Conditioning Shins!

[Sim Diddy]

Khun Kao,

When your shins get stronger, is that only a short term effect only? Like what happens later in life, will I get bone cancer, arthritis or sore legs?

Thanks in advance

[Khun Kao]

When your shins get stronger, is that only a short term effect only? Like what happens later in life, will I get bone cancer, arthritis or sore legs?

I'm not 100% sure how short- or long-term the conditioning lasts. I believe that it is mostly short-term, but does have long-term implications.

For instance, I suspect that after conditioning in this way, your body structure doesn't simply return to what it was pre-conditioning. You will always maintain some of the affects. For instance, your pain threshold will always be better than before, and I suspect that your bone density will remain thicker than before. But you will start to lose on many of the benefits if you stop conditioning.

Bone cancer caused by MuayThai is myth. There is only 1 person I have ever spoken to that has any firsthand experience with this. He had a friend who died of bone cancer after clashing shins with someone and the huge knot on his shin ended up being cancerous. But understand something. The actual conditioning of his shin, and the resulting injury, is NOT the cause of cancer. IMHO, the injury gave the cancer a place to "take hold" and flourish in his system. A very, VERY unfortunate coincidence, if you ask me.

Conditioning your shins does not lead to arthritis. Your shin is not a joint. It is a bone. Arthritis is a condition that affects your joints. That being said, improper conditioning methods could lead to arthritis. You have to make sure to wrap your hands properly and always wear the correct type (and in GOOD CONDITION) boxing gloves. To not condition your body by striking hard objects. Always use heavy bags, mitts, and pads. Don't start kicking poles, or hitting walls, doorframes, doors, etc.....

It is completely possible that you will pay for what you do today later on in life. Its the sacrifice you will make depending on how seriously you want to train. I have been training almost 14 years now. I have trained hard, sparred, and fought numerous times. I haven't always trained safely. I am already experiencing problems at 35 years old (36 next month) from my training and fighting that I suspect will only get worse as I age. However, when I really stop to reflect on all that I've done and accomplished as a Thai boxing student, fighter, official, and coach, it's been worth it.

The question comes down to this:

What are you willing to sacrifice for glory?

[Sim Diddy]

Thanks heapz for that,

just a few more questions,

what happens if i am only learning muay thai as a self-defence, i'll probably only use when I really have to, like being mugged and getting in a fight at school....

Does it matter if i condition my shins or not?

[Khun Kao]

Well, you obviously won't need to condition as rigorously as you would if your intention was to fight in the ring.

If you train MuayThai for self defense, you will obviously want to supplement your training with other martial arts disciplines because MuayThai as taught in 99.99% of gyms worldwide is incomplete. You would be EXTREMELY hard pressed to find someone who teaches MuayThai as a complete system including striking, grappling, ground-fighting, weapons defense, etc....

[Rogue Warrior]

He's right! Muay thai is a great fighting style but you really need to get more than what is offered at your gym. Remeber that this style is for the ring and is a huge tradition. So in todays world its good to have more than one weapon to fight with in your arsenal than just muay thai. If you are getting pretty good with your hands and feet then I would suggest that you look hard a krav maga. This is a great MMA fighting system that shows you the quickest ways to get out of the said situation that you might encounter. Check out www.amirperets.com This guy knows what he's talking about and is a great MMA fighter.