10 Comments

Martial artists, for better or worse have a tendency to have this indomitable spirit about them and will power through injuries that they really shouldn’t be powering through.

Throughout my career I’ve been careful to push myself but not past the point of doing permanent damage stressing your body can lead to some incredible adaptations. Stressing it to the point of breaking can lead to injuries you’ll never truly recover from.

Expand full comment
Aug 9, 2023Liked by Tim Shaw

I think some injuries in karate especially hips knees are westerners trying to kick too high, falsely thinking that's a necessity. When it's not. Far better is to teach and learn correct technique, and accept your body limitations. Then focus on getting that best you can. Constant repetition, seeking the impossible, that's the secret. To me anyway.

Expand full comment
Aug 8, 2023Liked by Tim Shaw

I'm looking at hip surgery so I'm working on my one good leg which is on my weak side. So that's a positive. Still do katas. Work on tai sabaki too. Moving to my left, my weaker side. Turn negative into a positive..

Expand full comment
author

Quite a while back I started noticing references to some of the big names in Shotokan having to have joint replacement, I did wonder if it was something that happened to Shotokan people, then I started to see similar things within Wado. But, perhaps it's just an age/genetic thing?

Expand full comment
Aug 9, 2023Liked by Tim Shaw

My current Sensei, training since 1972,has had both hips replaced and both knees partially replaced.

Expand full comment

I was told by very senior kugb bod that few years ago Frank brennan, now kugb chief, had back problem. He eventually was referred to a specialist surgeon in Germany. Apparently he was told by said surgeon, if he had delayed consultation by 72 hours he would've been in a wheelchair for life.

Expand full comment
author

Yikes, that's pretty dramatic.

Expand full comment

Good stuff, Tim. I went to have my foot X-rayed a few years ago for unrelated reasons, and the doctor asked me if I knew I had been living with a broken bone in my foot for all these years. My ingrained response was to chuckle and suggest that there would be an awful lot of similar discoveries if more of my body was X-rayed!

Expand full comment
author

Oh, we should swap notes, lol.

Expand full comment

Ha! or we should NOT encourage one another.

Expand full comment