twistkick kid

Now that I have a hip socket that actually functions the way it's supposed to as opposed to dislocating a couple times a week, here's what I want to accomplish for 2017: (in no particular order) 1) Test for Yonkyu (green-brown belt) in May and train like hell to test for Sankyu (3rd brown) in December 2017 or March 2018 2) relearn the basics, relearn how to fall and roll and do things like jumping kicks without all the weird modifications I had to make due to my hip 3) revisit learning Stature of the Crane, #5 Kata, #5 Pinan, and #3 Kata 4) Finish learning the spear form I started to learn and learn Two Man Bo Kata 5) Compete in one tournament in Traditional Kata and Weapons Kata 6) grow into my role as an assistant instructor 7) Take more opportunities to learn from the Masters in Irvine

I wear sport goggles with my distance prescription in them for sparring. When I was 12-20 years old I was able to wear contacts. Sadly, my work doesn't allow me to for safety reasons (biochemist who works with very strong acids and bases) so over the last five years I've been solely wearing glasses.

quick update. been through 5 sessions or so of PT. by the end of the hour I'm usually a bit sore, but I have yet to have pain afterward. one of the exercises I do is basically a front ball kick linked with a back kick linked with a side blade kick linked to a roundhouse kick. my PT just laughs when I tell her that. I'm down to using one or no crutches around the house and putting full weight through my hip and leg when I am needing to use two crutches. I need to ask about what kind of cane I should be using. Yesterday was the first time I really tried moving through any of my forms without crutches. so far I can do Pinan 1 (Shaolin Kempo); Pinan 2 (shaolin Kempo); Kata 1 with bad kicks (Shaolin Kempo); and Chon Ji through Do San (ITF Chang Hon forms). might come back and edit later.

ninjanurse- thanks for linking the interviews! good things for me to think about (I just had hip surgery, not a replacement, but a PAO) and I'm nodding my head along to everything these guys are saying. holy cow

thanks bushido-man96 Small change of plans for today- no tournament chaos for me cos my mom hasn't been feeling fantastic and I needed to be home to take care of her. Which is probably for the better anyway as I am **really** feeling the soreness and it's making me cranky. I will be spending the rest of today as a lump in bed liking and commenting on pictures my friends post from the tournament and thinking about some business related stuff for Monday and Tuesday at the dojo.

Update!! I come bearing updates! So, instead of having my surgery on September 8 like was originally scheduled, I ended up having to take care of my mom for a while due to her own health struggles. Surgery got pushed back till Halloween. Halloween came and went, and I was driving the nurses in the hospital crazy cos I wanted to get up and walk around on my crutches and I was refusing pain meds only a day and a half post op. (I did have good reason to be refusing the pain meds though- they were making me nauseated to the point where I was having to take massive doses of medication to counter the nausea) Once I was off the pain meds I felt way better and was able to do what the Physical/Physiotherapists call "Touch-Down Weight Bearing" with my operated leg and only using crutches to get around instead of crutches or a walker. I've been working from home for my "day job" and I am learning to step into a different role that is not "Instructor In Training" at my dojo. It's very strange. I'm learning how to answer the phone, write emails and follow up through them, keep the books, and basically all the things that go into owning and managing a dojo of one's own that aren't teaching classes and lesson plans. In the meantime, when I'm not working from home or at the dojo I'm trying to keep my brain entertained by playing lots of memory games, reading my old math books, coding, dissecting forms for bunkai, sketching, and doing a lot of things like incessantly drilling 8 point blocking, Iron Fortress blocking, 10 point blocking. I started PT on 1 December 2016 and it surprisingly doesn't feel sore yet. But, like I told one of my friends, the true test is how I really feel on Saturday 3 December. And I'm supposed to somehow be assisting at a Tournament an hour drive away that day. wheeee? more updates soon -twistkick kid

2nd degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do Green Belt (Gokyu) in Shaolin Kempo [possibly testing for green with brown stripe, yonkyu, soon]

my old place of training didn't start weapons till a student was Junior Black Belt or green belt. where I study currently allows you to train with weapons at purple belt (if you're under 14) and orange belt if you're 14 and up. most students I work with don't choose to study weapons for self-defence, rather, they learn the forms for tournament competitions

my first weapons to learn were the Eskrima stick and the Nunchaku. then came Bo and dabbling in the Oar. now I'm adding back onto my Bo basics and picking up the Spear and Broadsword out of all of those, my favourites are the Spear and Bo. for practical purposes, my go to is a pocketknife

here's a video of our demo team's 4th of July event. I'm the goober with the spear and wearing the solid red belt.

