Uechi-Tatoos

[Godzilla-San]

No, not the kind you get with a needle

I am into my third month of training now, and starting to get hit a little harder by some of my higher-ranked peers (maybe they figured I can take it)

So these wonderfull "Uechi-Tatoos" AKA....BRUISES on my arms, how soon until my body gets used to it, and they don't show up as often

Ok, fine, so I am kinda proud of them...I love telling the stories about them. But, just wondering if there will be any ill-affects later on??

[KarateGeorge]

My forearms were often bruised up when I first started training karate as well. I don't recall how long it took before I stopped getting them all the time, but it eventually happened. I suppose from a combination of learning to do my blocking techniques properly as well as my body getting accustomed to the impacts. Though after my black belt test, my forearms were again covered in bruises, out of sheer punishment.

Never had any long-term effects from them personally, but who knows, I'm not a medical expert.

[bushido_man96]

Some people just bruise easier than others do. Bruising won't be a big issue, and after a time, although you may still bruise, you may not notice it as much, and your pain tolerance will begin to rise.

[Wastelander]

If the bruises spread beyond the areas of impact or last longer than a couple of days without starting to fade then you should see a doctor. Other than that you're fine and over time your body will become more accustomed to the body conditioning you are receiving. I can't remember exactly how long it took for my arms and legs to stop bruising when I first started training, but I know that by the time I tested for brown belt in Shuri-Ryu I was thrilled to actually get a bruise or two because even though the intensity of my training increased my body was just becoming more durable. A 2 year break in karate that was filled with Judo made me more accustomed to hitting the ground instead, and now that I'm back in karate I get bruises again, so I'm working on it, too

[Sokusen]

There really is no telling when the bruises stop. It all depends on how much you condition, how much contact there is in your training and how your body reacts to it all. One big word of caution is don't try to play catch up with advanced belts when it comes to conditioning. All you’re going to do is hurt yourself. Slow and steady eventually the bruising will diminish. Though to be honest the bruising never really goes away. It all depends how hard you hit each other. I'll do conditioning with some students they bruise I don't. Though on the other hand I was holding a pad on my upper outside thigh for someone to practice leg kicks and the next day I had a bruise the size of a desert plate on my inner thigh.

[Shizentai]

Personally, my bruises never stopped or even diminished at all. ...Of course, I have a blood disorder so I guess that's a little different. That and some senpai of mine like to take a striking block to my punches if my technique gets sloppy from time to time.

My advise: Explain the bruises to your co-workers and friends right away. It sounds random I know, but it's a lot less awkward than having someone call a social worker to talk to you about violence in the home =_=

[KumitePanda]

its about technique for some of it. most of the bruises i get are because i may not be concentrating or have had a seizure during training and have had to do milisecond blocks, you get use to it and your body toughens to it, all it is is a tiny burst blood vessel nothing major

[Taiikuka]

Personally, my bruises never stopped or even diminished at all. ...Of course, I have a blood disorder so I guess that's a little different. That and some senpai of mine like to take a striking block to my punches if my technique gets sloppy from time to time.

My advise: Explain the bruises to your co-workers and friends right away. It sounds random I know, but it's a lot less awkward than having someone call a social worker to talk to you about violence in the home =_=

I would be careful about how you go about doing that as well. Some people may take your offering of the bruises info as a way of covering for someone. Just let everyone know that you take Karate as the convo goes on talk about how you say TV shows and never thought it would be this physically demanding. They should be able to put one and one together on their own.

[todome]

It's not the higher ranks I get bruised from. It's the middle kyus that get into smashing limbs together. It's quite annoying. Not so much that they're bruising me up, they clear up faster after a while btw, but I have to slow down. Good timing practice, I suppose but it's hard to concentrate when your partner is going whole hog and you're going 3/4 speed so you don't bowl them over.

It's not so bad when they're attacking because I have control of the contact but when they're blocking if I don't slow down enough I'm finished before their block makes contact. I wouldn't have to slow down so much if they were putting all that effort into their tanden where it belongs and save the smashing for bubble wrap.

It has a lot to do with technique. First of all keep in mind they're not blocks in the sense that they are counter strikes, although they can be as in the kiai age uke in heian shodan. In fact in Japanese they're not even called blocks. The word translates closer to something like "redirect". I tell the kyu grades its a game of catch, not smash. Another thing that helps is to remember that blocking is all about timing. You want to achieve kime at the very point the attacker's arm or leg is at it's most vulnerable, ie. while it's still moving. The fact their attack has to travel further than your block buys you enough time to pull it off.

Try to play dueling kime with a senior belt and you will:

1) lose every time

2) absorb the lion's share of the forces involved yourself because they are better at it (ie, you'll bruise worse than they do)

3) annoy the crap out of them and make them speed up. At least that's what I do when I've had enough. They don't usually get the point but at least they're too busy leaning backwards to get a good one off (or, more likely, a bad one with too much shoulder to it).

[bushido_man96]

Is it "redirect," or "receive?" I thought it might have been receive.