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Hi everyone, please give this newbie some advice. I’m a 55 y.o. woman, 5’2″, 123 lbs., relatively strong and flexible (or so I thought). I just started Krav Maga 6 weeks ago and have already been injured twice.:(: I severely pulled a muscle in my left upper chest during my free intro class (women only-mixed levels), unsuccessfully trying to “buck off” the person sitting on top of me trying to “choke” me. That put me out of action for 3 weeks. I then decided to buy a package of 10 private training sessions to complete before getting back into group classes. I always push myself to the max and am absolutely wiped out after each lesson, but think I’m making good progress. Now, a few days after my latest lesson (lots of punching with the heels of my hands), I feel injured again. I can’t straighten my right arm; my elbow will not unbend. I’m definitely not a wimp when it comes to physical pain and expect to get my share of bruises and soreness while training. But I feel bad that I’ll probably be out of action again for a while. The feedback I’ve been getting from all the non-KM people in my life (that KM is “obviously not right for you,” “what else did you expect,” “you’re way too old for this,” etc.) is getting me down. :angry: I really love Krav Maga and want so much to continue to practice and improve. How can I avoid these beginners’ injuries? Thanks in advance for any suggestions you can give me!
Re: Beginners’ Injuries
Ufff. Feel ya. Just coming back from a couple of injuries myself, only one of which was in KM. But injured is injured! It’s the first time I’ve had to take a few weeks off to heal.
Anyway, back to you. Pushing yourself to the max? Sounds good! Might not be the smartest thing to do. Sometimes you just have to slooooow down and focus on what you’re doing, not throw yourself at it 100%. Back in the day when I raced bicycles there was a saying that in order to ride fast you had to know how to ride slow. I can tell from the way a guy sits on a bike at a light whether he’s a good cyclist. He’s not even moving. Ability shows in many ways, and getting good at something often means making it look easy. Usually that happens by building up. Don’t believe me? What did you do first? Sprint, run, walk, or crawl? And just because you learned sufficient balance and grew strong enough to run or sprint everywhere, you didn’t do it because it wasn’t necessary (or smart).
My advice – which as it happens I am taking myself as I enter this new year – is to slow down in classes and as far as possible pay attention to what I’m doing. Where is that back foot? Is my elbow really level in this hook? What prime targets did I just fail to spot by resorting to the same combatives I did the previous round? Now, in doing this I don’t expect to go home quite as sweaty or tired as I could, but that is the point. There are no guarantees but one likely side-effect (provided nobody kicks yer knees out by accident!) is that you should reduce the chances of injury.
As for that “KM not right for you” rubbish, put it out of your head!!!! KM is right for everyone!!! The less athletic and older we are the more we need it.
Re: Beginners’ Injuries
Get to the school at least a half hour early.Spent that time doing gentle stretches & get ‘warmed up’ before your lesson starts.
Re: Beginners’ Injuries
For the elbow, maybe get an ace wrap, or a compression sleeve? That would be my best recommendation. Sounds like you were too tense too much of the time. The compression sleeve will help alleviate your discomfort in the meantime, and you should drink plenty of water.
Re: Beginners’ Injuries
+1 on what others have said here, TK, esp. Thurston (and I can’t help but think of GILLIGAN’S ISLAND when I hear that name 🙂 )
During my 1st year in KM, I got a lot of injuries too! Hyperextended elbows, sore and bruised arms, legs, cranked thumbs (from not holding a tombstone pad correctly when my partner unleashed a front kick), etc. That’s not even counting the ‘combat’ injuries like getting kneed in the face, stomach, round kicked on the IT band, poked in the eye, etc.
I would say that as time has gone by, I’ve gotten injured less because 1) my body’s gotten used to the type of impact encountered in KM, 2) my techniques have improved, and 3) I’m more aware of what’s going on and take better precautions to avoid injury.
Hope you heal swiftly! It definitely gets better as you go.
Re: Beginners’ Injuries
I always make sure my fingers are out of the way holding any pads.
You want injuries just read about what Judo guys have to go through. No martial arts in even close to Judo. I would be terrified of Judo lol. Wrestling would be second.
During my time in Krav. I injured my arm for 3 months during those Judo throws. I have avoided any high level class that has throws since then.
OTher than that, just get a few cuts from people who dont clip their finger nails. They usually occur during that “circle of life” drill. Almost always from a women lolRe: Beginners’ Injuries
Tufk, you dont need to go to the max. You should only go at a moderate level. Go with training partners you feel comfortable with. They were a few guys that were very big and strong and will always act like spazes. I simply avoided being their partners.
Be aware of your body’s limitations and dont push beyond it. You will stay injury freeRe: Beginners’ Injuries
quote jjbklb:Get to the school at least a half hour early.Spent that time doing gentle stretches & get ‘warmed up’ before your lesson starts.Yeah, doing some stretches will minimize muscle strain. Always works with anything that is physically demanding..
Re: Beginners’ Injuries
quote SCH_Thurston:My advice – which as it happens I am taking myself as I enter this new year – is to slow down in classes and as far as possible pay attention to what I’m doing. Where is that back foot? Is my elbow really level in this hook? What prime targets did I just fail to spot by resorting to the same combatives I did the previous round? Now, in doing this I don’t expect to go home quite as sweaty or tired as I could, but that is the point. There are no guarantees but one likely side-effect (provided nobody kicks yer knees out by accident!) is that you should reduce the chances of injury.As for that “KM not right for you” rubbish, put it out of your head!!!! KM is right for everyone!!! The less athletic and older we are the more we need it.
Thurston nailed it with the bold above.
The only think I can think of to add is that injuries tell you something about areas of your body that are vulnerable to certain motions. Learn from that and change your training routine to minimize aggravating that body part.
In my own case, at 53 years old with a lot of hard miles on, my elbows aren’t what they used to be. They both grind a bit and have range of motion limitations; they don’t bend as far as most other people’s. That makes some defenses problematic, like plucking off a choke from behind. I can’t do that very well at all and if I try to drill it too many times, the technique doesn’t improve but my elbows hurt like hell. This is an area where I have had to devise an alternate way of plucking off the choke.
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