The "You'll Never Kick Right Again" Rant

Discussion in 'Injuries and Prevention' started by aka The Clerk, Sep 20, 2010.

  1. aka The Clerk

    aka The Clerk Valued Member

    Just a little over a year ago I was doing work up training (military training preparing to be deployed over seas) and on one particular day was doing a ruck sack march (a march involving you, your helmet, tac vest, frag vest, rifle and bag on your back which weighs between 40-60 lbs, closer to 60 on this day.)
    This particular march was 13 km, after about 8 or 9 km I could barely move and felt a pain in my lower back which was, well, pretty bad.
    It was discovered (took over 6 months to do it) that during this march I had pulled and torn muscles in my back, had two bulging discs which was pinching the sciatic nerve which causes spasms that run from my back down my leg, and that between my back and hip joint on the right side there's no synovial fluid left which means the two joints are grinding together.
    They've had my on a physio rehabilitaion program since the injury occured and I have recently been 'dismissed' as 'there's nothing more they can do for me'.
    I'm waiting out now to find out whether I'll be released from the military or if they will retain my and transfer me into a different occupation (presently Field Artillery)
    I was discussing with the physiotherpaist my fears about my martial arts training. Any bending or twisting motion causes quite a bit of pain, but the worst is kicking, up to my waist isn't so bad, but over the waist, gets to be quite painful. He told me that I'll probably never be able to kick properly again without pain. Said it may be in my best interests to 'pursue a more fitting activity' than martial arts. Not going to happen. I've been training for well over 10 years, and I'm not about to give it up now.
    *phew*
    That's the rant, had to get it off my chest, anyone have any advice/opinions as to what I should do now? As far as I'm concerned giving up martial arts is not an option, do I train, and just keep dealing with the pain until my body gives out?
     
  2. Bigmikey

    Bigmikey Internet Pacifist.

    I've stated a few times that I dealt with a similar situation. In fact, I'm still dealing with it and probably will be for the rest of my life. I had my achilles tendon ruptured for me by another member of my school. It is truly the gift that keeps on giving (please read with all appropriate sarcasm.).

    Initially I had doctors tell me that I should count myself lucky to be able to walk without a pronounced limp and that pursuing the martial arts would be too much to expect. Much like you, my attitude was "PIFFLE!".

    Truth of the matter, however, is that there are simply things I can no longer do well, if at all. For example, I may never be able to do much in terms of kicking with my left leg as the right, the one with the injury, isnt strong enough to support the effort. Anything more aggressive than a front kick and I either butcher it until its indistinguishable or fall. But I try, again and again.

    I still limp and after class its severe. I ice nearly every evening and that still doesnt prevent swelling to such a degree that there are mornings where getting a shoe on seems impossible.

    It has reached the point where I am honestly considering switching my efforts solely to hapkido instead of spreading myself between Hapkido AND TKD.

    You may find that with your back issues certain aspects of martial training are difficult if not closed to you completely but that doesnt mean that you have to give it all up or that you can't find something else for which you may be better suited. A great portion of martial training is teaching ourselves how to employ tactics to get through odds that might otherwise be insurmountable. This is the same thing. You have a limitation, the full extent of which hasnt manifested itself yet. The missoin facing you is figuring out how to train around that which you can't train through.

    One thing I will tell you though, and I mean this as gospel. With that injury, take time when you need time. I've found - the hard way, of course, that if I rest my foot when I need to, often times requiring me to miss more than a single class, I am able to train harder, longer and minimize injury than if I constantly push it and never let it rest up.

    You may never be 100% again but that doesnt mean you're 90% can't be just as good, if not BETTER, than someone elses 100%, if you follow me. From here on out, its about training smart, not hard.

    Slow and steady wins the day my friend. All my best...
     
  3. Kurtka Jerker

    Kurtka Jerker Valued Member

    Boxing, Judo, or an all around striking art that doesn't demand high kicks?
     
  4. aka The Clerk

    aka The Clerk Valued Member

    Many thanks for the post Bigmikey definitely a lot to consider, and I'm definitely making sure I take it slow and steady.
    Ratty, I've definitely considered getting into Boxing as I've always had an interest in it, but never actually trained in it. Judo I'd be interested in doing, I'd just be afraid of too many falls possibly taking its toll on my back. I'd be more than happy to get back into Aikido except for the same worry.
    Another big issue is I'm limited to where I'm posted. On this base I've so far only seen a small Tai Chi class, a Goju Ryu Karate club, and a small bunch of guys that get together a couple times a week to train MMA (though I don't know if any of them are actually qualified anything or just fly by the seat of their pants.)
     
  5. Bigmikey

    Bigmikey Internet Pacifist.

    I've had a little experience with Goju Ryu and the kicks all had a far less "dramatic" feel to them, far more practical in their employ. It might be something that works for you, or at least be worth looking into.

