The Um of Perseverance

[StudentCarl]

Reading about mango.man's daughter Samantha, Terry's health, Shelley's recovery and red belt test (yeah!), and Manny's foot, etc.:

Rest and recovery are critical aspects of perseverence--it's more than the undying effort that is the Yang of perseverance. I think it's important to think of time spent healing as building up the body for future efforts, not so different from training for the future.

At 47, balancing improvement and recovery from injuries is a daily part of perseverence for me. I put effort into healing well, just like into training well. I want to be as active as I can in TKD until I'm done with this body.

 

[ShelleyK]

I totally agree with you!!

 

[shesulsa]

INDEED!

When I tore my ACL, I was promised to be back on the floor in 6 months tops and that I wouldn't need another reconstruction for another year or so.

Wait ... what???

I chose a more invasive reconstruction and triple the recovery time for a knee I could keep (hopefully) until I need a replacement.

Rushing recovery doesn't make sense - this is the body and mind you've got; it's yours, no one else's. If you need to take time, DO it. Train in your mind. Keep your brain alive. It will be there. It will be there.

 

[IcemanSK]

This is the 1st of my new casts for the next 6 weeks to help repair my torn calf muscle. 28 years in MA & this is my most debilitating injury. I will be rebuilt. I will come back:ultracool

 

[ralphmcpherson]

As I get older I am finding the management of my injuries and not "over doing it" is becoming increasingly important. I have a bad habit of trying to push through injuries when my body is telling me to rest a little. My instructor said to me the other night (half jokingly), "anyone over 35 who doesnt have some sort of niggling injury isnt training hard enough". I tend to agree, Im about to turn 36 and I cant remember the last time I didnt have some sort of injury (normally minor) nagging away at me. As one repairs itself another pops up. I intend to train until it is physically impossible to do so anymore so the management of my injuries is becoming more and more important if Im to be in this for the long haul.

 

[jks9199]

There's a major clue that we've been doing something wrong or missing something when you look around, and realize that many well known or famous martial artists are functionally crippled in their later years. While I'm sure that part of the equation is simply that we're outliving our long-ago predecessors -- I also know that we aren't spending the same time on preparing and caring for the body before and after we train.

 

[Kyosanim]

Reading about mango.man's daughter Samantha, Terry's health, Shelley's recovery and red belt test (yeah!), and Manny's foot, etc.:

Rest and recovery are critical aspects of perseverence--it's more than the undying effort that is the Yang of perseverance. I think it's important to think of time spent healing as building up the body for future efforts, not so different from training for the future.

At 47, balancing improvement and recovery from injuries is a daily part of perseverence for me. I put effort into healing well, just like into training well. I want to be as active as I can in TKD until I'm done with this body.

Sir you are not joking! I'm twenty two and I get back problems which make it imposable to throw kicks above knee high sometimes.

What are some of your recovery schemes? Cause I have nothing.

 

[dancingalone]

Sir you are not joking! I'm twenty two and I get back problems which make it imposable to throw kicks above knee high sometimes.

What are some of your recovery schemes? Cause I have nothing.

I have a bulging disk injury that I manage through consistent yoga therapy. The stretching keeps my back and leg pain at bay.

 

[bluekey88]

i recall having to write an essay on perseverance for one of my belt tests. In that essay I argued that perseverance was about the long term and the big picutre. So, one might persevere in a conflict by walking away from a fight. Losing in the short term to regroup, re strategize, whatever...ilose the battle bu win the war.

i also talked about comign back from injuries, or takign it wasy to rpevent injury and burnout. Missing some classes (even a lot of classes) is nothing compared to never being able to train again. tue perseverence is coming back, conitnuing on no matter what obstacles one faces. However, one has to deal with their obstacles in order to conitnue to eprsevere.

to the OP: great post and excellent point.

Peace,
Erik

 

[Miles]

The ugly sister of perseverance is patience.

GM Park mentioned when he visited us in March that the most important lesson he's learned in his 60+ years of training is to have patience.

I constantly have to check myself when I am teaching or even training by myself when something doesn't go as planned. I silently curse under my breath when someone cuts me off in traffic or is driving too slowly in the passing lane. Don't even get me started on my kids....

Injuries need time to heal (especially after age 40), the mind needs time to heal. There is a time to try to persevere and push yourself, and a time to just let something happen or let it go.

 

[StudentCarl]

What are some of your recovery schemes?

First the (hopefully obvious) basics:
1. Accurate diagnosis drives correct treatment 2. RICE (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation) 3. Increase sleep, good food, fluids (like giving your body what it needs to fight an illness).

The key for me? When I start on recovery re-conditioning I need to start at a much lower level of intensity than I left off at, since all muscles, etc. are not at the same level they were. Recovery re-conditioning needs to be patient and progressive to avoid re-injury.

Also, analyze the original injury and adjust your re-conditioning if needed to help prevent re-injury as much as possible.

If you've got long term problems, seek both medical information and a conditioning plan that helps to address your weaknesses to the extent possible.

Best wishes,
Carl

 

[bluekey88]

The ugly sister of perseverance is patience.

GM Park mentioned when he visited us in March that the most important lesson he's learned in his 60+ years of training is to have patience.

I constantly have to check myself when I am teaching or even training by myself when something doesn't go as planned. I silently curse under my breath when someone cuts me off in traffic or is driving too slowly in the passing lane. Don't even get me started on my kids....

Injuries need time to heal (especially after age 40), the mind needs time to heal. There is a time to try to persevere and push yourself, and a time to just let something happen or let it go.

along wiht that, lets not forget the red-headed step-child HUMILITY.

You have to be humble enough to admit you're pushing too ghard/in over your head/need a break in order to back off, be patient, change things up and return to push forward.

it's not an easy thing to do...I know for me, my testosterone keeps getting in the way.

 

[granfire]

Well, how about long term vs short term perseverance?

You know, fighting through the pain when the fight is on, but sticking the long term plan out, including pesky rest and recovery periods.

I think the Western mindset of if you are not doing it know you are not doing it at all or intense enough hurts this a bit.

 

[bluekey88]

I'll buy that distinction. However, I will counter with an observation that there is a fine line between perseverence and stupidity/lack of wisdom.

Pushing through an injury when one should back off is genreally a stupid thing to do in many (not all) cases. However, I knwo fo lots of cases of people getting injured, backing off and never quiite returning. In one case, pushing through the pain wasn't perseverence...jsut unwise/stupid. In the latter case, there was no perseverence and while not stupid per se...it's a chance for one to have regrets.

I think along with eprseverence, one needs insight and wisdom. We need to be able to perceive when one should persevere in the short term and when it is best to retreat to fight another day as it were. Hard to do that if one does not knwo oneself (one's habits, motivations, strengths, weaknesses, etc.)

how often have you (or anyone) seen someone give up not because they could not do someting but bnecause they did nt BELIEVE they could do it? In a lto of ways, that's what M<A training is...learning about one's true limitations and not accepting what one knows to be true (without at least testing it first).

Peac,e
Erik