Not sure where my training's going...

I can't hit things.My right hand is knackered,open or closed it's just too painful to hit things seriously.On the left side my AC joint is fairly arthritic so any sustained (i.e. more than one or two strikes in a session) training is out of the question.

I can still wrestle/mangle a bit,and my right elbow is getting fairly useful ,the left is out due to the shoulder prob.

I try slow "Tai Chi" style striking movements,just to keep the technique hardwired (i know if push comes to shove i'll strike first and suffer later...so it's good to retain the technique)

Other then that,and some visualisation (and lots of soft skills) i'm not really sure where to go with regard to my training.

any thoughts or opinions?

Ade

I would say stick with the Tai Chi for now. Have you tried yoga at all? It's a great way to keep your body flexible and functioning smoothly.

I hate injuries too Ade, the time it takes to to rest them can be some of the most frustrating.

I'd be heading one of two directions here Ade...

1. Get it fixed if you can. (you didn't say why your hand is knackered for example or your AC)

2. If you can't have you considered the Filipino arts? The stick does the work so you wouldn't be hitting your hand on anything (I'm assuming you can grip with at least one of them)

The benefits of the latter I've mentioned before but, due to the increasing amount of knife crimes, kids in gangs and the proliferation of weapons in fights, it becomes increasingly difficult to deal with this (especially as we age) without the use of weapons.

The stick in FMA becomes a walking stick, a mag lite etc.

The Filipino arts is one of the only practical martial arts where I regularly see guys training into their eighties and nineties.

There's some bloody good practitioners in the UK as well such as Bobby Breen, Pat O'Malley and Krishna.

Nick

^^^^^

That's a pretty good idea.

Nick Hughes wrote:I'd be heading one of two directions here Ade...

1. Get it fixed if you can. (you didn't say why your hand is knackered for example or your AC)

2. If you can't have you considered the Filipino arts? The stick does the work so you wouldn't be hitting your hand on anything (I'm assuming you can grip with at least one of them)


Nick

1.Nothing really fixable unfortunately.The AC joint is arthritic to the point that it hurts merely lifting the arm above shoulder level at most angles.The hand and wrist have arthritis,displaced bones,a fused joint,a Ti bolt in one finger,a history of fractures.....i think the correct term is FUBAR!

2.Nick,i'd never thought of that mate...Filipino arts may well be very well suited.I'm quite well versed with a 3 foot stick,and enjoy stick work .So yeah,i'll look into FMA in my area (i'm sure someone in Cornwall must have heard of it as well as me )

cheers Bro!


Edit:

There's some bloody good practitioners in the UK as well such as Bobby Breen, Pat O'Malley and Krishna.

Cool! I've just found a website with Pat O'Malley's Rapid Arnis set up,and it looks like he's only about an hours drive from me.

Pat leans a little towards the sporting aspect from what I remember but you'll still get the basics. (and to be honest you don't need to know a lot to be good against some untrained mob)

2. Krishna is really on it, especially with the blade, and does the real deal combat stuff. If you can catch Pats once a week, and get to the occasional Krishna class/workshop/seminar I think you'll be well away mate.

Nick

PS: Sorry to hear about the malady mate...got athritis in one hip, two herniated discs, stenosis and partially torn rotaters so I can relate. I've modified my own training over the years to compensate.

PPS: Someone said yoga...couldn't agree more. Rocking stuff especially the Vinyasa flow and/or hot yoga.

Mate,

I just looked up Krishna's site and he has a club IN Cornwall so I think you're sorted.

Krishna Godhania

Nick

I said yoga Nick....and thanks for your support....that means a lot coming from such a chick magnet!!

Pillock.

Haha!

Don't worry, the joke will run a but thin soon......I think I've squeezed it for all it's worth anyway.

Mr Nobody wrote:Haha!
I think I've squeezed it for all it's worth anyway.

Thats what she said?!

Sorry poor contribution to the thread haha

How old are you guys so I know how long I have to go till my body falls apart... is there anything that you would change looking back or is it par for the course?

there's payback in everything you do
sometimes sooner sometimes later

but there's always packback

Maybe I should rephrase...

Is there anything you would do different to mitigate the issues you are now experiencing?

Well, to catalogue all of my injuries not that many are martial arts related.

I broke an ankle riding a motorbike
I ruptured two discs (still herniated) wrecking a bike
I have spinal stenosis and a lot of that is attributed to running round with the Legion in the Mts of Corsica with an eighty pound pack on.

I do have the onset of arthritis in the right hip and a lot of that could be caused by unsafe training methods back in the day. We'd stretch to warm up (as opposed to warm up to stretch) we'd get our legs kicked out from under us to get lower and so on. There are scientific methods now that are much safer.

I've also got a torn rotater cuff from throwing a hook punch at the wrong angle while not warmed up.

The biggest difference I'd make is eliminate the crazy training and add yoga big time.

I can't stress the difference the yoga makes enough.

Nick

PS: Good question by the way.

KiwiTim wrote:Maybe I should rephrase...

Is there anything you would do different to mitigate the issues you are now experiencing?

A lot of the problems I've had with my wrist go back to when I was a beginner. I used to gut out knuckle pushups before I had the strength to do them with good form. In retrospect, it would have been better to do low reps perfectly on my knees, slowly building up to higher reps with my feet on the floor.

i'm accident prone on a scale to match slapstick comedy,so i'm not sure i could have ever mitigated that....other than staying still a whole lot more

But generally learning to temper your ego and realise you are training for your own benefit and not to impress the people watching you is a good thing

Ade, Pat O'Malley is down your way too, think he might be Devon based, possibly Dorset at a push, can't remember exactly but you won't go wrong with him either.

What I like about FMA is the movements with a stick, torch, knife in your hands is exactly the same
as empty hands so no trianing one way for weapens, then a different way for empty hands.

Pat's based in Torquay in Devon Nige ,'bought 75-80 miles from me.So i'll be paying him a visit at some point.

...and i'm waiting for an email back from Krishna,apparently he has an affiliated club and instructor down these parts.

Mate, did you hear anything back yet?

Nick

Yup,Krishna got back to me apologising that the list on his site was out of date and that the guy down my way had dropped out of the game a few years ago

ah,well,on to plan B,whatever that is

Ade wrote:Yup,Krishna got back to me apologising that the list on his site was out of date and that the guy down my way had dropped out of the game a few years ago

ah,well,on to plan B,whatever that is

Ade:

Out of all the training you've ever done, what can you still do without pain?

Well,any hard striking practice gets painful quickly.So i've taken to doing it in an almost Kata like style,slowly,precisely,switching between tense and relaxed as i would if doing it at normal speed/power.
Grappling is the same,so i practice footwork and manipulation(i.e.moving an opponent into a postion where you can,er,"prevail) with my kids,who are more than happy to attack their old man
None of which is ideal,but it'll do

so to answer your question Soc...Not much mate,but i'm working round it

How about weights? Conditioning?

What I am getting at is that if you just found half a dozen things you could do and just did them religiously every other day, you would be fine.

For example, do a gentle warm up, then hammer fists on the heavy bag for one minute, then hit a tyre with a kali stick for one minute each hand, then do some shadow boxing and finish up with some air squats, some pushups, some horizontal rowing (like chinups but with your feet on the floor). Wind things up with a farmer's walk and some stretching. Half an hour or less and you are done. Do that every other day for the rest of your life...

I have a 32kg k'bell Soc,i can manage to clean and press in doubles and triples a few times everyday.the "little and often" way of doing it definitely suits me when it comes to lifting

It works with skills too...