Thanks for the good info JR 137, Nidan Melbourne, and Sensei8. An update since I have had a very hectic few days since starting this post.... I had my consult with the ortho doc who will be reconstructing my socket. basically, he said that if I don't get this fixed now, I will be in miserable pain for the rest of my life- and it shows in the x-rays. So I will be having a periacetabular osteotomy and cartilage scope/repair done to correct the damage. My surgery date is September 8, 2016. This surgery will be a game changer for me, but it will heavily impact my life and training for 6 months after the initial date of surgery. I will be in the hospital for 4 days or so, not including day of surgery. Once I get home from there, I will be on limited movement and no work for two weeks. after those two weeks are up, I can go back to work, as long as there are sufficient precautions to prevent falls. at about 4 weeks from the day of hospital release, I will be able to drive again. by three months out, I will be working my way to full weight bearing and weaning off crutches. by 4 months out, I might be able to do basic stance work and forms again (no jumps, and super slow... no deep horse stances or awkward bow and arrow stances). then, in March 2016, it will (theoretically) be a full return to martial arts. I plan to work very closely with a PT- hopefully I can get back into Dr R (who happened to have a martial arts background and understood a lot about Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and its effects on joints) I am utterly terrified of being out of the arts for 6 months, but I'm sure I can find ways to still stay involved and not lose all the stuff I've learned... even if it's sitting on KF all day and reading post archives.

Ahh, here's a quick run down of those things. Dm's are set system wide and there are 108 of them. They're the equivalent of one-steps. Also called combinations. Kempos are defenses against a punch that are more free form than Kempos. The ones taught at my dojo may not be taught at the dojo down the street. A scissors kick is where you spring off the ground and execute simultaneous back kick and front kick (right foot front kick, left foot back kick) There's some good explanations of Kempo as an art and the different combinations at https://www.kempoinfo.com and tge katas are there if you are interested

Thanks for the input Nidan Melbourne. Ironically, my bursitis has been relatively well controlled since starting Shaolin Kempo, and most of the current round of aches and pains in my hip have been from the torn up cartilage and the partial dislocations. I've found a few modifiers for defensive maneuvers, like DMs 3, 4, 10, 11, 14, 15, 17, 19 and Kempos A, 1, 10, 15, 16. I unknowingly did an accepted modification to the scissors kick in #3 Kata and a work-around or two in #3 Pinan. some of them I picked up from watching other students with physical issues in the dojo, and others I discovered because I specifically asked Sensei and Hanshi Turner Hopefully I get more answers as to things I can and can't do from my ortho doc today. It's just frustrating as hell to sit and watch, or be the loner off in the back working on forms and DMs and Kempos in the air when everyone else is doing sparring or rolling around with grappling stuff.

Thanks all for the welcome back Yeah- all things mental and school and work wise have improved majorly. Now if I could just get my hip and physical health better, it would greatly enhance my training. JR 137- before my time, but the lyrics ring a bell, hehehehehe

Hello again KarateForums! I disappeared from the forums for a while to focus on school and putting my life together. Now I'm back! I studied Tae Kwon Do for 16 years, Aikido for a year and a half while in college, and am currently studying Shaolin Kempo. Hoping to find good discussion and tips on being a fantastic instructor.

I have an appointment with the surgeon who will be fixing my hip tomorrow at 1.30 pm. Unfortunately this office has been less than cooperative when it comes to communication and responding to messages, phone calls, and emails. So they will be getting an earful from me. I plan on discussing all my options with this doctor tomorrow, and explaining that martial arts is how I make a living. I have started to do more behind the scenes work rather than being on the floor teaching and training. I'm in the office placing calls, scheduling, doing the stuff to keep our dojo running. Sensei8- any answer you can give, even if it appears short is food for me to think about and grow from. I appreciate the input.

