Lone practioners

[Pepsi]

Olla folks, Virgin member and poster.

I train by my self and am new to QI gong after years of Tae kwon do, older dude(48) and am wondering about all the pain im getting in my joints and body in general attempting to obtain the proper stances.
Its definitely alignment related and just wondering what others do to help with these muscle/tendon issues?
It has felt as if my bones are turning/lifting, especially in my feet and hands.

 

[Damien]

Olla folks, Virgin member and poster.

I train by my self and am new to QI gong after years of Tae kwon do, older dude(48) and am wondering about all the pain im getting in my joints and body in general attempting to obtain the proper stances.
Its definitely alignment related and just wondering what others do to help with these muscle/tendon issues?
It has felt as if my bones are turning/lifting, especially in my feet and hands.

Welcome to the forum!

My advice is to always take it slow. Some positions quite simply take a lot of getting used to, building strength and mobility in areas which you may not have used that much before. You don't have to squat down low, or have feet aligned in the perfect position for example. Many people struggle with having feet facing forwards in horse stance to begin with because they lack the ankle mobility. These things can certainly help to get the right movement, but you can build up to that.

One thing to ask yourself is what sort of pain is it. Dull pain from working muscles, sharp pain, or the pain from a strong stretch reflex? The first and last are to be expected to some degree.

Sharp pain generally means something is wrong and its best to stop the aggravating movement, work out the cause and look to address it. A you say it could be alignment, it could be strength or it could be mobility. It could even be an arthritic symptom. I know you're not that old, but even people in their 20's can get it depending on what activities they do. Gentle activity and slowly building back up can help reverse the symptoms though.

Some people will say never exercise through pain. Having recovered from knee and shoulder issues in the past I've had physio's in the past say that you've got to accept some small amount of pain. I think the key is to assess critically what you're feeling and train with/around it intelligently.

Without specifics of what you're doing or looking at your positioning that's about as much as I could say.

 

[mograph]

One thing I've learned about TCM and qigong is that the undifferentiated advice (i.e., not customized to you) assumes that you don't enter into it with a body that's f*cked up. So if you've done TKD, and you're 48, you might have some mild injuries to deal with.
Before you continue with qigong, I recommend you see a TCM doctor, one who does massage and acupuncture, or a PT or osteopath, and get sorted out first. By "massage," I mean serious painful jam-the-elbow-in-your-back stuff.

As for the multiple postures, until you can get a feeling of relaxation and distribution of effort in a simple wuji pose, you shouldn't do the other postures. They'd be a waste of time, and might prolong whatever discomfort you are experiencing now.

So get sorted, then come back to wuji only when the TCM doc sorts you out. Only go beyond wuji when you experience a feeling of even, distributed effort through your body, and you can hold wuji for a long time.

 

[O'Malley]

Olla folks, Virgin member and poster.

I train by my self and am new to QI gong after years of Tae kwon do, older dude(48) and am wondering about all the pain im getting in my joints and body in general attempting to obtain the proper stances.
Its definitely alignment related and just wondering what others do to help with these muscle/tendon issues?
It has felt as if my bones are turning/lifting, especially in my feet and hands.

Hi and welcome to MT.

If you're serious about this, find a teacher in your area. He'll have a better idea of your condition, will be able to provide hands-on instruction and will ultimately be a better source of advice than randos on the internet who know nothing about you beyond the four lines in that post. Learning martial arts from the internet is ineffective as there will be no way for you to assess your training and make adjustments, especially if it's something where the feedback is as subtle as Qigong (as compared to, say, kicking). Plus, as Qigong is also supposed to affect health, I wouldn't mess around with it without the supervision of a qualified instructor.

Also seeking real-world medical advice is highly recommended if you feel that your body has issues that may interfere with training.

Happy training!

 

[Buka]

Welcome to MT, bro.

 

[Yanli]

Olla folks, Virgin member and poster.

