Every week a new injury

[Bryan Popejoy]

This has been my situation since mid-May. Well, maybe not every week, but pretty regularly. First I sprained or tore a muscle in my upper back/shoulder blade area.

Then my left knee started aching.

Then, one of my (big, 230 lbs.!) students decided to throw a jumping right cross while I was holding mitts. He missed the center of the pad, hit the top of the pad, which wrenched my elbow back very sharply. No holding pads or even using my right hand in training. Hell, I couldn't do much of anything. Couldn't bend my arm enough to block a left hook, couldn't throw a right kick because of the extending motion the right arm makes.

To top it off, My right shoulder started to ache incessantly, I think it was related to the elbow injury.

Today, after about 1 month, the right side is feeling ok. I can actually throw the right hand with some enthusiasm.

So what happens, I feel a sharp pain in my left calf as I throw a right kick. Now I'm limping every where I go.

The funny thing is, I never got very tweaked while training for fights-now that I'm kind of out of the picture, and training alot less intensely, I get tweaked all of the time.

Such is the life of Bryan.......

[Dr4g0n]

Why the f*ck do i have pain in my sh..

Ok my training:
Everyday i do this

2 x 20 push ups
2 x 20 sit ups

And i pull myself up to the door 2 x 10 times

3 x 15 weight lifting (6kg)

And i run 4 km in the morning

And i shadowbox everyday 2 x 5 minutes

Im not at a martial art yet (i want to go do taekwondo)
If im on taekwondo i pratise 30 minutes everyday and 2 times 1,30 hours taekwondo lessons

Ok so with the martial art part dont counted i do the upper part
started 2 days ago and now my shoulderbades and my upper back are dieing of pain and my mussless in my belly :P are dieing to what can i do about it?

[retired]

Bryan Popejoy
Iv'e been waiting 1 yr (holding pads & stuff) before i could start to train so i know what you mean!!! AAAAaahhhhhhh!!!!!

Dr4g0n

i think you need to start easy & build yourself up, by the sound of it you rushed into it & took on too much to earlly, patience.

[fugetsu]

fix your thrashed body

Brian-
Thaiboxing is, as you know, punishment for the body. I can advise two things:
First, go to the chiropractor a few times every week. Your spine and joints will get a working over and you will find that a good chiropractor can help you keep training when otherwise you would be totally screwed. I can attest to this personally. First major experience was before the 2001 Oregon Thaicamp. I trained hard and then didn't do a good enough job of taking care of my body after work outs, and totally screwed up my lower back, to the extent that I could barely walk. On the Wednesday before the camp, I went to see the chiropractor, we said that my right leg was 3 cm shorter than my left (because I had messed up my lower back so bad). He adjusted my neck, upper, middle and lower back areas. I went back the next day, he did the same thing again, and on Saturday morning (the first day of camp) I was able to go 100%. So, I have been a regular at that clinic ever since. The chiropractor also can give you certain stretches and the like to prevent your trouble spots from acting up.
Khun Kru Mike Walrath also saw a chiropractor for a number of years while his knee was messed up, and while his knee is still messed up, the chiropractor kept him walking and training when most people would have been flat on their backs.
Second, start yoga. I have not yet done this, but according to reliable sources (Guru Dan Inosanto) it does a lot to maintain body balance and allows you to avoid injuries.
I hope this helps.
Alex Bay

[RobertG]

Fugetsu's suggestions are good. I'd also suggest making sure your diet is in order first. Adequate protein intake and a good multi-vitamin (plus all those good fruits and veggies) are a good place to start. If you aren't getting sufficient protein and/or are lacking in important micronutrients, you're healing is going to lag. And of course sleep is vital as well. If you're not getting enough sleep that will delay healing.

The yoga and stretching are good ideas, but I'd also suggest weight training. That will stregthen joints and connective tissue (as well as muscles obviously) as long as its done correctly. You might want to look into joint supplements as well. Chondrotin/Glucosomine/MSM (often packaged as one supplement)--these have been shown to rebuild connective tissue (tendons, ligaments) and lubricate joints. It might help.

[Damian Mavis]

"I never got very tweaked while training for fights-now that I'm kind of out of the picture, and training alot less intensely, I get tweaked all of the time."

Don't you think you answered your own question there? heh. When you are training consistently and your body is fit and strong and used to the fast powerful movements and pad holding then you won't be easily injured. But if you are training periodically and try throwing techniques like your body used too while your body is not as fit and strong then muscles will tear, tendons will snap and all around pain is going to occur.

I am an expert on the subject because I am the king of periodic training and injuring myself as a result.... like right frickin now.... I took 3 months off of serious training after my fight and now that I have jumped right back in my hamstring has a slight tear and Saturday I seriously twisted my ankle due to weak ankles from not training regularly. If I had moved into my training slowly enough to build up the strength of my body then I wouldnt have sprained my ankle so badly if at all.

Damian Mavis
Honour TKD

[Double Dose]

Yeah Bryan,
Me too! I know what we need to do to fix this. Let's just get back to fighting. So when do we start training?
Double Dose

[Dr4g0n]

Originally posted by retired
Bryan Popejoy
Iv'e been waiting 1 yr (holding pads & stuff) before i could start to train so i know what you mean!!! AAAAaahhhhhhh!!!!!

