Pain in training

[Finlay]

i am interest to hear what other people think of pain and discomfort in training

in my experience attitudes have gone right the way across the scale from overly macho to down right wimpy

Something i have heard, movies quotes included:

"pain lets you know you are not dead yet"

"pain is weakness leaving the body"

"don't hurt me" (3rd degree black belt sparring with lower grade)

'no matter what the purpose of the art is, my purpose is to look after my body"


"you need to be comfortable with hurting people"

the list goes on but I am sure you get the picture by now.

All replies welcome

 

[Danny T]

There is a difference in pain and discomfort.
If one has never experienced any real discomfort they tend to perceive it as pain.
In training there will be quite a bit of discomfort.

 

[MA_Student]

Some people don't want to get injured from training there's nothing wrong with that. That's not wimpy it's just different needs from training a good club should make sure no one feels scared when training

 

[Anarax]

in my experience attitudes have gone right the way across the scale from overly macho to down right wimpy

From my experience the loud and macho ones fold almost immediately when you pressure them in sparring.

"pain is weakness leaving the body"

One of my favorite quotes, but there's conditioning pain(strength training, limb conditioning) which are required for the benefit of the training, to a reasonable degree anyways. Then there's injury related pain(tearing, severing, twisting, torquing) which isn't necessary, will weaken the body and will cost you in the long run.

"don't hurt me" (3rd degree black belt sparring with lower grade)

That's shameful, if the 3rd degree said that.

I think a lot of it comes down to training culture. Meaning, each school has it's own training culture, hardcore, recreational, fitness centered, etc. Finding the right training culture for you is the most difficult part.

 

[drop bear]

 

[jobo]

i am interest to hear what other people think of pain and discomfort in training

in my experience attitudes have gone right the way across the scale from overly macho to down right wimpy

Something i have heard, movies quotes included:

"pain lets you know you are not dead yet"

"pain is weakness leaving the body"

"don't hurt me" (3rd degree black belt sparring with lower grade)

'no matter what the purpose of the art is, my purpose is to look after my body"


"you need to be comfortable with hurting people"

the list goes on but I am sure you get the picture by now.

All replies welcome

i think you have a point, pain sensitivity is adjustable, the more you inflict pain on yourself , the less your sensitivity to pain is. And of course vice versa. People who periodically hit their thumbs with a hammer, scrape their knuckles on an engine block, fall of mountain bikes or play contact sport, tend to, have a far greater tolerance. To pain than those who work in an office and play tennis. Who can wipe them self's out by banging their shin on a filing cabinet draw.

there is obviously a point were pain isn't a good thing as it means you are seriously injured, but conditioning yourself to raise your pain thresh hold by increasingly harder contact really should be part of ma, if you are not prepared to suffer a bit, you will always be at the wimp end of the spectrum, where you feel PAIN rather than discomfort.

there seems to be an increasing societal change to being risk adverse and avoiding things that are painful, that start in childhood and follows on to mean there are extremely pain sensitive adults

 

[drop bear]

Bjj wrestling, MMA is very big on the pain factor.

 

[Elbowgrease]

Pain is your body telling you something is wrong, stop!
Discomfort is good, and I think should gradually change through training.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

Pain is your body telling you something is wrong, stop!
Discomfort is good, and I think should gradually change through training.

When you train this, will you call it "pain", or "discomfort"?

 

[Ironbear24]

I don't like it but it happens, with no threat of some sort of pain or danger the training isn't real and won't prepare you for sport or self defense.

 

[JowGaWolf]

i am interest to hear what other people think of pain and discomfort in training

Pain falls into 3 categories for me

• Something is wrong or injured
• Techniques are not being done correctly
• I'm reaching my limit

I don't fight pain. I embrace it because it is my body communicating with my mind. Sometimes people try to fight through pain instead of trying to figure out why they are feeling the pain. The moment I feel pain in training, I back off on the intensity and try to figure out what's going on. Burning muscles would be an example of discomfort. Broken bones, twisted ankles, hurting joints, and the like would fall under pain.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

I don't like it but it happens, with no threat of some sort of pain or danger the training isn't real and won't prepare you for sport or self defense.

Are you talking about the clip that I have just posted?

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Some people don't want to get injured from training there's nothing wrong with that. That's not wimpy it's just different needs from training a good club should make sure no one feels scared when training

Agreed. The problem arises when they equate pain with injury. While that is likely literally accurate, a very mild injury (light bruising on the ribs) is not a significant injury. I avoid injury rather more than is probably good for my technique. Pain I’m okay with. Discomfort just means I’m training.