I train by my self and am new to QI gong after years of Tae kwon do, older dude(48) and am wondering about all the pain im getting in my joints and body in general attempting to obtain the proper stances.
Its definitely alignment related and just wondering what others do to help with these muscle/tendon issues?
It has felt as if my bones are turning/lifting, especially in my feet and hands.

As far as muscle and joints, Tai Chi is commonly used for strengthening muscles and joints. What people commonly are not aware of with Tai Chi, is that you have to do a stances completely relaxed, and then slowly tighten your muscles. You can do various movements when doing this, it does not have to be the exact movements you see on videos'. You can even do this with throwing punch's, it may even help you throw a better punch. have your hand to your side by your waist, keep it relaxed, and as you slowly go into your punch, slowly tighten your arm and hand, and be fully tightened when you are fully extended. However, when using that as an actual punch at a target, your hand and arm should be fully tense when you hit the target. For those that are not use to throwing a punch with this technique, it will take a while to get use to. You can do this with your legs as well.

 

[Oily Dragon]

Olla folks, Virgin member and poster.

I train by my self and am new to QI gong after years of Tae kwon do, older dude(48) and am wondering about all the pain im getting in my joints and body in general attempting to obtain the proper stances.
Its definitely alignment related and just wondering what others do to help with these muscle/tendon issues?
It has felt as if my bones are turning/lifting, especially in my feet and hands.

What kind of Qigong?

There a pretty wide range of it from calisthenics for old people to mind-over-matter endurance training contortions (my fav), not to mention all the hooey snake oil stuff.

 

[Pepsi]

One thing I've learned about TCM and qigong is that the undifferentiated advice (i.e., not customized to you) assumes that you don't enter into it with a body that's f*cked up. So if you've done TKD, and you're 48, you might have some mild injuries to deal with.
Before you continue with qigong, I recommend you see a TCM doctor, one who does massage and acupuncture, or a PT or osteopath, and get sorted out first. By "massage," I mean serious painful jam-the-elbow-in-your-back stuff.

As for the multiple postures, until you can get a feeling of relaxation and distribution of effort in a simple wuji pose, you shouldn't do the other postures. They'd be a waste of time, and might prolong whatever discomfort you are experiencing now.

So get sorted, then come back to wuji only when the TCM doc sorts you out. Only go beyond wuji when you experience a feeling of even, distributed effort through your body, and you can hold wuji for a long time.

Thank you wise words, back to training

 

[Pepsi]

Hi and welcome to MT.

If you're serious about this, find a teacher in your area. He'll have a better idea of your condition, will be able to provide hands-on instruction and will ultimately be a better source of advice than randos on the internet who know nothing about you beyond the four lines in that post. Learning martial arts from the internet is ineffective as there will be no way for you to assess your training and make adjustments, especially if it's something where the feedback is as subtle as Qigong (as compared to, say, kicking). Plus, as Qigong is also supposed to affect health, I wouldn't mess around with it without the supervision of a qualified instructor.

Also seeking real-world medical advice is highly recommended if you feel that your body has issues that may interfere with training.

Happy training!

Would love to find a competent teacher, are there any in NZ that anyone knows

 

[mograph]

Thank you wise words, back to training

Or as many a teacher said, "shut up and practice!"

 

[Krisxylove]

Olla folks, Virgin member and poster.

I train by my self and am new to QI gong after years of Tae kwon do, older dude(48) and am wondering about all the pain im getting in my joints and body in general attempting to obtain the proper stances.
Its definitely alignment related and just wondering what others do to help with these muscle/tendon issues?
It has felt as if my bones are turning/lifting, especially in my feet and hands.

I'm not close to 48 and I used to/still do feel joint pain. I realized that I get joint pain when I'm wrenching on them trying to attain proper, or more flexible form. Now, horse stance for example is as far down as I feel strong, stable, and comfortable. And sort of trust my body to become more flexible over time. Which it has. So when I started training slightly below that threshold of straining the joints, my joint pain went away.