humble tofu seller
I have been reading, lately, of many instances of 'tennis elbow' and other kinds of elbow pain associated with striking arts, notably VT. Fortunately, I don't suffer this type of cronic pain.I am interested, however, in the role SNT (with hei gong attention), coiling training and the mighty huen sau plays as a preventive and curitive measure for this and other little nasty joint problems common in Kung Fu. Any comments?
http://www.healthhabits.ca/2009/07/1...-tennis-elbow/
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The problem with elbow injuries in general are the results of "unintentional" improper instruction and training method. Been there and done it since the early 70's ... nobody tell or show me about "DON'T" lock out you elbow joints when punching, especially when putting lots of power behind it. It's like flicking a knife blade, the stopping of the blade create stress on the pivot point, the elbow has nothing to stop the travel except the joint itself.Originally Posted by Happy Tiger
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[QUOTE=wtxs;1189219]"DON'T" lock out you elbow joints when punching...QUOTE]
In my experience, injuries come from both bad technique and "overdoing" ...too many reps, straining to use too much force, basically getting "greedy" and trying to "force" your body rather than being patient and training with common sense.
On the other hand, in my lineage we do punch to full extention when "air punching", letting the elbow straighten out completely. Again, if you don't overdo it with excessive reps, or straining with excessive force, there really is no problem. If your elbows begin to get a bit sore, you can just switch to the wall bag which stops your punch for you and relieves any stress on the elbows.
Air punching should be light and "elastic" not heavy, anyway. You relax and let your force flow out through your fists. You can't do that if you are using muscles to stop short, like "driving with the brakes on".
Finally, to get back to the OP, SNT and huen sau may be healthful and help one recover from certain injuries, including problems with the wrist and elbow. I found the SNT, specifically YGKYM, has helped me greatly after suffering a back injury last March. Still, it's far better to avoid injury than to have to look for a cure!
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I do the full elbow extension on the punch too.
If you find your striking practice is messing up your joints, don't even THINK of taking up grappling.
AS for WC helping the injury, it depends on the injury. Huen sao could help some wrist injuries, but make others much worse.
Got an injury? See a health practitioner, not an MA instructor.
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When I was being taught the mechanics of the vertical punch, I was told that one never fully extends the striking arm. The reasons given were that if you were in a fight and threw a powerful punch and missed you could quite easily hyperextend the elbow. This is extremely painful and would leave you with one good arm to fight with. You might be in need for two good arms in order to survive. Another reason was that it tends to stall your personal reaction time in withdrawing the arm after striking. The impact of the fist does not call for a follow through. On impact the energy of the strike is instantly dispersed into the impact zone, and anything beyond that amounts to no more than a simple push, which then puts you to a point where you can not recoil as quickly. Also, the weakest arm is a fully extended arm. These things can matter at times.
About 30 years ago a young fellow tried to kick me square in the face, but I stepped back and he missed, and his leg folded at the knee and almost hit him in his own face. All the screaming and rolling around on the floor sort of got him all smeared with feces as he did actually crap his pants. I never touched him and he never touched me, yet it ended with I guess a broken knee.
So, when you see training injuries and stuff, It is time to re evaluate your training methods as well as your actual techniques being trained. Tennis elbow is a self inflicted injury.
Last edited by Lee Chiang Po; 09-26-2012 at 04:50 PM.
Jackie Lee
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Glad that you do not suffer yourself.
Tennis elbow can result from improper motion. A good review of the details of the motion specially the role of the elbow may give some insight. In the meantime best to go to a sports medicine pro
rather than listening to forum opinions if there is elbow tendonitis.
Preventive measures could include strengthening the ligaments and tissues around your forearm.
Light wrist curls with the foream flat on a bench - both up and down could help. Huen sao-s as well.
Punching air for development should not result in snapping the elbows up wards or downwards even when the arm is extended. In application against a person or a bag-the arm should not be extended imo.
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