Dr4g0n

i think you need to start easy & build yourself up, by the sound of it you rushed into it & took on too much to earlly, patience.

thank you "retired"

ive made another training like this:
20 pushups
20 situps
next month im going to increase this times 2 for the rest that stays

2x10 times pull up to door
2x5 min shadowboxing
jogging everyday in the evening @7pm

[sercuerdas]

i'm only 24 but i've been at it since i was 12. started wrestling and did that for10 yrs. went onto submission and muay thai for a few yrs. then found escrima for the last three. the bottom line is the longer you train the more little injuries you will sustain which can lead to larger ones. if your fighting days are done you might think of switch to a different style which train in a more evasive way. you already are compident and banging and going all out, so switching styles should only add to you skills and maybe allow you to train and be a warrior far into your later yrs.

[chalambok]

Sanook Mai Byron?

ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. I was talking with a little TikTak bird last year about this time and it said you were just a fat slob now. So no wonder you're hurting your weight-bearing limbs. And you probably eat a starch-based or rice-fased diet too much....you should be come either a raw food only man or a popcornairian. They have a lot of those in cheesehead country, don't they? Didn't you come from some yokelhead state originally before you saw the midwestern error of your ways, tubby?
Wish you were here little bro
kiss my sisters fondly please.......PaKroo is watching over us for the next few days - PiSteve

[Bryan Popejoy]

lol. Typical of them. I bust my ass to make 160, and I'm too skinny. and I'm training too much, and all I think about is muaythai, and I should quit fighting, etc.

So, I comply-now I'm too fat. 6' tall, 190 lbs. And I'm now chunky? I look pretty much the same, except you can no longer see through me if the sun is shining. Oh, and you can't count my ribs anymore when I'm shirtless. I guess I'll have seasonal work as a shopping mall Santa this Christmas.

[fugetsu]

your first mistake

Bryan-
Sorry to take so long to reply. But, your first mistake was to comply.
They say you train too much, fight too much, and all you think about is Muay Thai. Hello ?!? You are a professional martial artists with your own gym. That is your job, is it not?
Being married myself, I can say from experience that complying just opens the door to further retreating. Like in boxing, never go straight back, always circle left or right. Like Double Dose suggested, time to get back into the ring.
You are 6 foot, 190 pounds, sounds like your should go straight into K-1 competition. You can turn your Muay Thai gold metal into a shot at the Grand Prix. Then, I'll can be your personal translator when you fight in Japan. Sounds like a good deal to me.
Alex

[jules]

Then, one of my (big, 230 lbs.!) students decided to throw a jumping right cross while I was holding mitts. He missed the center of the pad, hit the top of the pad, which wrenched my elbow back very sharply

I don't want to come off as a jackass but it seems like your student is a knucklehead... Why would you thow a jumping cross at full speed when it is clear that you don't know how to do it?

[Normal]

Ahhhhh, Grasshopper..............

So Bryan,
Life is catching up to you.
Young enthusiastic fighters want to use your body for a trampoline/heavy bag. I knew that in time this question would come back to haunt me.
But now at my increased age I've forgotten the answer. Sh!t, I knew I should have written it down somewhere.
It just goes back to the old Roseanne Roseannadanna saying, " If its not one thing its another".

Serves you right for busting my balls a time or two.

Hey Ryan says you should bring a fight group to Illinois in September.

[Brian]

Belated Empathy

Sir,

I'm sorry for not empathizing earlier. I've been wanting to reply to this thread for a long time. I've just been getting crushed by a number of obligations. Work has been a beast lately, we've been working hard to change our business practices at our gym, Ajarn Chai came through town and we've got a couple fighters getting ready for fights in October.

But anyway. Believe me, I know how you feel/felt. There was a good year and a half, two year stretch were I couldn't go more than two months without somehting catastrophic happening... Broken Knee then Dislocated Shoulder then Broken Ankle, Then Broken Nose, Then Broken Eye Socket and all the subsequent surgeries and recovery times. Man it sucked. It was a lesson in discipline and it begged me the question... How bad do you want this active and agressive lifestyle?

The answer everytime was, bad enought to get back in there and risk it all again.

I hope you're feeling good now and that you are healing up stronger than you were before.

And while I'm at it may I ask you a question Khru Popejoy and any of you other fight trainers out there. Tonight we brought some friends in from a sister school not too far away to work out and spar with three of our fighters. Two of our guys did exceptionally well. But one guy got a full on beat down handed to him. He was giving me and the other fight trainer a really hard time last week and the week before when we sparred him but when he stepped in there with a guy he was unfamiliar with, a guy with skill and a stiffling reach advantage, he looked like he was moving in slow motion... He had fear written all over his face and he ate enough punches to make him want to skip his next two meals. Oh, and on top of it all, he took a head kick that raised a nice pearl sized blood blister in the outside corner of his eye.

My question is this. How do you talk to your fighter after this? Do you tell him to hang it up and walk away from the fight game... that he hasn't been pushing himself/herself hard enough in their runs, on the pads etc? Do you put them back in the ring the very next day?

The kid has skill plus he's a lefty but he hasn't built the ability to walk into the ring and say I am the king... give me Lance Armstrong on his bicycle, I'll race him too... then I'll punk him in the face, run up into the stands and punk his momma.

How would you deal with a situation like this? Khru Nino, if you're out there I'd love to hear your take.

Anyway, sorry for the tangent. Hope you're feeling better...