Swimming in the Styx

We saw the new Sherlock Holmes today.  In this version, Jude Law plays Dr. Watson–superlatively.  He manages to always walk with a limp, just as the original Watson did–even when he (Jude) is beating up the bad guys.   As we all know,  Watson was injured in his leg (well, originally his shoulder but the leg is better) while serving as an Army physician in Afghanistan.   While not apparently an Achillles tendon injury, having a bullet pass through it “did not prevent me from walking [although] it ached wearily at every change of the weather”.  So Jude plays this brilliantly.

While obviously a fictional depiction, the movie so successfully sucked me into its illusion that I felt amazed and thrilled at how well poor Watson, even with his ongoing injury, is able to thrash about knocking down the villians.  He also seems to know Gracie-style (Brazilian) jiu jitsu, as well as being a crack shot with a really cool swordcane as well.  Anyway, I feel inspired, even tho’ a PT earlier this morning told me he had an ATR and never fully got his strength back–although some people do, he hastened to say.   So I’m feeling anything is possible now.

Which is good–my earlier thought for the day is to realize that having this injury is like having a permanent distraction.  I was driving to a meeting, and while walking to it after parking I bumped my head on a street sign (hanging over at <5′8″ into the sidewalk) even tho’ I noticed it and tried to duck.  I was thinking during  a boring part of the meeting about what was going on, and i realized that while driving I was constantly thinking about my foot, and if it could be in a more comfortable position, and in what way did it feel wrong, and how could I make the irritation less, etc. etc.   I thought “this is as bad as talking on a cell phone”.  So maybe I better be careful about driving, and walking, and anything that really requires concentration that I can’t do while keeping my foot elevated and essentially without noticing it.  At least for now.

PS: the real Holmes really did know “have some knowledge, however, of baritsu, or the Japanese system of wrestling, which has more than once been very useful to me.”–especially in defeating Moriarty at Reichenbach Falls.    This martial art is probably a typo for “bartitsu”:

1. “Bartitsu was created by British engineer Edward William Barton-Wright in the 1880’s. Barton-Wright studied martial arts during the few years he lived in Japan while working as a railway engineer and surveyor. When asked what bartitsu was, Barton-Wright said, “Bartitsu has been devised with a view to impart to peacefully disposed men the science of defending themselves against ruffians or bullies, and comprises not only boxing but also the use of the stick, feet, and a very tricky and clever style of Japanese wrestling, in which weight and strength play only a very minor part.
2. When Barton-Wright returned home to London in 1898, he gave up his career to focus on teaching bartitsu. He established the Bartitsu Club or the Bartitsu Academy of Arms and Physical Culture as it was more formally known at 67b Shaftesbury Avenue, in London’s Soho district.
3. He taught his special blend of the ancient Japanese martial art of jujitsu and French boxing as a form of self defense and as an alternative to the use of firearms. Rather than relying on aggressive moves, practitioners of bartitsu use their opponents own weight and strength against them to outbalance them. In fact, Barton-Wright showed his students how to defend themselves using only an overcoat - a move frequently employed by Holmes.”   Enjoy

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