If you have never been injured in your training then you have never really trained properly in the martial arts. To train in the martial arts for any length of time is to endure all manner of aches, sprains, bone breaks, muscle pulls, ligament strains, whiplash etc. Martial arts, by there very nature, involve inflicting and taking pain of one kind or another. The only real defense we have against this punishment is the constant work we put in to condition our bodies to become tough and durable enough to withstand most of it.
Regardless of how much conditioning we put our bodies and minds through however, injuries do still occur. How many sparring sessions have you had, for instance, were you agreed with your opponent “to keep it light”, only to find yourself two minutes later with a bloody nose or a cracked rib or a chipped tooth? Lots of times, I’ll bet. Most of the time we can brush ourselves of after knocks like this and carry on training. Learning to take the hits is just as important as learning to give them. No pain, no gain, as the saying goes.
In the martial arts there are really two types of injuries:
Short-term injuries, gained from taking too much impact, caused by an over-enthusiastic punch or kick or throw or whatever. These types of injuries usually right themselves soon after, the effects usually being felt for no more than a couple of days or a week at most. We’re talking localised bruising or minor aches and strains, nothing too serious.
Long-term injuries are a bit more serious and are caused by many years of putting your body through grueling training regimes that have a negative impact on your bodily structure over time. We’re talking here about chronic back strain, the wearing down of the joints, ligament and tendon problems, all things which are much harder, and in some cases impossible, to correct.
Thanks to over twenty-five years of training I have received more short-term injuries than I care to count and a few long-term ones that I am still struggling with to this day. At this point in time I have lower back problems that have lead to sciatica (most uncomfortable), extreme bursitis in my left ankle (anyone who has experienced this will be well aware of the excruciating pain that comes along with this problem) and acute bursitis in my right shoulder (again, highly uncomfortable and very painful at times). These are all problems that have arisen through wear and tear and have forced me, at various times, to take time of from training long enough for the pain to subside and the injuries to die down enough so I could continue.
As hard to take as these injuries are at times, I have never allowed myself to even consider the possibility of retiring from training, nor have I harboured any resentment towards my martial arts training for giving me these problems in the first place. We know what we are getting into when we start and we know that sacrifices have to be made in return for the skills and experience we gain throughout our time in the dojo. This is just one of the many lessons I have acquired from my martial arts practice. If you desire something of worth, then you must be willing to sacrifice something from your life in return. It’s a law of the universe and one which should be accepted sooner rather than later if you want to last at anything.
Despite your best intentions though, injuries, especially nagging long-term ones, can get you down, they can make you very depressed if you let them, especially if they are forcing you to stay away from your training for a while. All is not lost, however, for there are still things you can do to keep your spirits up and keep your martial arts moving forward, even if you can’t get to the dojo. Try some of the following suggestions to stay in the game.
1. Seek medical advice. This is an obvious thing to say but it’s surprising how many people don’t do this. If the injury is that bad or causing you that many problems then get yourself to a hospital to get it checked out, just to be on the safe side. The sooner an injury is treated the quicker it will heal. There are also all manner of medical practitioners out there that you can go to seek advice and treatment, people like chiropractors, acupuncturists, sports masseuses and the like. Visit them and see if they can’t cut down your injury time.
2. Assess your injury. What type of injury do you have? What other parts of your body can you still use that won’t have a bad impact on the injured part? For instance, when the bursitis in my ankle was at its worst I was still able to hit the dojo and do some punching on the bag and also some light stretching. I was okay as long as I didn’t put any strain on my leg. I didn’t do much, but the little I did do still allowed me to feel like I was keeping my hand in so to speak, that I was carrying on with my training in some small way. Obviously, don’t take this too far. If you have a serious injury, then resist the temptation to train and risk making it worse, setting yourself back even further. Just be honest with yourself and don’t allow pride to get the better of you. If you have to rest, then rest, otherwise do what you can, but within reason.
3. Train the mind while the body is resting. Your body may be out of action but your mind should still be in good working order. There are lots of things you can do train your martial mind. Further your reading, for a start. Use the time you have to study books on the martial arts, to learn new methods of training or new techniques. Read inspiring interviews with other martial artist’s. I remember when I was away from training with a back injury many years ago and I was moping around feeling sorry for myself when one day I read an article on Bruce Lee that said he once sustained a back injury that kept him bed-ridden for a whole year! Now most people would accept there lot here and just wallow in depression for a year, but not him. Bruce, despite the fact he couldn’t train physically, used the time he had to write his books. He kept his hand in; he continued to train in his own way and made the most of the down-time he had to turn a negative situation into a positive one.
Keeping up your inspiration levels will effectively prime your mind for when you do eventually get back to physical training and then you can implement some of the things you have learned from all that reading.
Meditation is also very good for calming the mind and it will allow you to focus your attention away from your injury for a while, as well as making it easier for you to cope with any pain you might have.
Visualisation techniques are also a good way to fill your time. If you can’t be at the dojo physically, at least you can be there mentally. Picture yourself training as you would if you were actually there. See yourself punching, kicking, throwing, sparring, whatever it is you do when you normally train. This would be an ideal time to work on any weaknesses you might have in your training. For instance, if you are struggling with a particular technique, then visualize yourself performing that technique to the best of your ability over and over until you feel confident in your mind that you can do it. Then, when you get back to training, try the technique out and you will probably notice a vast improvement in your performance.
(In future articles I will go into more detail on visualization and meditation)
4. Keep a positive mental attitude. We are not supermen at the end of the day. Pain hurts. So does not being able to do what you most love doing. You wouldn’t be human if you didn’t feel down now and again about this. It is important though to try and stay in a positive frame of mind as much as possible, as hard as this can be at times. Doing the things I have already mentioned above to keep yourself active and engaged will help a great deal in combating any negativity you might feel about the whole situation. When you do feel negativity just let it come, but try not to engage with it too much otherwise it will just drag you down into the abyss and you will find it much harder to claw your way back to positivity again.
So just to recap: you will feel bad, you will feel negative at times – the trick is to stand up to negativity and smother it with positive thought and direct action. Do this and you will have few problems riding out your injury time.
