Joint erosion?

[Ironberg]

Greetings.

I know it's been awhile, but I'm getting back into martial arts. One thing that seems to hurt my training is this strange phobia of joint erosion. Especially when I'm training in TKD, I sometimes go for speed by practicing my kicks in the air. Sometimes, however, the snapping of these kicks bothers me. There have been times in my history where I might have overdone it, and my knee/elbow (punch) joints have felt vulnerable to soreness or stiffness.

This is why I really have a strong initiative for striking a heavy target or bag. This stops the joint from stopping against nothing but air. I sometimes worry that rapidfire kicks in shadow boxing for speed's sake could cause joint damage in the future.

Your thoughts?

[JusticeZero]

Depends. If you're stopping the kicks before you run out of ROM it shouldn't be an issue - though I prefer a bag when I can for those. I don't snap linears in air.

[Ironberg]

Basically what I was saying. Except that being as tall as I am forces more stress/weight/leverage on my joints with these exercises and I guess it bothers me from time to time. Maybe I am paranoid.

[Aodhan]

Basically what I was saying. Except that being as tall as I am forces more stress/weight/leverage on my joints with these exercises and I guess it bothers me from time to time. Maybe I am paranoid.

Shouldn't be a problem at all. The only time you may ever cause any damage is when you completely extend and lock out a kick/punch in the air, and even then it will be more of a muscular thing than a joint thing.

Unless you dislocate or "jam" a joint, it's really hard to cause damage through normal physical activity such as exercise, stretching, etc. Unless you suffer from a malady where your joints don't produce enough fluid or you have something like arthritis, joints are designed for repetitive motion even under stress.

Aodhan

[Ironberg]

So I suppose the stiff feeling I've experience is more of a muscular thing. Does make sense, even in the light of overextension from time to time.

[Blackbeltblonde]

Hey, joint problems is something I'm very familiar with.. (at the ripe old age of 21) I have EDS which is a disorder that means there's a lack of colligen in my joints so they don't ever stay put. What I would recommend is to practice slow to start, work your way up to be able to do it as fast as you can.. but, starting slow will mean that you are training your body (muscle memory) to stop exactly where they are supposed to.

~BBB