    On a completely different approach, have you considered to continue training in whatever fashion you can while seriously hitting the weights in an attempt to strengthen the muscle you have left in that lower back? Even damaged muscle can grow stronger and in growing stronger do a better job of supporting your torso through the stresses and strains of martial training. Its certainly an unorthodox approach but in my experience worth a look. The human body loves a challenge brother, why not give it one? :cool:
     
  6. aka The Clerk

    aka The Clerk Valued Member

    I have been continuing with my Karate practice as much as I can (mainly Kata and Kihon) as well as some of the basic exercises I was taught while studying Yoshinkan Aikido.
    I've strongly considered taking up weight training, I'll be the first to admit, it's never been a favourite activity of mine, I've done it on and off throughout the years mainly to build and maintain some sort of muscle. I have considered the P90X program as I've heard from a few people that it's great for muscle building as well as all around fitness.
     
  7. Bigmikey

    Bigmikey Internet Pacifist.

    You have no idea how many of my personal training clients share(d) your view on weight training. If they didnt BEFORE they started they did afterward, lol :D

    P90X is a fairly good program. Its main issue is that it places a GREAT deal of stress on the core and most of its benefit is derived from a constant motion philosophy. It would be similar to doing pullups until you fail, then immediately go to pushups until they fail, then go to crunches until those fail as well and then busting out dips. When those fail, go right back to your pullups.... a few rounds of THAT and you'll be huffin' and a-puffin'...

    A way to simulate that same approach with weights is to do what I refer to as dumbell series. For example, while holding two dumbells at your sides, the first phase is to curl them up, then lower them, extend them out to the sides in a lateral raise at the same time as you squat down. As you rise from the squat lower the weight back to your sides to the starting position. Repeat. the squat could be replaced with a forward moving lunge for greater leg work. You'd want to try to get three sets of 15 out of that by which time you've hit failure not due to a lack of strength as you'd expect but rather because you can't properly oxygenate. Imagine trying to do your form over and over on a single breath. Muscularly you'd be fine but due to the lack of oxygen your muscles would still reach a point of fatigue. Same thing applies here.

    Wow, this is turning into a novel, lol. Sorry brother....
     
  8. aka The Clerk

    aka The Clerk Valued Member

    No appologies, please! I've been asking for help from the physio department for a year, and I've got more helpful advice from you in a few posts then I have from them in over 12 months.

    I'll start doing some research see what I can't find for workout routines etc. I'm not a huge fan of the gym especially on an Army base, lots of judgemental looks if you're curling or squatting anything less than a three digit weight lol.

    At home I don't have much, my doorframe chin up bar, and some dumbells weighing up to 25 lbs. More importantly I have a love of being in shape, so please any advice that you're willing to give you have a more than open and greatful student!
     
  9. Bigmikey

    Bigmikey Internet Pacifist.

    Up to 25 pounds is PUH-LENTY when doing things in series. I have to share the same info with Knights Errant so I'll put some stuff together and send it to both of you. With the stuff you have at home, you have everything you need. Truly. I'll help as much as I can. We'll get this handled :)

    Given that you have a pullup/chinup bar you could start with what I suggested earlier: Chinups to failure, immediately to pushpus to failure, immediately to crunches to failure, immediately to dips to failure (use a coffee table or chair) to failure and then immediately back to pullups/chins... do that whole series 4 times and tell me how it feels :)

    I'll PM you some stuff in the next day or so. Cool?
     
  10. aka The Clerk

    aka The Clerk Valued Member

    Thank you so much, I'll run through the set of exercises tomorrow and let you know how it goes!

    No words can tell you how grateful I am brother.
     
  11. Van Zandt

    Van Zandt Mr. High Kick

    KennedySensei,

    You and I are the same age and, like you, I'm a [former] military man. I was also badly hurt as a result of my career choice [I went infantry] which made kicking excrutiatingly painful at times, until June last year when I had a total hip replacement [left side]. I too was advised to forget about kicking and focus on "easier" martial arts or take up a new sport altogether. They suggested golf. Jesus. :rolleyes:

    It was hard for me to accept. Stretching and kicking has been my bread and butter for almost every day of my life since I was four. So after the surgery when the physio gave me a list of exercises to do, I threw that sheet of paper in the bin and developed my own rehab programme. Within six months of the surgery I was back doing balls to the floor splits and near vertical kicks without a warm up.

    I did make some adjustments to my training. I don't kick a heavy bag or break boards and I only kick with my right leg. Sadly I also retired from sparring in all its forms due to the risk of accidental impact to the prosthetic implant. I continued to train twice every day, but changed my focus to teaching full time. I ended up getting regular gigs travelling around and teaching seminars because it seemed a lot of people were interested in how a guy with a dodgy hip could drop flat to the floor or hold his leg straight up, when most healthy people can't.

    This career path ultimately led to a teaching job in the States for a couple of months over this summer. But while there I got real bad pains in both legs, so I cut the job short and flew back to the UK for scans. Turns out I need revision surgery to fix a minor fault with the existing implant [a fault caused by the original implant, not by my return to kicking] as well as having my right hip replaced. There is also a possibility I will need my left knee replaced, but I'm fighting that decision as much as I can. This is all because my original army injuries have finally caught up with me. Great reward for serving my country, eh!

