Injuries in the Martial Arts

Injuries.

The bane of the martial artist. 

Most people who stay in the martial arts for any period of time get injured.  Look around any dojo or martial arts school and invariably, you’ll see the long term students taped, bandaged, bruised, with ankle or knee or wrist or elbow wraps.  It’s a sad reality.  Smart and responsible training goes a long way in preventing injuries, as does proper warm up drills and stretching (within reason).  Self-control during application of techniques helps too.  Proper diet and nutrition and lifestyle also play a huge role.

Beyond all that, sometimes shi_!!! happens and your find yourself hurt.  It could be martial arts related, or it could have happened in some other area of your life.  It sucks. 

And it happened to me.  I’m (fingers crossed) getting better, but I’d been dealing with pain for months on end, had trouble sleeping because of it and generally was feeling miserable.  The nature of the injury has prevented me from training for several months, the longest I’ve not been able to in many years.  A side effect of getting older, as I’m learning, is that you heal more slowly as the years go on.  This adds to the frustration of it all.

Life goes on, of course, but I was so pissed off (I know, not very Zen…) that I just sort of checked out of the martial arts world for a bit, even neglecting this blog. 

Now that my head is getting back in the game, I’d like to share some lessons learned by dealing with an injury.

    1.  If it hurts to train, don’t train. 

It may sound trite, but it’s true.  I trained once or twice while injured, and, careful as I was, made it worse.  There are times you can train with injuries, and times you can’t.  Figure out the difference.

2.  Take the time you’re injured to pursue something else that interests you that you normally don’t have time for.  Do something different.  I’m convinced it’s good for the soul, can open up new doors, expand your horizons, that sort of thing.

    3.  Booze and anti-inflammatories are great for pain, but will give you acid reflux if you use them for too long.  Oh yeah, and neither is good for you if used long term or in large amounts…

4.  Try not to dwell on your injury too much.  Don’t obsess (like I did) over not being able to train.

    5.  Supplementation with quality fish/omega oils really helps the joints.  Do your research.  Go for the liquid.  Pills and capsules are largely a waste of time.  And you get what you pay for, within reason.  There’s a whole host of other benefits too.

6.  This stuff about mobility exercises and functional movements and core stability?  It works.  You’ll be better off for incorporating some into your routine, in the dojo, gym or home.  Take care of your joints and they’ll take care of you.  In my case, more mobility work in advance might have reduced the severity of my injury or prevented it altogether.  

We live in a world of increasing inactivity and repeated unnatural movement patterns (sitting at work, in the car, hunching over cell phones, tables, laptops etc).  It’s important to do what you can to reset your body’s natural alignment.  

About a third of my workouts now (outside of martial arts) are mobility movements and stability movements.  I wish I had bought into this stuff a decade ago.  Maybe I wouldn’t grunt each time I get up…

Those are a few of the things I’ve learned from this process. 

How about you?  Any other tips for dealing with injuries?

May the Force be with you...or the Science.

It’s been an interesting time lately at the dojo.  With the stress and work of a gruelling grading fading into the past, we’ve started delving into different areas.

We’re working on incorporating qi/chi, or energy work into our Jiu Jitsu.  My Sensei has spent years and years studying Qigong (also known as Chi Kung).  While he does lots of healing work, acupressure and acupuncture, he also incorporates chi into his martial arts, making them that much more effective.

We’ve been doing a bit of meditation and working on breathing and building up and using chi.  There are several references to gates, to dantians, to breathing, to channels, to fire, water etc.  These are all components of Chi Kung and traditional Chinese and energy arts.

First off, meditation and ‘mindful’ breathing which focuses on the lower dantian (or belly breathing for lay people like me), is a great thing to do.  It focuses the mind, blocks out lots of the ‘noise’ of life and generally makes you feel good. 

We’ve been focusing on building up chi during these exercises and then using that energy in our technique.

The result? 

My techniques have been far more effective, requiring far less effort (strength).  In fact, I’ve been getting surprised when my training partners start madly tapping before I’ve even really started to ‘sink’ it in.  I’ve had to start being very careful not to accidentally injure my partner when projecting energy into techniques.

