In case you're wondering why I'm not talking about training ultra-hard as a Black Belt (I am a shodan black belt in shotkan karate), it is because I was recently treated in hospital for multiple bilateral pulmanory embolisms (blood clots in both lungs).

My breathing was severealy compromised - I could not walk 50 yards down the road without getting out of breath! Normally, I cycle 10 mile round-trip a day for work; I run 2.5 miles twice a week; I train at least 2 times per week in the dojo and more than that on my own; Do situps and pushups every day.

So, to suddenly start getting out of breath was a major sign that something was wrong.

The Doctor's think that the blood clot occurred in my leg after I received a very wayward kicked (which should have been a sweep!). The clots broke away, travelled through my body, through 1 half of my heart, and got stuck in my lungs.

So, 1 month later, I'm getting back in to the fitness routine slowly and carefully - I'm sure that most of you sports people out there know how that feels - it's soooooooooo frustrating. Unfortunately, I'm not allowed to do any contact sports until I finish on Warfarin (another 5 months to go).