Chris Gets Reckless

So after that whole knee incident the doctors told me that maybe I would still be able to fight in the upcoming karate tournament a week later. They also said there may be damage to my knee cartilage and to some tendon. With the language barrier they didn't explain much more than that, and I wasn't left feeling very confident about it being safe to join the tournament.

Over the next week I vacillated back and forth. My karate sensei (who works at the hospital) assured me that as long as we wrapped the knee up tight it would be okay. My dad talked to his orthopedic surgeon, who suggested that exercising a knee after having the kneecap dislocated could possibly result in permanent damage. The knee felt... okay. It ached at times but I could walk on it easily.

I was so indecisive that I didn't make up my mind until the day of the tournament. After seeing the mat laid out and all the other fighters getting ready, I couldn't resist. After all, in my seven years of karate practice, I had never before joined a tournament. I had always wanted to, and doing one in Japan seemed even better, and this was definitely my last chance.

If there is any suspense, I'll break it now. I'm pretty sure I didn't hurt my knee at all, and I was eliminated from the tournament in the first round.

Granted, I had some disadvantages. I fought left-handed, with my left foot back, to keep my hurt knee out of danger (in Kyokushin karate, leg attacks are a central strategy). I hadn't practiced in a week. Although my knee wasn't hurting me, I didn't have much dexterity and couldn't move around as quickly as I would like. I had to cut down on my favorite attack, which is kneeing people in the stomach (it works well for me in Japan, since most of my opponents are shorter than me). Finally, I wore padded gloves, not realizing that they weren't required and that my opponent wasn't wearing any.

But I have to give my opponent his due. For one thing, he had more stamina than me. You can watch my punches getting weaker as time passes. He also had a cleaner technique. In the end, he was the second place winner of the tournament (although I thought he should have won the last fight).

Without further ado, here is the video of my fight:



note: I'm the one in the red belt, and most of the cheering in the background is not for this fight, but rather a fencing tournament that was going on at the other side of the dome.

Cormac McCarthy gets the Pulitzer

Cormac McCarthy, my favorite living author, just won the Pulitzer for The Road, a book I already recommended on this blog. Dark, Scary, and a much quicker read than you would expect for this kind of award-winning stuff, I can't recommend it highly enough.

The book was also chosen as the next Oprah Book Club book, which has wiped away any preconceptions I had of said book club. Anyway, go read the book.

Knee News

Tonight I experienced the most painful moments of my life. During the last five minutes of a karate practice, I was sparring with a green belt when I felt something pop out of place in my knee, and I immediately hit the floor. It hurt. My fellow karateka tied a brace to my leg, to keep my knee from bending, picked me up and put me in Sensei's van, and then off to the hospital I went. I wasn't able to actually see my knee from the way I was sitting, but the expression on people's faces indicated something wasn't quite right.

Sensei just happened to be the x-ray technician at the hospital, so he and some doctors wheeled me around to the x-ray room, took the x-rays, and informed me that my patella (kneecap) had moved or was dislocated (the language barrier was a nuisance here). I waited for a specialist (orthopedist? I don't know the correct word) and they told me that I lucked out because the one who was coming was the best around. He came, a laid back looking middle aged man, and quickly put his fingers on the most sensitive part of my knee and pushed. Really hard. That, my readers, was the most painful moment I have ever experienced.

He noticed my expression of anguish and the scream I was just barely holding back and decided to inject some local anesthesia. Then he pushed some more. It still hurt, but not as bad. Then suddenly, "pop," and everything felt better. I could bend my knee. I could twist it. To my surprise I could walk. They even told me there was a chance I could still fight in the upcoming karate tournament 10 days from now if it feels okay.

The all transpired in almost exactly an hour. I kept thinking of 24 and all the torture scenes. I, my friends, am no Jack Bauer.

Chilean Empanadas

Empanadas are basically meat pies. They are popular all across Latin America and come in many different variations. When I lived in Argentina my host mother was Chilean, and she taught me this recipe which I am repeating from imperfect memory. Unfortunately I've never gotten the taste of the filling quite the same as hers. She passed away last year and these empanadas are one of the things that I can remember her by.

The Filling:

-about 2 pounds of ground beef*
-2-3 onions, chopped
-1 teaspoon chili pepper
-1 tablespoon cumin powder
-3 cloves of garlic, chopped
-salt and pepper to taste

Brown the meat and add the onions and spices. Taste test it to see if there is enough salt. When finished, let it cool and then refrigerate it. It should be cool or cold when you make the dough and start making the actual empanadas.

The dough:

-1 cup milk
-1 stick of butter (cut into cubes)
-1 tablespoon of yeast
-1 tablespoon of sugar
-1 teaspoon of salt
-4-5 cups of flour
-2 egg yolks

Separate the egg yolks and egg whites. Save the whites for later. Heat the cup of milk, but do not boil. Add the yeast and sugar to the milk. Mix and let sit for about seven minutes. Then add the salt, butter, and egg yolks. Slowly add a little flour at a time and mix. When it is too solid to use a spoon, knead with your hands. I don't know precisely how much flour is needed. I stop adding flour when the dough is feels solid and isn't sticky.

Making the Empanadas:

Break off a ball of dough about 1 and 1/2 inches thick. Apply flour to your hands, the dough, the surface, and a rolling pin. Roll the dough into a thin circle. Chilean empanadas are usually large. I aim for a diameter of about 8 inches. If making a circle is difficult, place a bowl over the flat dough and use a knife to cut around the edge of the bowl and then save the excess dough. Spoon out a generous amount of the filling into the center of the dough. Dip a brush into the egg whites and apply a thin coating of egg white around the edge of half of the circle of dough. This will act as a glue for the next step, folding the dough over the filling, and then pressing down hard with your fingers to seal the two halves together. Try not to leave any openings. To further seal in the filling, now take the bits of dough that you have just sealed together and either fold them over, or make a twisting pattern like in the picture above (it's difficult to explain precisely how to do the twisting correctly - just play around with it). Now apply egg white to the top of the empanada (this will give it its golden brown color).

Place the empanadas on a buttered cookie sheet. Keep some space between them, as they will expand a little bit. Bake for about 18 minutes at 375 degrees F (about 220 C), or until they have turned brown. Cool and eat.

Optional Additions:

In addition to different ways of making the dough and filling, each country and region often have different things they add to the filling after it is cooked. My host mother used fresh olives (one per empanada) and hard boiled eggs (cut into eights, with just one or two pieces per empanada). Argentinians used raisins (their empanadas were sweeter overall).

*one of the difficulties in translating her recipe was figuring out what kind of meat she used. I couldn't find the word for the cut of beef she used in my dictionary. I don't remember how I came to the conclusion, but somehow I have come to believe it is chuck. I also have a feeling she may have originally used shredded meat as opposed to ground. I don't recall exactly.

Webcams are fun

I used to be all excited about the voice over IP service for my telephone which provides cheap international calling, but these days most of my method communicating with my family back home is free, and with the benefit of video. Hurray for webcams.

You can see from the picture above how fun they are. So if you have Skype, let's chat.

Goodbye Tooth

Spanish: diente
Japanese: ha
English: tooth

Today I bid farewell to my single, wacky wisdom tooth. The process was over and done with in less than 5 minutes. I sat down and took a nervous look at the instruments on the dentist's tray. He came over, wiped some numbing gel on my gums, then shot some local anesthesia into them. Then he made two quick tugs, stuck some cotton in my mouth, told me to bite, and said we were done. I didn't even realize the tooth had come out. *Sigh* I'll miss it.