Greetings all, it's been a while since I've posted here, but I come to you all with questions and seeking some advice. Martial Arts Background first. I've been a martial artist in various styles since I was 7. I'm going to be 25 in November of this year. I trained very heavily from the time I was 7 until I was 18 in Tae Kwon Do. After I turned 18, I went away to college, and my training load lightened from 5 to 6 days a week in the dojang to 2 or 3 days a week practising on my own or with some classmates who also studied TKD. I got involved in Aikido at a local dojo for 3 semesters or so, then had to knuckle down on my studies because I was taking 300 and 400 level classes as a sophomore. After I finished college in June 2014, I took about 9 months off from formal training entirely because of various health issues (some of them requiring surgery to straighten out). In March 2015, I tried to go back to my old TKD dojang, but I felt alienated and like the programme had changed waaaaayyyy too much from what I liked, so I searched out other places to train. 2 months later, I found a USSD (Shaolin Kempo) dojo within a short walk from my house. Fast forward to today (15 months after starting with USSD) and I'm loving what I'm learning, just got my green belt, and am in their Instructor's Academy Programme. Health Background. I was always hypermobile in many of my joints as a kid. I could entertain myself by finding odd positions for my fingers or grossing out my friends/parents/teachers with bending my thumbs in to touch my inner forearms. I got the nickname Gumby because I could kick over my own head without stretching (and still can when my hip is not making me miserable). I was diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome hypermobility type in 2012, and again by a different set of physicians at the end of 2015. I've always had incredibly flexible legs (especially at the hips) and my right hip always made horrible popping noises, but I never thought anything of it. Unfortunately, I've had recurrent bursitis (at the greater trochanteric bursa) since 2012 and partial dislocations of the right hip starting in 2013. I had a minor training accident in December of 2015, and that led to discovering that I have a torn labrum in my right hip, snapping hip syndrome, and to top that all off, I was also diagnosed with congenital hip dysplasia by x-rays and CT scans two months ago. I will need surgery to construct a hip socket that will not dislocate. My questions are these: 1) how do you find motivation to train when you are in pain and it feels like the slightest wrong move will pop the joint out of place? 2) how do you cope with training partners who nag at you to do things the un-modified way when you have a modifier that makes doing a technique less painful? 3) how do you handle being teased or picked on for being young and in pain all the time? 4) how do you know when to ask if there's an acceptable modifier for a technique? 5) how do you know when is a good time to sit and watch class instead of participate? 6) I'm to start using crutches for mobility assistance when the pain gets really horrible- is there a way to still train while on crutches? Any and all assistance, ideas, coping mechanisms, thoughts, and commiserations are welcome -twistkick kid

leg and arm circuit knife defence 5.5 mile bike ride 1.2 mile walk to try to kick some of the soreness

Tae Kwon Do for 12 years and a month Kajukenbo for 6 months Did a few trial classes of Aikido and will start actual curriculum work for rank when I return to school in the fall. Considering Jujitsu and Krav Maga after I finish college. I just started at a new Martial Arts school for summer training- it's a blend of Tae Kwon Do, boxing, and self defence techniques with a bit of Krav Maga and weapons training thrown in there... it's very practical for me and I am loving it!

My right pinky has been dislocated... again. IT didn't hurt before I went to class last night. Now it's sticking off at an unnatural angle and will not pop back into its proper place unless I put it there myself! YOWCH The scary part- I don't know how it dislocated... unless I punched the wall in my sleep

all different boxing drills- blocking and striking from a standstill then moving. Instructor had me spar with my left hand in front, which was difficult because I'd rather fight southpaw... don't know why I fight southpaw as I am not left handed kicking- mostly front kicks and Thai kicking with some crescent kicks thrown in for fun. nearly kicked one of my partners in the head. he didn't realise that I had done TKD for 12 years and was still extremely flexible for a person who hadn't had formal training for nearly a year abs, leg, and back workout- no making me laugh out loud. I dare not forget the approximately 100 push ups... YOW!

When I am in the training hall, there is mutual respect, but never fear. In my twelve years of training, I have only ever felt fear when working with two people... neither of whom were instructors- they were peers of mine who had no concept of self-control. It was a fear for my safety, never a fear of the person I was working with.

I was practising in an empty room while away at school this past semester while I had a patch over my right eye (due to a serious issue with light sensitivity). Choong Moo requires a 360 double knife hand block, and I wasn't thinking that executing it would be an issue... I tried it and 360'd myself into the wall and smashed my left pinky. lack of spatial awareness is sucky

I have a few nicknames- they call me hopper (I train at 2 or 3 schools under the same name in the span of a week... I'll be at Family Karate in 4S Ranch, Solana Beach, Penasquitos, or Escondido any given day of the week), Gumby, freak of Nature (Jr.) (I'm really flexible), or "hey you" one of the black belts got the nickname of Chomper, another is Tobo or MonkeyMan, the black belt in charge of getting the red and black belts ready for testing has been called either Bald guy #2 or Captain Cohort. a few people call one of the female instructors at solana beach "Mom"

I got to the Dojang early last night and there was a class of junior black belts in progress. They were doing "flying squirrels"- a shoulder roll with a running/leaping start. The littlest kid does his flying squirrel and lands completely off the mats. He was fine during my class, we were sparring and one group crashed through the open door and continued sparring on the sidewalk