Saturday

Kicking, striking & being thrown

(i) Kicking

Many martial artists suffer from back injuries caused by kicking too high. Perhaps the individual has failed to warm-up and stretch properly? Or their form is poor and the body use unsound?Who can say? Yet injuries from kicking are common. As you get older, injuring your back is not a good idea. You lack the suppleness of a 20 year old. Injure your back when you are 40 and you may be paying for it for the rest of your life.

(ii) Joints

Striking thin air or hard pads can cause joint injury. It is a question of physics. Using power but not hitting anything with it means that external tension will keep much of the force trapped in your own body. This can jar the joints quite severely. Hitting pads, bags and people - and then pushing upon impact - causes adverse feedback that has a deleterious effect. Look at Newton's third law of motion? Most external arts strike this way.

(iii) Being thrown

A number of martial arts neutralise their opponents by throwing them to the ground. This is a tried and tested highly-effective way of deterring an attacker. It can be surprising, and it is usually painful. It is also very hard on the body. The older you get, the longer it takes you to get up off the floor.

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