Bruised forearms

[CelticKM]

Hi,

I have some nasty bruised forearms from blocking punches last night at Krav so I was wondering from your experience do your forearms eventually get used to the beating and will they eventually not get as bruised?

If I thought this was true I would just stick it out and not buy forearms guards so it would be interesting to hear from people doing Krav Maga for years on this. I do have skinny boney arms if that makes any difference either way.

Cheers

[jjbklb]

No.I just lived with my amazing technicolor forearms.

[jacgue36]

I have found that I do not bruise as often and do seem to heal faster. My forearms seem to be able to take more punishment but on occasion "that" one spot gets hit and gets tender again.

[revobuzz]

No mine never have. I think they toughen up in that it doesn't hurt as much, or you just get used to the pain, but the bruising is always the same in my case.

[jjbklb]

Bruising is blood that escaped from busted blood vessels.How fragile the walls of the vessels are is genetic.I don't that conditioning will change that.

[CelticKM]

Interesting, thanks for the feedback

[catapult]

I don't get it. What's wrong with wearing forearm guards? Especially at the beginner level where you're just trying to learn something, not prove you're a macho badass who can take the pain. It's like training without a cup or a mouthpiece just to prove you can....

[CelticKM]

Nothing at all wrong with wearing forearm guards. I think that was the point of the question. If I thought that the pain and bruises will continue forever then I will invest in some forearm guards but if (as some people suggested) you can get hardened and possibly feel less pain over time then there is an argument for just building up some sort of conditioning.

So far it seems that the case for not conditioning the arms (if it is even possible) but to instead get the forearm guards may be the better option. Being Badass to use your phrase doesnt really come into the question.

[catapult]

My $.02, wearing pads is as much about protecting your training partner as protecting yourself. If you want to toughen up your forearms/shins/hands/feet, it's better to do it on a bag than on your partner. Like Imi said, "don't get hurt."

[catapult]

PS, my badass comment wasn't aimed at you, Celtic. It seems like most Krav schools require shin guards but few of them encourage forearm guards and many students complain about bruises. I never understood why.

[CelticKM]

No prob catapult and I completely agree with your point in regards shin guards. I rarely get bruised shins to be honest as most of my Krav Maga classes seem to focus on blocking punches\knifes as opposed to kicks so forearm guards would be my priority of the two.

Cheers

[Charlie1]

I think the instructors I've had don't want you to wear forearm guards when practicing the 360 defense because they want students to feel what it would it's like to defend against an actual knife attack in a real life situation. Wearing shin guards, mouth guards, and cups are necessary to prevent substantial injuries, whereas the likelihood of seriously hurting your forearms is probably fairly low. That said, we would only do 360 defenses every few weeks in level 1 and I only got bruised up bad a couple times. If it was happening every week, I might want to invest in some arm protection also.

[KMyoshi]

My forearms are use to the 360s now... except the occasional really hard boned training partners. My shins need to be hardened now since I've done kick blocks without shin guards and that hurts....