MartialArtsNomad.com

Its good to be back. I have been on a bit of a hiatus due to a wrist injury I sustained from of all things, Badminton. Don’t laugh, Badminton is a deadly black art. Those guys move so fast, like Bruce Lee or something.
After having arrived a little late at the community center courts, there was not much in the way of selection of rackets left. So I grabbed a racket that didnt have any tape on the handle. Not a problem. Im a tough guy, right? But a racket without a proper taped handle is thinner and slipperier and as a result there is an exaggerated grabbing action with the hand with each swing of the racket.

Thinking that sharp pain and swelling afterwards was manageable, I did not ice it; I wrapped it for a couple days and went back to martial arts and badminton, swinging rackets, doing pushups, slamming bags, using a mouse, lifting heavy things, and so on – with a taped up wrist. But it kept getting worse.

I finally had to put a stop to martial arts the night of the test for my orange belt. I took some photos instead and watched it all go down. By then I was using a wrist wrap supported with tongue depressors. Tongue depressors are a good temporary tool for immobilizing a wrist, since they cost only about 2 dollars for a box of a hundred. A trip to a wrist specialist put me in a lovely wrist brace custom made to my shape. There I languished for weeks with a prescription anti-inflamitory and rest. No driving, no motorcycle, no martial arts, no lifting a full pot of water, and absolutely under no circumstances would I ever be caught dead playing badminton ever again. Nasty, that is what that sport is.

What caused this terrible thing? Using a bad racket, and not paying attention to my body. Martial arts surely aggravated the injury, but by then, the damage had been done. Martial arts causes some sore muscles, things like that, but unless you are into free sparring where you are going to get hit and kicked, injuries arent going to occur so much, as you are using your whole body in your practice.

Well it finally started to improve, and work. Im strong enough and back at it again.

What did I learn?

• Injuries cost more than a good fitness program. Factor in pain relief, therapeutic splints, specialist fees, materials, and it adds up really quickly in real dollars. So that means deal with the injury so you can get back to your program again in due time.
• Pay attention to injuries up front, the injury is considerably less damaging if it is given proper attention up front. That means ice, downtime, elevation, anti-inflamation medication, and a wrist wrap.
• Dont use crappy equipment. You might not be a superstar, but just use good gear, not crap that is inadequate or broken.
• Seek proper medical attention if needed.
• Dont keep aggravating the damn thing if it hurts. Again, you will hurt less if you pay attention to your body.