Tiger WHAT?
Posted on | May 22, 2009
Most of you can guess what I’m talking about. I’m talking about Tiger Balm and I must say, that stuff is fantastic. About 3-4 days ago I seriously hurt my left arm by simply working out real quick one time when I had a bit of time, but didn’t spend any time warming up(very stupid move on my part). Anyways, I couldn’t even straighten my left arm out(just by using my muscles), but I could straighten it out by putting my arm down on the table and using my right arm to help stretch it. Over the course of those few days, my arm continued to give me trouble and I was starting to think it might take quite a while to heal.
Tuesday Tips: Generate Motivation
Posted on | March 10, 2009
All of us need a reason, or rather motivation, to do anything. Even if it’s something we enjoy, the reason we do it is because we enjoy doing it, thus that is our reason. Motivation can be a hard thing to keep consistent though.
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Tags: arnold sports festival > generate > lazy > motivation > picture > tt
Tuesday Tips: Fear of Injury
Posted on | March 3, 2009
Fear can get the best of us sometimes. Doesn’t really matter if it’s concerning Martial Arts or not. However, in Martial Arts the most common fear is very simple: injury.
Most of us simply don’t spar very rough for this reason. Everyone has their definition of rough though. For instance, a lot of places only allow point sparring so that you minimize the risk of injury a substantial amount. Yet, the MMA doesn’t lower the level of risk nearly as much. Sure, it’s much safer than what you would really be fighting like to save your life, but in comparison to point sparring, it’s brutal.
Even with all the pads, accidents do happen quite often. Most of them are small injuries that leave contestants out of commission for a while but don’t inflict permanent damage. But, there are those injuries(like the one’s here), that show exactly what can happen during any sort of sparring, training, etc.
So, should this fear stop you from practicing such things? Well, I can’t answer that question for you. All I can say is that for me, any injury(including death) is a risk worth taking. I don’t mean to say that I take those things lightly, it’s just that practicing Martial Arts has been ingrained into me. I couldn’t ever stop completely, even if I wanted to. It’d be like trying to deny who I am. Ask any person that has a hobby that is somewhat dangerous, like most sports. Each person has their own personal reason they continue to follow through with it even though there are risks. You simply have to find out if you have one or not. Many people are perfectly content not practicing Martial Arts, and that is fine, because either way is simply a choice that can’t be right nor wrong.
I can’t tell you how to over come fear of getting injured, because that’s something each person has to find their own way through. I can only say that to some people, including myself, being permanently injured isn’t the worst thing that could happen. Maybe Martial Arts is for you, or maybe it isn’t.
Tuesday Tips: Remember to Rest
Posted on | February 24, 2009
Lately, I’ve been doing quite a bit and my body has definitely been feeling it. I’ve realized that I’m doing too much too fast. Every so often I forget this handy little rule and end up needing to remind myself: Remember to Rest.
The general idea most of us have stuck in our head is to practice, practice, practice. The problem is we generally forget that our bodies have a specified rate at which they “repair”. If you work yourself too hard but don’t get enough rest in between, you’ll actually do more damage to yourself than good. Without rest, instead of toning or building muscles your muscles will instead begin breaking down. This can also result from a lack of proper nutrition. The more you work out, the more your body will need to burn. That’s not to say we’re all Michael Phelps and need to consume unimaginable amounts of food to make up for our exercise for the day. However, you should be expecting to be eating more than you normally do.
I won’t go in depth on what you should be eating, because that wouldn’t be an article, that would be a book. 
Just remember to take enough time out of each day to rest so that your body can recover. You may think you’re doing okay, or that you can just “deal with it”, but believe me when I say that it will eventually catch back up with you. Also, if your body breaks down or you get sick, your training will have all been for nothing, now won’t it?
Tuesday Tips: Pay Attention to Yourself
Posted on | February 17, 2009
Recently, for the past week or so, I haven’t been able to train as much because I injured my ankle while I was out training with my instructor at the public park we meet at. Currently, my ankle is much better and I’ve been going at it again, but I’ve just been thinking about how I hurt my ankle while I was training.
My friend, who was out there training with me, thinks it is from a kick I performed on him. Me and the instructor go at it kind of rough, and I had been working with him before he told me to switch up and work with my friend. Going from the change, the very first move I performed was a round house kick to his left leg’s inner thigh. Let’s just say that he immediately let me know that I was going a bit too rough. I wasn’t kicking full force or anything, I just didn’t simply pull much of the force behind my kick. I may not be the greatest at control, but I’m not so bad that I can’t pull a kick rather than go harsh. It just happened to be that my mind was already in the zone, because when I’m sparring with my instructor I take it a lot more seriously. I don’t get tense or anything, it’s just that I have to actually try otherwise he’ll pop me in the jaw, and I know it.
The point is, I wasn’t paying enough attention to myself. I should have realized who I was now going against and immediately adjusted, but I didn’t. Now, I’m not thoroughly convinced that I did hurt my ankle when I performed that kick because I didn’t feel it. However, I never felt my ankle get hurt at all till later on that day. It was quite wet and muddy outside, so it’s possible that I simply twisted it at some point when performing a kick or when pivoting. One attribute that I believe is a blessing but also a curse, that I have, is that I don’t usually ever feel pain when I get injured when sparring/fighting. Sure, I feel it completely later on, but at that moment I don’t notice it. It’s a blessing because I keep going without hesitation, yet it’s a curse because I could be seriously injured and possibly not notice till it’s too late.
The point is to pay attention to yourself as much as you pay attention to your opponent. A broken bone may stop a match(MMA, etc), but in a life or death situation it won’t mean anything other than that your opponent now has an advantage. Pay attention to how you execute your moves, where you land them, and what your condition is. Too many people often punch themselves out, so to speak(and literally), because they simply forget to breathe.
Tags: attention > execute > kick > move > punch > tt > yourself
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