Martial arts/health dilemma! What should I do?

Question

I had to drop out of martial arts classes a few weeks ago due to back/joint problems. The thing is, up to now, I have made significant advances in my ability during my rest period! This phenomenon is not new to me as I am an accomplished musician who went through the same thing with musical training but now I want to take up the training again as I am starting to finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. What should I do?

Answer 1

Take up Choi Kwang Do, it is designed to be healthy on the body.
Check out this site for more info:

http://www.choikwangdo.com

Can you believe the Grandmaster is 64 and still practicing.

Answer 2

I have been training in martial arts for over 13 years and I too have a medical condition. Part of my issue is severe arthritis. It affects all my joints.
I took some time off from going to class because I used to be one of our top guys and I was embarrassed that I was unable to move. ( I think this was god's way of teaching me humility). Anyway after talking to my Sensei about all my health issues he told I have to come back and train. He felt the joints would get worse without my training. He was right, I began to deteriorate quickly. I started to train again. Slowly and purposefully I did every move. Slowly my joints (and whole body) began to feel better.
I am not cured by any means but I feel much better when I work out. I have good days and bad days. You must modify your training to fit your body. Everyone is a little different, some of us have physical obstacles we need to work through while others have mental issues.

Yogi and Tai Chi are also very helpful ( if done properly). I use these as a supplement to keep my body moving and limber.

Hang in there. You can still train. Accept your limitations and work with them not against them. Stay positive. Be mindful of what hurts you.

Answer 3

Work around the injury...no one in a serious martial arts class has not been hurt at one time or another. Do what you can, rest the injury, and get back up to speed.
My wife has joint issues...aikido and hapkido have significantly helped. I have a bad back with a disc prone to slipping...but have found ways to work around that while doing all types of break falls and rolls. Your body will thank you years down the line for staying in the training.
Those that say don't do the joint locks with arthritis are incorrect as moving the joints, strong flexing, will significantly help.

Answer 4

What kind of martial art are you doing? If youre doing Judo or Jujitsu then I would look for another art. Some of the arts can be tough on the joints, especially if your practicing joint locks.
Try Tai-Chi classes. It may be too slow for you but it will help with the back and may help with the joints.
If this is not an option then I suggest that you go as far in class as you can and thensit out. Don't mess up your health, but you don't have to quit either. Your Sensei should understand and help out.

Answer 5

Well, I am not going to repeat all the sound medical advice everyone has already said regarding the physical part of your training. Lot of good stuff in those answers...

However, regarding the repeat of a phenomenon such as advancing while "not being able to practice" I do have something to say about. I, too, am a musician who struggled with certain plateaus in my ability over the years. (I have come to understand it based on my own personal learning curve, but I think it is applicable to others as well.)

What it boils down to is getting to the point of diminishing returns. There is a phase in learning that most of us go through at times. Not all the time, not every time, nor the same way every time, but often enough that if we are real conscientious, we might discern the pattern. (I think you have started to notice it yourself.) The phase is the rest period. Rest may be forced onto us due to injury, illness, weariness, goals accomplished, etc. However, we get there, it is something we need in order to grow.

It is a law of nature. We grow while our bodies rest or sleep. When we are sick, what do we need to fight the illness? Rest! Pretty simple when you look at it. But the implications are astounding and far reaching. You wouldn't expect to lift weights three hours a day, every day, for a whole month. Sure, for a time you would grow stronger. But the body eventually tires out and weakens. By the end of the month, the body is only lifting a percentage of what you started out with. What the body is doing is enforcing the person to rest.

THEN the muscles can recuperate, regenerate, grow bigger and stronger. Once the period of rest is done, the muscles are then ready to repeat the cycle of increased work load, tear down at the failure point, and then growth.

The key is after the rest period, when we are "getting back in shape." What do most of us (if we are wise, that is) do when we "get back to it"? We work the basics, even if just for a few days. For instance, I am a trombone player, and I need to get my lip back in shape for the Fall. So what am I going to be focusing on for the first couple of weeks here? Long tones for tone quality, lip slurs for agility, and scales for note patterns. Basics.

When we work out we do the same thing. We stretch for flexibility, calisthenics/conditioning for basic body weight strength training, and movement patterns (especially in martial arts) for coordination. Basics. My martial arts teacher, Joe Simonet, who has traveled all over the world to train folks, once told me that the only thing that he does REALLY well is the basics. In martial arts, what does that mean? Speed, power, precision. Simplify one's work out for maximum effectiveness. (By the way, when he was younger, he was a tuba player!)

What does this have to do with injury and rest? Everything! When we come back after an extended period of time away from skilled endeavors, we tend naturally focus on the basics (mostly so we don't re-injure ourselves!). It's when we do this that we increase the foundation of the skills we wish to practice. In music, that means tone quality, agility, articulation, and note patterns. In martial arts - speed, power, precision movement, aerobic conditioning.

Do I think you should take up your training again? By all means. Should you consult a physician/chiropractor like all the other answers suggest? Probably. Mostly, though, I would encourage you to pay attention to when you need to put something down for awhile in order to rest, recuperate, and grow. So then you can "get back into it" with less difficulty than if you were coming back after being injured.

Good luck
VT

Answer 6

First, consult your physician.
Second, be apprehensive of anybody saying to work around an injury; you could be doing damage long-term even if you don't feel it immediately.
Third, as many others have suggested, if you must take a martial art, try an internal system which focuses on self-cultivation first. While learning this, you will give yourself time to heal and perhaps by that point, the martial aspects of whichever internal system you study will manifest.
Good luck!

Answer 7

Get a good book on Stretching and read about physiotherapy... sportsinjurybulletin.com is good, and buy Injury Free Karate by Paul Perry - even if you do not study Karate! It's information is transferrable to other arts.

All Martial arts seem to have elements that are bad for health and biomechanically ineffective. Learning about biomechanics and what is good for your body will educate you to avoid positions where you will become injured.

Answer 8

I would definitely keep going to classes. Even if you can't participate fully, you will lean a lot from observing, and doing the exercises you are able to (even just gentle stretching) will keep you in the mind set. It is very easy to fall out of the habit of attending classes and lose your steam. Perhaps will you will learn things from a new perspective and add another dimension to your training--the physical is only a small part, but the mental is far more extensive and hard to master.

Answer 9

Sometimes a break can make you want to do an activity more and thus with the desire that you have when you start the activity again you will be better. This is indeed a GREAT way to improve, but this massive learning curve that you have now will not last. If it were me, I would take classes again. Now that you have improved, your master can show you new techniques.

Answer 10

Work round you injury. Do what excersies you can and work intensley on the moves you are able to do. Study can also be achieved by reading books as martial arts involve the body and the mind. Injury is simply a test of you commitment. If you love it you will find a way to progress.

Answer 11

So have you bothered to consult a physician?? How are uneducated half brained Internet morons like us supposed to give you a descent answer when we don't even know what you back condition is?? look if you want to keep stretching and get to what ever flexibility your after consult a physician and tell them whats what. they may transfer you to a professional trainer who deals with this sort of thing, if you can't no longer be active in martial arts find another hobby. I'm sorry for your condition and I wish you well.