch of world championship medals including a team gold. Vitaly was also the originator of the “Marinitch” release on high bar and also has a couple other skills named after him (you can check out the skill on the second video @ around 24 seconds). My former teammate, Nate Downs, actually did a “Marinitch” and caught in an “el-grip.” It’s probably one of the coolest tricks I’ve ever seen. Unfortunately I couldn’t find the video so maybe if I asked nicely he would come out of retirement and do another one for me so I could catch it on film!
Anyway, Vitaly is currently the head coach at the Olympic Training Center. It’s great because every time we have a national training camp at the OTC I get to see him!
Sho's Coaches – Part 1
This week, I’d like to do something different and introduce some of the great coaches I’ve had over the years by pulling up some YouTube footage of them. Although I was primarily coached by my father growing up, and trained with Thom Glielmi through college, I’ve had the opportunity to train with a lot different of coaches. Most of my coaches competed in the Olympics and/or were world champions at one point in their careers. I’ve been very lucky to have had the chance to work with them and I definitely look up to them for all they’ve done.
First I’d like to introduce Mutsumi (Harada). Mutsumi came from Japan and helped coached the Stanford team during the ’05-06 season. He is an awesome guy and it was great to be able to work with him and get his input during his stay. In his prime, he competed at the 1999 World Championships and the 2000 Olympics in Sydney for Japan. He was a very powerful gymnast in his day and also graduated from the same university as Hiroyuki Tomita and is currently an assistant coach there.
Future Stars of Gymnastics
This weekend I spent some time in sunny Santa Cruz and coached at the Northern California Future Stars Camp. As always, the camp director, Michelle Huffman did an awesome job with organizing the event. This camp is always fun for me because I can get a first-hand look at some of the boys that will eventually become the backbone of Northern California gymnastics (and even the US!). I also had the chance to catch up with some close friends and coaches, as well as meet a lot of great parents.
However, I’ve gotta say that the best part about coming to camp is that the kids always remind me the most important thing about gymnastics and life in general, which is to remember to have fun and enjoy the process. Gymnastics shouldn’t just be about winning. The kids always seem to remind me of this because regardless of how good or bad their workout goes, you can tell that they’re always having a good time. This is something that many elite athletes forget when they are constantly under the pressure to win. However, it’s always important to go back and remember that it’s the process that matters the most and not just the end product.
Nor Cal Future Stars!
That said, I had a very good time this weekend. I’m definitely looking forward to coming back to camp next year and seeing everyone again!
Best at Both
A quick update about the ’08-’09 Stanford Men’s Gymnastics Team. We were honored as the team with the highest GPA out of all NCAA gymnastics teams. Apparently by winning the NCAA Championships and also getting the highest team GPA, we made history:
Stanford set a new standard in men’s gymnastics by becoming the first team in the sport’s long history to win the national academic team title and the NCAA team championship in the same year. Stanford earned the 2009 national academic title by combining for a team grade point average of 3.394.This past April, the Cardinal captured their fourth NCAA title in team history by defeating second-place Michigan by 1.3 points. Just as at the NCAA Championships, a total team effort was used to compile the highest team GPA in the nation.
'08-'09 Stanford Men's Gymnastics
We also had 9 guys honored as individual scholar-athletes:
Abinav Ramani led Stanford with the highest team GPA and was joined by teammates Lucas Hughes and Kyle Oi on the first team.
Team Captain and Stanford’s male Pac-10 conference medal award winner Sho Nakamori led the six second team members.
Congrats to all the guys for all the work in the classroom. I’m glad I was a part of it. Luckily no more hittin’ the books for me…at least not for a while!
Check out the release here: Clean Sweep: NCAA Champ Men’s Gymnastics Also Earns Top Team Academic Award
Opportunity in Disguise
The MRI I took yesterday told me that I tore my ACL after the high bar landing at the Japan Cup. Right now we’re in the process of scheduling a day to get it surgically repaired (hopefully sometime next week). While I’m definitely bummed about getting hurt, I’ve never thought to myself that going through all the injuries is not worth it. Gymnastics is a constant battle between pain and injuries and I do this sport because of that drive I have inside me to one day make the Olympic team.
For some reason, I see this injury as an opportunity in disguise. Yes, it’ll take hours upon hours of rehab, but at the same time, I’ll be able to put a lot of focus on strengthening my upper-body. My leg injury will also give me some time to go back to square one and fix all the basics that I haven’t been able to work on in a while. If this injury thinks it can hold me back, I’ll prove it wrong because I haven’t been this fired up about training in a while. In the long run, I have a feeling that this injury is going to make me a better gymnast. I’ll come out of this thing stronger than before.
I can name many gymnasts who have gotten stronger after coming back from a similar injury. Good friends of mine like Jason Gatson and Justin Spring rebounded back and made the Olympics in the end. I’ve also talked to another good friend, Hisashi Mizutori (Olympic gold medalist from Japan) who told me that he tore his ACL a year and a half before the Athens Games. He said he used his rehab period to strengthen his ring set, an event that was by far his worst event prior to the injury. However, he had gotten so strong by the end that he was picked to do the rings during the team competition at the Olympics. That said, I’m really looking forward to take what happened and turn it into a positive thing! Keep checking back in to see my progress.
Justin Spring's come back after knee injury in 2007
My friend, Hisashi, who made the Olympics after his ACL injury