 

[pgsmith]

I have arthritis in my knees and shoulders. I have pain and discomfort whenever I pretty much do anything at all.

In the end, other's opinions don't really matter. Each person has to decide for themselves whether the level of pain and discomfort that training causes them is worth continuing to train at any particular location. If yes, then continue. If no, then go somewhere else, or quit training completely. Nobody else can make that decision any easier.

 

[JR 137]

When I us d to rehab injured athletes, they’d complain of pain often. I’d ask them “is it actually pain, or is it tightness and soreness? Soreness and tightness are something you need to work through to get better. If you’re feeling actual pain, you need to back off because you’re making the injury worse.”

It would take a minute or two for it to register. Often times they’d do the exercise for a few more reps and realize it wasn’t actual pain, and they’d continue. Rarely, it was actual pain and we’d have to change what they were doing.

In a contact/collision sport or an activity like MA, one has to ask themself if it’s uncomfortable or painful. And does it hurt or is it an actual injury.

With everything, there’s a balance between enough and too much.

 

[Finlay]

i think you have a point, pain sensitivity is adjustable, the more you inflict pain on yourself , the less your sensitivity to pain is. And of course vice versa. People who periodically hit their thumbs with a hammer, scrape their knuckles on an engine block, fall of mountain bikes or play contact sport, tend to, have a far greater tolerance. To pain than those who work in an office and play tennis. Who can wipe them self's out by banging their shin on a filing cabinet draw.

there is obviously a point were pain isn't a good thing as it means you are seriously injured, but conditioning yourself to raise your pain thresh hold by increasingly harder contact really should be part of ma, if you are not prepared to suffer a bit, you will always be at the wimp end of the spectrum, where you feel PAIN rather than discomfort.

there seems to be an increasing societal change to being risk adverse and avoiding things that are painful, that start in childhood and follows on to mean there are extremely pain sensitive adults

I once had a similar argument with a massage therapist of all people

Was getting some knots in my back taken care of and the guy (yes, guy) said let me know if this hurts.

So I was lying there with him constantly asking me if it hurt and me saying it was fine. Until, bizarrely, he stopped and started lecturing me on how this wasn't a competition and if it hurt I really should just tell him

After that I told him it was uncomfortable and he seemed much more satisfied with his work.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

I once had a similar argument with a massage therapist of all people

Was getting some knots in my back taken care of and the guy (yes, guy) said let me know if this hurts.

So I was lying there with him constantly asking me if it hurt and me saying it was fine. Until, bizarrely, he stopped and started lecturing me on how this wasn't a competition and if it hurt I really should just tell him

After that I told him it was uncomfortable and he seemed much more satisfied with his work.

I just tell my PT he is evil. It seems to please him.

 

[DanT]

Some pain is good: Conditioning shins is "painful".

Some pain is bad: Snapping your shin in half is also "painful".

You have to use your common sense. Uh yeah conditioning your stomach to take blows is a good thing and it will hurt. But if you break your ribs and burst your spleen it's a bad thing.

Training should be: vigorous, fast paced, and action oriented. At the same time, a broken arm, a snapped shin, a dislocated shoulder, and a torn ACL do you no good. Balance is Key.

 

[JR 137]

Some pain is good: Conditioning shins is "painful".

Some pain is bad: Snapping your shin in half is also "painful".

You have to use your common sense. Uh yeah conditioning your stomach to take blows is a good thing and it will hurt. But if you break your ribs and burst your spleen it's a bad thing.

Training should be: vigorous, fast paced, and action oriented. At the same time, a broken arm, a snapped shin, a dislocated shoulder, and a torn ACL do you no good. Balance is Key.

The difference between being hurt and being injured.

Hurt is ok; injured isn’t.

 

[jobo]

The difference between being hurt and being injured.

Hurt is ok; injured isn’t.

i think that a good summary, but the question i ask myself, is how much pain/ discomfort people in general are prepared to accept in their ma journey,

for many of the people i train with the answer is close to zero, they want to float through a class with only the bare minimum of contact, i did a very gentle head lock one on girl, really i couldn't have been slower and exerted less pressure, to have her complain that there had been some pressure on her throat, look a red mark!,

another one a big strong guy in his late twenties complained that my pumps were scratching him through his t shirt, i mean it was a side kick that gave a gentle tap, but it was to much pain for him to bare apparently.