tony leith
13th October 2000, 14:49
I've been training for only about nine years, but am already replete with the usual range of creaking joints etc. My knees especially appear to ageing faster than the rest of me by a factor of about two, and one of the fingers on my left hand has lately taken to clicking through its range of motion, which is also a bit alarming..
Some suggestions for harm reduction:
1)Martial arts training is highly specific in terms of the kind of muscular and other bodily conditioning that result from it. In my case, Kempo punching and kicking techniques emphasise pushing the body forward to commit its weight to the strike. Over years of training, this for me resulted in disproportionate development of the musculature on the outside of the thigh, which gradually undermined the stability of my knee joints and resulted in recurring injury. Since maintaining a physiotherapy and exerise regime to compensate i.e. develop the muscle groups on the inside of the knee, I have thus far (touch wood) avoided a further recurrence. We all should probably think more carefully in sports scientific terms about what we're doing to ourselves, and what we can do to mitigate any negative consequences of our training..
2)Further to this, training should be structured in such a way as to minimise the likelihood of injury. There have to be proper warm ups ( and warm downs) i.e. enough actvity to elevate respiratory patterns and allow stretching to be done safely. Activity should then be maintained throughout the session at a sufficient level to keep warm (incredibly basic stuff, I know, but it doesn't always happen).
3)We should also think about what the actual execution of techniques is likely to do to us IN THE LONG TERM. Wear and tear is inevitable, but if for example punching and kicking involves locking arms and legs out to anywhere near full extension, then elbow and knee cartilage will suffer accordingly. This is a finite lifetime resource, and should be treated as such. As instructors especially we have a responsibility to ensure our students are benefiting from training, and not just in the sense of learning techniques or self defense.
All that being said, this has to be put in context. Despite my creaking bones, I feel I have benefitted immensely from my practise of Shorinji kempo. I know a lot of people my age (early thirties) who are basically physically inert, and are starting to suffer the inevitable consequences. I'd rather have my problems than theirs, at least at this point. I think if our training observes sensible principles derived from sports science (and we should probably all make some effort to gain such knowledge), there's no reason why it shouldn't be possible to continue practicing and getting those benefits.
Some suggestions for harm reduction:
1)Martial arts training is highly specific in terms of the kind of muscular and other bodily conditioning that result from it. In my case, Kempo punching and kicking techniques emphasise pushing the body forward to commit its weight to the strike. Over years of training, this for me resulted in disproportionate development of the musculature on the outside of the thigh, which gradually undermined the stability of my knee joints and resulted in recurring injury. Since maintaining a physiotherapy and exerise regime to compensate i.e. develop the muscle groups on the inside of the knee, I have thus far (touch wood) avoided a further recurrence. We all should probably think more carefully in sports scientific terms about what we're doing to ourselves, and what we can do to mitigate any negative consequences of our training..
2)Further to this, training should be structured in such a way as to minimise the likelihood of injury. There have to be proper warm ups ( and warm downs) i.e. enough actvity to elevate respiratory patterns and allow stretching to be done safely. Activity should then be maintained throughout the session at a sufficient level to keep warm (incredibly basic stuff, I know, but it doesn't always happen).
3)We should also think about what the actual execution of techniques is likely to do to us IN THE LONG TERM. Wear and tear is inevitable, but if for example punching and kicking involves locking arms and legs out to anywhere near full extension, then elbow and knee cartilage will suffer accordingly. This is a finite lifetime resource, and should be treated as such. As instructors especially we have a responsibility to ensure our students are benefiting from training, and not just in the sense of learning techniques or self defense.
All that being said, this has to be put in context. Despite my creaking bones, I feel I have benefitted immensely from my practise of Shorinji kempo. I know a lot of people my age (early thirties) who are basically physically inert, and are starting to suffer the inevitable consequences. I'd rather have my problems than theirs, at least at this point. I think if our training observes sensible principles derived from sports science (and we should probably all make some effort to gain such knowledge), there's no reason why it shouldn't be possible to continue practicing and getting those benefits.