Flying Crane
Sr. Grandmaster
This thread was inspired by a discussion going on over at Kenpotalk, regarding injuries, the use of pain killers, and the long-term cumulative effects of training on the body. It sort of got me thinking.
A few generations ago, people didn't live as long as they do now. Circumstances of life, less sophisticated medical capabilities, nutrition, harsher living and working conditions, etc. all contributed to a shorter lifespan in general. People perhaps didn't live long enough to realize the cumulative injury potential that martial practice, over a long period of time, can have. Now we live longer, and I would bet many more people are realizing first hand the potential for injury.
I have seen schools that practice techniques that seem foolish and/or dangerous. And many of the senior students are hobbling around with shoulder injuries, knee injuries, wrist injuries, neck and back injuries, etc. You name it, someone there has it. And they keep pushing thru, and keep training.
My sifu says that in China, they keep pushing the limits of human capabilities in Modern Wushu. In order to stay ahead of the competition, they come up with more radical ideas, and all the competitors have joint injuries, where that was not true a few decades ago. And they also get injuries from the weapons, because they try to use them in more outlandish ways than before.
In capoeira, more and more extreme acrobatics are becoming the norm. In my opinion, this can be to the detriment of the art, as it places more emphasis on performance, and less on intelligent development of the encounter. But this is where I personally see a lot of students with injuries of every kind, yet they keep training, and these injuries never go away. Since I have been mostly away from capoeira for several years and I am seeing this more and more with the group I used to train with, I think I must have just dodged a bullet and gotten out in time to avoid the same injuries that the other students are having.
People who practice systems that are very "kicking intensive" have destroyed knees and hips. People who spend years striking hard surfaces have severe arthritis in old age.
I think some of these injuries are cumulative after many years of training. Others are the product of doing stupid things, such as the extreme acrobatics in capoeira, and modern wushu. These are young people with these injuries, people in their 20s and 30s.
I guess I just wanted to bring this up and encourage people to take a look at their training to see if they might be headed down a road leading to debilitating injuries.
Make sure what you are practicing isn't simply asking for injury.
Make sure what you are practicing isn't causing a slow build-up for injury later.
Make sure HOW you practice is correct, so that you can practice for many years without injury.
Make sure the intensity of what you practice isn't contributing to injuries later. Maybe you don't need to do 1000 kicks every day to have good kicks. Maybe you can have plenty good kicks by doing 100 every day. Maybe every kick doesn't have to be head-high.
I believe that if we practice correctly, regularly, and with reasonable intensity, we can develop high level skills that will not leave us debilitated in old age. I think we can continue to practice our arts even in old age, and if done correctly for a lifetime, we shouldn't need to give up the harder arts in favor of the softer arts like Tai Chi Chuan, if we don't want to.
I think that if we overtrain, train incorrectly, train with poor technique, and train questionable material, we are bound to get injured eventually. And in old age, this might leave us crippled and unable to do anything.
Thoughts, anyone? Examples, suggestions, etc? Please jump in.
A few generations ago, people didn't live as long as they do now. Circumstances of life, less sophisticated medical capabilities, nutrition, harsher living and working conditions, etc. all contributed to a shorter lifespan in general. People perhaps didn't live long enough to realize the cumulative injury potential that martial practice, over a long period of time, can have. Now we live longer, and I would bet many more people are realizing first hand the potential for injury.
I have seen schools that practice techniques that seem foolish and/or dangerous. And many of the senior students are hobbling around with shoulder injuries, knee injuries, wrist injuries, neck and back injuries, etc. You name it, someone there has it. And they keep pushing thru, and keep training.
My sifu says that in China, they keep pushing the limits of human capabilities in Modern Wushu. In order to stay ahead of the competition, they come up with more radical ideas, and all the competitors have joint injuries, where that was not true a few decades ago. And they also get injuries from the weapons, because they try to use them in more outlandish ways than before.
In capoeira, more and more extreme acrobatics are becoming the norm. In my opinion, this can be to the detriment of the art, as it places more emphasis on performance, and less on intelligent development of the encounter. But this is where I personally see a lot of students with injuries of every kind, yet they keep training, and these injuries never go away. Since I have been mostly away from capoeira for several years and I am seeing this more and more with the group I used to train with, I think I must have just dodged a bullet and gotten out in time to avoid the same injuries that the other students are having.
People who practice systems that are very "kicking intensive" have destroyed knees and hips. People who spend years striking hard surfaces have severe arthritis in old age.
I think some of these injuries are cumulative after many years of training. Others are the product of doing stupid things, such as the extreme acrobatics in capoeira, and modern wushu. These are young people with these injuries, people in their 20s and 30s.
I guess I just wanted to bring this up and encourage people to take a look at their training to see if they might be headed down a road leading to debilitating injuries.
Make sure what you are practicing isn't simply asking for injury.
Make sure what you are practicing isn't causing a slow build-up for injury later.
Make sure HOW you practice is correct, so that you can practice for many years without injury.
Make sure the intensity of what you practice isn't contributing to injuries later. Maybe you don't need to do 1000 kicks every day to have good kicks. Maybe you can have plenty good kicks by doing 100 every day. Maybe every kick doesn't have to be head-high.
I believe that if we practice correctly, regularly, and with reasonable intensity, we can develop high level skills that will not leave us debilitated in old age. I think we can continue to practice our arts even in old age, and if done correctly for a lifetime, we shouldn't need to give up the harder arts in favor of the softer arts like Tai Chi Chuan, if we don't want to.
I think that if we overtrain, train incorrectly, train with poor technique, and train questionable material, we are bound to get injured eventually. And in old age, this might leave us crippled and unable to do anything.
Thoughts, anyone? Examples, suggestions, etc? Please jump in.
