Monday, July 31, 2006

Pain

Supergroup, let me honor you again by answering your questions which are on my first post.

I have thought about people stealing my school work. I know that I can’t write a blog like I would in a journal. It’s very similar; however, there are a few limits to blogging. For example, I can’t put the last names of anyone that I know except for Teruo Chinen because already he’s on the internet.

I acquired four bloody knuckles from punching the makiwara. Sensei was teaching the white belts how to punch it. We punched it for a long time. He even left us to teach the brown belts a kata. I would have switched to another technique so I can save my knuckles. However, I didn’t because Sensei didn’t say any thing about it and I didn’t want to get into trouble. However, I did sneak in forearm strikes at the end. When Sensei saw my knuckles and Theora’s, he said that we could have used another technique. I was mad because I really would have worked on all the things that I have learned on the Makiwara, instead of punching and hurting my knuckles. My knuckles weren’t as bad as Theora’s. Her knuckles were ripped open in both hands and got blood on the makiwara’s. So, after class Theora and I had to wipe the blood off. They took a couple weeks to heal.

At the last day during Gasshuku, I acquired blisters the knuckle of both pointer fingers from doing knuckle push-ups. I sort of want calluses on my knuckles, so knuckle push-ups won’t hurt. However, they don’t look very good on hands. I know that Sempai John has them on his knuckles. I don’t know if any of the women has them in my dojo. I have to see tomorrow. I don’t know how long it takes to develop calluses on knuckles.

Has anyone have done elbow push-ups? They are the most painful push-up and exercise I have done in my entire life. During Gasshuku, we had to do that one day. I didn’t do a push-up because it was hard enough to hold myself.

I found out that I broke my foot when I was sparring with Captain David. I don’t know how I broke it. I think that he blocked too hard when I kicked him. When I got home that night, I noticed that the top of my right foot was all swollen. I didn't hurt when I walked on it; however, it hurt when I pressed down on it. I thought it was nothing and had it wrapped for a couple days. Then, a week later, it turned all black and blue. My family thought that I either sprained or broke it. A month later I noticed that I had a big bump on the top of my foot. I was afraid that the bump was a broken bone sticking out. I went to the doctor and found out that I had a hair line fracture. The bump was a calcium deposit.

During Gasshuku, a toe on both feet decided to split on the second day. I knew that I had to prevent it from splitting even worse when training. So, I decided to put some medical tape on it so see it that helps. I noticed that medical tape doesn’t hold very well because twice it came off my toe on different days. On the third day, I used athletics tape over the medical tape and wrapped it with my middle toe so it can stay on better. The tape protected the big split; however, it didn’t prevent it from splitting even more. I noticed that it healed faster when I protected it with tape. My dad says the splits are from athlete’s foot. I haven’t used a lotion with vitamin E to moisturize them or Aloe Vera to help them heal.

1 comment:

Mir said...

Hi Lizzie..

Thank you for giving my concerns some serious thought.

Yes, there are some things to think about when you blog.. I'm always careful now when I share about other people in my weblog. I ask myself "Would I be willing to have these people read this? Would I be able to stand before them and say "yes.. I meant honestly feel that way about you." without embarrassment?"

I will actually go back to my past postings, and try to read them with an "outside" eye, and edit out any references to things that might be misunderstood, or perhaps embarrassing to others. You never know who is going to find your words, and then show them to your Sensei. In fact, sometimes your truthful words could innocently cause alot of sorrow, and pain in the dojo. That has happened to me in the past year.. it was only a couple of paragraphs in a forum where I had vented out some frustrations that I was having. I thought that the forum was a private one.. and that no one could read the words except myself and some friends. I was wrong. I've been extra careful ever since then with my blogging.

As for the bloody knuckles: Not good. You want to train hard.. yes. You want to push past tiredness, and use your mind over your body. BUT you have to use discernment as to how much you do to yourself.

Remember, if you love this art you will want to do it for as long as possible. It is my goal to train in karate all the way until the day that I pass onto eternity. Damaging myself will not help me in this goal. Work on proper technique so that you protect yourself from injury. Power isn't where it's at in karate. If all you needed was power then you might as well just go focus on lifting weights, and building stronger muscles. In my opinion, the strongest man has no hope against someone trained in technique. Once that strong man is unbalanced, and falling.. he'll just thump harder when he hits the ground. Karate is about technique. Proper technique doesn't hurt you, it flows from you.

I do knuckle push ups alot. As a woman, yes, I had concerns about developing large calluses on my knuckles. So far, all that I've noticed is that those two knuckles are a little larger, and more "wrinkled" than the other two. It's noticable to another martial artist that I condition my knuckles, but it's not unsightly. But you should refrain from bringing your knuckles to blood.. that's not needed, it will not speed up the conditioning, nor is it healthy for you. It's more of a Macho ego type thing of "look how hard I train". Consistency is the key. You have to condition your knuckles frequently ( even more than once a day for a few minutes) , do not try to do it all in an hour one day, and then leave it for a week.

I've learned that knuckle push ups will hurt. No matter how conditioned my knuckles have become, the knuckle push ups do still hurt some. Not as sharp.. but it still hurts some. I've become used to the discomfort... in fact, I can overlook it. It's like wearing a pair of shoes that you love, but are too tight. You can feel the uncomfortable pinching of your toes, but you don't mind because you like the shoes so much.

I do elbow push ups, and yes they are unbelievable! They are so surprisingly hard. They don't LOOK like they would be that hard, but they are! They rely totally on your abdomen, and back to support your body. As you keep training, and doing exercises you will find that these push ups will be less, and less strenuous.

You hurt the top of your foot? Which kind of kick were you using when you hurt it.. a roundhouse? Where were you aiming for the head? Do you remember these details?

Oh dear, split skin on toes too? Your feet are really having at you, aren't they? Take good care of them, without your feet, you would have a rather hard time walking around. Athlete's foot would be one cause.. or your feet could be too dry. You need to know which way to go with treatment. For athlete's foot, you need to keep your feet dry, and put on medicated cream. For dry skin you need to hydrate your feet, and put on Vitamin E.

I sure do hope that you get that foot issue all fixed up soon.