There’s definitely something to this.

Is it magic?  The force?  Is there really a gas tank you can fill with the energy of the universe that can be unleashed on your foe? 

Or is there a scientific reason?  Can it be that the very act of focusing, of actively making the body work together as one, cause synapses to fire, long and slow twitch muscle fibres to work synergistically?  Can it be that a whole host of physical and physiological processes occur to achieve this economy of motion and effectiveness of technique application?

The answer?

I don’t care.

It doesn’t matter to me what causes it, as long as it works.

Now normally, I’m not the sort of fellow that just accepts things.  In fact, in martial arts and in life, I usually refuse to accept things without careful scrutiny or deliberation and thought.  In this case, however, it matters not.

There are a couple of reasons. 

#1.  I like to believe that there are some intangible things inherent to the study and journey of the martial arts.  I still believe there is some magic in the world, things that can't fully be clinically defined.  We are all made up of energy, after all. 

#2.  I’ve seen some proof.  I’ve had masters do things to me that I still can’t quite figure out, like sending my rather large frame flying half way across the room having barely moved a muscle.

Also, there have been numerous occasions and documented cases of feats of incredible strength or self healing.  Parents have lifted cars off trapped children.  And science has shown how some people can speed healing to areas of injury through energy work and focus. 

So, I guess I have scientific proof that magic exists.  Hmmm, kind of talked myself into a corner on that one… 

But that’s exactly my point.  Be it science, or be it chi energy, if it works, what does it matter?

If you need science to explain it to make sense to you and therefore you can apply it, learn about the science.

If you need chi to explain it to make sense to you and therefore you can apply it, learn about chi.

With chi work, some people envision it being a force, some think of it as electricity, some as a wave.  Whatever they need to do to access it is fine.  It’s finding a way to use something, and use it well, that matters.  If you envision a more scientific process occurring in your body, that’s just as good, as long as it works. 

Normally I need to know the inner workings of things, a more clinical understanding of the ‘why’ to make something my own.  It looks like even with this type of need, there are different methods, or paths, to understanding. 

Some people say magic is just something science has yet to understand or explain.  Some think science and magic are one in the same.

What do I say? 

My Jiu Jitsu is better.  That's what I know.  For now, that’s enough.

The Path of Budo - Noise

Noise.

Life has been crazy of late. 

Not enough hours in the day. 

Busy at the dojo.

Busy at work.

Busy at home.

Conflicting priorities.

Everything seems rushed. 

Stressed.  All the time.

Tired.  All the time.

Work/Life balance.  Yeah right.

Sound like anyone you know?

I wonder what to do about it?  We’re so driven as a society for the acquisition of material things that I wonder if we’re missing out on some of the really important stuff.  In fact, I know we are.

All this stuff.  The stress. The long hours.  The fatigue.  The bills.  The commitments.  The housework.  The homework.  The overtime. 

A thousand things.

I call it noise.  I’m living a noisy life.  So are many of the people I know.  Most of the people I know.  Rush rush rush.  It’s a drain. 

I bring this up not to complain.  After all, I’ve got it pretty good.  I’m just not sure I’m spending the proper proportion of my time and energy on the things that matter most.

I’ve been thinking a lot about this lately.  I’ve been thinking about living a more minimalist life, quieting my life.  Reducing the noise.

I think from time to time you need to evaluate what is truly important in your life and make sure that you are taking care of those things, first and foremost. 

I’m going to meditate on this for a while.

I suspect this is all part of the path of Budo.

Something to think about.

Be a Baby, a Ninja Baby - The Feldenkrais Method

Michele had a interesting post over on Just a Thought about roll falls.  I made a brief comment that I wanted to expand upon.

Babies and toddlers know how to fall.  The know how to move, reach, roll, lift. and move around (after the hilarious awkward stage).  Their movements and their breathing are natural and relaxed.  They 'belly breathe', from their diaphragm, a much more efficient and effective manner of breathing.  When a toddler falls, they manage to relax and get real low to the ground before the impact.  They also don't shoot their hands out like adults tend to do (and break their wrists in the process).  When they lift, their spines stay aligned, back straight, eyes up, bending at the knees...perfect form.