    I'm currently using crutches to help take the load off my hips when I walk while waiting for the first surgery [revision, left side] later this month. I haven't trained since August and the doctors again told me I'd probably never kick or split again. Not sure about the latter - my avatar pic was taken just this week when for all intents and purposes it should be impossible [follow the link in my sig for a close up]. All in all I'll need 1.5 to 2 years to completely recover from these surgeries and my ability to ever kick or split again after that time has seriously been called into question. But I have every intention of doing so.

    The point of this post is that, a) the ability of the human body to recover far exceeds the expectations imposed by many health professions, b) this isn't necessarily the end of your kicking career, c) a hip replacement might give you a new lease of life, and d) there are other options open to you. Keep your chin up, and as we say in the British Army, "crack on soldier." :)
     
  12. Late for dinner

    Late for dinner Valued Member

    Not sure where Petawawa is exactly but there is a guy named Doug Freer in Barrie/Stroud who is a good all around physio/sports therapist. He is a national level sports physio/acupuncturist/manipulative therapist. It might not hurt to contact his office and tell him that a sports PT/IFOMT member from the UK suggested a consultation to help you establish what is wrong, what needs doing and perhaps liase with the PT's at the base to give you a workable plan of attack. I hate to say this but not all practitioners of any profession are equally skilled and many have no sense of what is possible. Would be a relatively inexpensive way to get a potentially useful view of what you are up against.

    powchoy
     
  13. aka The Clerk

    aka The Clerk Valued Member

    Van Zandt, thank you very much for the post, lifted me up a bit on a Sunday morning.
    I had a meeting with the nurse practitioner I've been seeing for over a year now late last week and we discussed where I'm going both professionally and personally.
    There's pretty much no way they're allowing me to stay in my present trade (Field Artillery) so I have to sit around for about a year or so whether they decide to retain me (more than likely to a clerical trade) or medically release me. I'm fighting tooth and nail to stay in.
    She (the NP) has highly recommended that I give up MA training for something that isn't going to "be so hard on my body".
    I basically told her that I've been training for well over 10 years now and the only two ways to keep me from training altogether are to strap my legs and arms down or put me in the ground.
    I've been focusing a lot more on my cardio as it seems that the general thought is the less weight (especially fat) that I carry around the easier it will be on my back.
    I've also been working my stretching more than I ever have as kicking has always been a favourite tool of mine (maybe not as much as you love using them VZ) and I'm not ready to give up on them yet.

    powchoy, Barrie is about a 5 hour drive or so from where I am. I'll definitely look into it, only issue is being in the military they don't generally allow you to seek medical assistance outside of their channels. I've been requesting since the injury first happened to see someone who practices acupuncture/pressure. But the military doesn't seem to be a fan of 'alternative methods'. I'm still fighting for it though. Thank you very much for the suggestion!
     
  14. Fish Of Doom

    Fish Of Doom Will : Mind : Motion Supporter

    please tell me you kicked that idiot in the face :evil:
     
  15. aka The Clerk

    aka The Clerk Valued Member

    Haha can see how that conversation would go.

    "Kicking? You should give up kicking and play golf!"

    "smack"

    "I'm sorry did you happen to see the bus that just hit my face?"
     
  16. Ancientharp

    Ancientharp klutzy thread assassin

    My sensei (goju ryu) says that you don't need to kick high to be effective. He actively counsels against trying to kick someone in the head, as you could probably get in three punches in the same amount of time.

    I know karate isn't as 'sexy' as some of the other martial arts... but it might give you a way to keep training.
     
  17. Van Zandt

    Van Zandt Mr. High Kick

    KennedySensei,

    The British Army was trialling acupuncture as a method of pain management just before I was medically discharged. I did not feel any effects from acupuncture (positive or negative), but I don't know if this was due to the efficacy of the treatment or the competency of the practitioner. My opinion is that it's not worth investing your time in (but that's just my opinion).

    I have relatives in Ontario. If I'm ever in the neighbourhood I'll give you a shout and we can meet up for a cripples high kicking session. :D
     
  18. Microlamia

    Microlamia Banned Banned

    Crappadoo...Very sorry to hear that. Hope you'll prove the doctor wrong.
     
  19. aka The Clerk

    aka The Clerk Valued Member

    Where abouts in Ontario? I would most definitely be up to said session! :cool:

    In reference to my MA training: My instructor is back in my hometown about 6 and a half hour drive away. Lately I've been doing all the training I can on my own, ie Kata, kihon, etc.
    I've been looking at trying to find a school up here where I can train, unfortunately it's a very remote area and there isn't a whole lot.
    There's a 5 Animal Kung Fu style/ Tai Chi school the next town over, there's a Goju Ryu group run here on the base, and there's a group of guys who get together and do something they refer to as MMA, but I'm pretty sure none of them have a lot of experience.
     
  20. Van Zandt

    Van Zandt Mr. High Kick

    Sudbury, Oshawa and Toronto. (Also in Montreal.) You anywhere near those places?
     

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