V
vincefuess
Guest
I haven't been around MartialTalk for a long time, and the reason for my absence is the reason for this post. Some of you know me, many of you don't, so here is some background:
I began training in martial arts at the age of seven, in Kyokushinkai. Over the years, I have studied Chung Do Kwan, various styles of Ju Jutsu, and eventually settled on American Kenpo as my base art. I obtained my 1st degree black belt in Kenpo in 1994.
In my teens and early twenties I was drawn to "hard style" martial arts and drew inspiration from such masters as Mas Oyama and Tak Kubota. Their insane training methods particularly held attraction for me. I regularly practiced tamishiwari (breaking) and "conditioning exercises" (IE: striking and kicking hard objects repeatedly). I developed extraordinary abilites at demolishing objects with my fists, elbows, knees, and feet. I would break beer bottles with handswords, tiles with punches, and anything that I could kick. All of the training and conditioning made me feel impenetrable and powerful. Over time, I have repeatedly broken knuckles and toes, as well as chipped and cracked bones in my knees and elbows. My mentors were quite old, and they seemed none the worse for wear after all the years they trained by these methods.
I will be 38 years old this month, and I am now so riddled with arthritis and calcium deposits that I move like 90yo man. I cannot make a fist with my left hand because the knuckles on my index and "happy" finger have frozen solid and are deformed by arthritis. My right hand is starting to follow suit. My left knee swells up like a grapefruit when I mow my lawn. Both of my elbows are red, swollen knots that I cannot even lean on- much less strike with. My arches are big painful knots, and I have bone spurs on my heels. It takes potent anti-inflammatory drugs, sometimes combined with narcotics, just to help me make it through the day.
Needless to say, I have had to give up training. I miss it horribly, but I have no choice. I am paying a HUGE price for the excessive training of my youth.
The reason I came forth to share this with you is to provide you with an example of what NOT to do. You don't have to hit a makiwara 500 times a day, roll coke bottles on your shins, slam your fingers into hot gravel, break cinder blocks with your head, or do any of the "traditional" conditioning exercises to be a good martial artist. If I had been a little smarter in my training, I could still BE TRAINING. We all want to be Superman, but please remember YOU ARE ONLY HUMAN.
Sometimes self-defense means defending yourself FROM yourself. That's a lesson I wish I had learned early on. I sure do know it now.
I began training in martial arts at the age of seven, in Kyokushinkai. Over the years, I have studied Chung Do Kwan, various styles of Ju Jutsu, and eventually settled on American Kenpo as my base art. I obtained my 1st degree black belt in Kenpo in 1994.
In my teens and early twenties I was drawn to "hard style" martial arts and drew inspiration from such masters as Mas Oyama and Tak Kubota. Their insane training methods particularly held attraction for me. I regularly practiced tamishiwari (breaking) and "conditioning exercises" (IE: striking and kicking hard objects repeatedly). I developed extraordinary abilites at demolishing objects with my fists, elbows, knees, and feet. I would break beer bottles with handswords, tiles with punches, and anything that I could kick. All of the training and conditioning made me feel impenetrable and powerful. Over time, I have repeatedly broken knuckles and toes, as well as chipped and cracked bones in my knees and elbows. My mentors were quite old, and they seemed none the worse for wear after all the years they trained by these methods.
I will be 38 years old this month, and I am now so riddled with arthritis and calcium deposits that I move like 90yo man. I cannot make a fist with my left hand because the knuckles on my index and "happy" finger have frozen solid and are deformed by arthritis. My right hand is starting to follow suit. My left knee swells up like a grapefruit when I mow my lawn. Both of my elbows are red, swollen knots that I cannot even lean on- much less strike with. My arches are big painful knots, and I have bone spurs on my heels. It takes potent anti-inflammatory drugs, sometimes combined with narcotics, just to help me make it through the day.
Needless to say, I have had to give up training. I miss it horribly, but I have no choice. I am paying a HUGE price for the excessive training of my youth.
The reason I came forth to share this with you is to provide you with an example of what NOT to do. You don't have to hit a makiwara 500 times a day, roll coke bottles on your shins, slam your fingers into hot gravel, break cinder blocks with your head, or do any of the "traditional" conditioning exercises to be a good martial artist. If I had been a little smarter in my training, I could still BE TRAINING. We all want to be Superman, but please remember YOU ARE ONLY HUMAN.
Sometimes self-defense means defending yourself FROM yourself. That's a lesson I wish I had learned early on. I sure do know it now.