Listening to the Body: injuries and the arts Martial
I've been hearing some of my very good friends lately thinking of giving activities up they love due to persistent injuries. We are all not getting any younger, and essentially are on the wrong side of the hill called Forty years. Nonetheless, I say to you, PLEASE DONT QUIT. Instead, mindfully modify.
The above picture is a CT scan of my neck six years ago. God knows what it looks like now. I was told then that I had to give up martial arts. I even seriously considered it. BUT I DIDNT. I did sustain a seven week break, but quit I did not. And have no regrets.
Instead of quitting, may I suggest the following:
- Listen to your injuries. Let them be a teacher: of body awareness, of sensible pain tolerance, of resiliencies, ranges and limits of movement, of patience etc
- Then MODIFY your training based on the above. This will be a dynamic and adaptive process as your body cyclically repairs, ruptures and repairs again.
- I still struggle particularly with this, however allow injury to cultivate humility. We like to talk about ego and pride. In a way, quitting to me may be an egoistic and proud act: avoidance allows one to engage in self-talk that I 'could've done this or that IF ONLY I wasn't hurt etc". It takes more courage, more humility to keep training especially within the unforgiving arena of combat sports. It takes courage and maturity to not focus on winning or losing when sparring; staying active while being aware of one's own limits and modifying one's efforts to these, DESPITE the fact you are likely to 'lose' the exchanges. Because you are not actually losing. Instead, its vulnerability-revelation, and feedback in real-time to direct your attention to where one can improve.
- Find training partners and friends who understand your injury, and are selfless enough to modify their sparring to accommodate you. I have been very fortunate in this regard. Thank you all, you know who you are.
- Avoid those who dismiss your injury, and overtly or covertly force you to do what they think is right..ultimately for them. Avoid like the plague. And feel entirely guiltless about this.
- Injury as opportunity: allow it to introduce you to new worlds and hence new fields of learning: for me, it was a gateway to meditation, structured physiotherapies and Yoga. And a reintroduction to Muay Thai. I haven't looked back.
Finally, be grateful to injuries for all of the above learning and growth opportunities. For we all age, and this isn't an entirely negative thing!
As Victor Frankl once said: "Having been is still a form of being, even perhaps its most secure form….in addition to possibilities in the future, the older person has realities in the past: work done, love loved and suffering suffered."