There's a lot to learn from observing young ones and their movements.

Moshe Feldenkrais (1904-1984), who created the Feldenkrais Method was an avid martial artist who studied Judo and Jiu Jitsu. He studied movement, health, and taught an integrated method of re-learning how to move naturally and easily as an adult.  Much of his work was influenced by studying the natural effortless movement of children.  He developed an integrated approach, bringing together body, mind and overall awareness.

Here's a link with some information from wikipedia.  There is so much out there on the man and the method that you may want to plug the Feldenkrais method into your computer.

The method was not designed solely for the martial artist, but a point of interest is that several high ranking Ninjutsu practitioners have incorporated this method of awareness of movement into their training.

Taijutsu, most often associated as the martial portion of Ninjutsu, is most accurately translated to mean:

"Taijutsu - , literally meaning "body skill" or "body art", is a term for Japanese martial arts techniques that rely on a set of body movements. Historically, the word taijutsu was often used interchangeably with jujutsu (as well as many other terms) to refer to a range of grappling skills." - wikipedia.


Since the Japanese martial arts rely heavily on body movements, the Feldenkrais method fits in very well.

I encourage you to research the Feldenkrais method a bit.  And to observe the effortless way that toddlers can move.  I have only scratched the surface on the method and am in no way an authority on the topic but since it is all about movement and integration of the mind and body, it is impossible not to see the direct connection to martial arts study.

And just for fun:



Train well.  And welcome Mohammad.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to everyone.

The new year is a good time to look ahead to what you wish to accomplish over the next 12 months.  For me, it's about maintaining my work/life balance and training consistently with an open mind.  For my martial arts, I have lots of goals and ideas bouncing around in my head, and many of them will likely show up as blog posts over time.

While I don't necessarily agree with making resolutions, this is a good time to look ahead to where we want to be a year from now, and how we're going to get there.

One of the better articles I've read lately setting and achieving goals can be found here at Jiu-Jitsu Sensei's blog.  Basically, it's about making sure that the things you are doing in your life are moving you towards or supporting those things that are truly important to you.  In my opinion, it's a worthwhile read for anyone.

I hope everyone has enjoyed the holiday season.  I have had a great and extremely busy few weeks and I have to admit that I'm somewhat relieved that things will get back to normal soon.  I hope this year brings lots of positive experiences for everyone, in training, and in life.

Here's looking forward to the next year.

Fascia - New ideas on generating power

I've been doing some preliminary research and reading on fascia. Fascia is a band of fibrous gel- like connective tissue that runs all through our bodies. It surrounds our muscles and essentially is part of all our movement.

Recent research is indicating that fascia plays far more of a role in the generation of power and strength. Some are theorizing that there really are no isolation movements for muscles. Fascia plays a part in all movement.

This elastic type skeletal covering acts like a rubber band. If you can stretch it and release, lots of power is generated.

An athlete trainer I know tried to explain some of what fascia does and how manipulating it can cure or improve other areas. And the area where the problem surfaces may not be where you treat it. (anyone see a traditional Chinese medicine tie-in?).

The trainer said when you tuck in a dress shirt too tightly, you have trouble raising you arms all the way above your head, indicating a shoulder mobility problem. By loosening the shirt at the waist, un-tucking it a little bit, you can easily lift your arm. Fascia is sort of like the shirt. Stretch it properly and other problems can clear up.

This is an oversimplification of course, but it gives an idea.

It is theorized that Bruce Lee's one inch punch is a result of a healthy fascia and his ability to use his body as one, stretching and snapping his rubber band like fascia.

Fascia also learns to adapt to what it's subjected to over time. This may be why our hip movement is so poor. Being a generation that spends that majority of it's time sitting, the fascia adapts to being in this position. This is why it's so important to stretch out your hips.

Martial artists know that power comes from the hips, so this is particularly relevant. Active functional stretching is important for mobility, power and injury prevention.

I will continue to research these findings and see if adding some of the recommendations has a positive impact on my training and movement.