3rd contusion is a few months

[Snowbat]

Hey guys and girls. So in a few months time, I got 3 contusions. One to the left on one of the ribs, a few weeks later, my pec got it and now a rib on the right side... each time it happened after getting a blow during MA class and it happens just as the previous one started to get better.

Needless to say this is frustrating. I get the occasional bruise on my arm which is usually gone in a few days and isn't very debilitating, but the ones on my rib/pec are much more annoying.

I only restarted doing MMA in August after having been out for 5 years and in November and December I've been out due to illness so can I assume that this is simply the fact that my body is still adapting to being able to take hits more without getting injured every time?

[Zaine]

That's a pretty safe assumption. You probably got all of that when you were first starting out, it's just not as prominent now that you have more control of your body and can know what is hurting a little more acutely.

[MasterPain]

If it's hurting for that long, you are being hit too hard. Ask your training partners to ease up on you until you have built yourself up to the level of contact you're at now. Pain is fun, but not if it doesn't go away.

[Snowbat]

Yeah I thought it was indeed just my body adapting. And I should just learn to deflect attacks better since you're not supposed to take hits in the ribs anyway.

It's just so frustrating... when my previous injury finally gets better, I get another one. I don't get any injuries anywhere else, except for a bruise or scratch here and there but those are nothing. It's always my ribs who get the worst ones and rib injuries take a long time to heal. Unless I stop breathing, laughing, talking, sneezing and coughing.

[MasterPain]

Yeah I thought it was indeed just my body adapting. And I should just learn to deflect attacks better since you're not supposed to take hits in the ribs anyway.

Nope, I call shenanigans. If you're sparring partners are any good and doing their job, they WILL hit you. The problem is that you are being hit too hard. The body will toughen by things that are a little sore in the morning. Anything lasting a week is an impediment and will not be of any help to you.

[evergrey]

Are you tensing your muscles over the areas that are getting hit? Like, if it's your sides, bend to the side a bit, tighten your lats.

[Dobbersky]

Aha!!!

You study Ueichi Ryu, An awesome Okinawan Ryu.

This has a lot of Kime on points of contact etc in strikes and blocks.

Try to be opposite on your techniques. if it a hard strike, deflect it with a soft "block" Yin and Yang, hard and soft, light and Dark etc.

Your body gets used to the strikes, you still get bruises but it get to the stage you only notice them and think "....oh where did I get that?"

[sperki]

I don't think you can adapt to prevent bruising. Well, I guess you can get faster, better, block, or get out of the way. Those are blood vessels that have broken, continued beatings don't lead to calluses in your vessels. I would think that contusions are a standard part of full-contact MA's.

[Snowbat]

Yeah I often get bruises on my arms or legs where I notice only afterwards and go "Ah look! a bruise. Where did that come from?"

But the ones I took in my ribs are much more annoying as they hurt longer and usually just hinder my training.

I don't mind the bruises on my arms or legs as these are my primary shields and even somewhat prove that I can take a beating and go away very quickly. These don't hinder my training at all. But the ribs... are frustrating. I think I need to learn to protect that area better.

I can take a tremendous amount of punishment in my arms without problems, but my rib area seems to be more frail. I should talk to my sensei about this perhaps.

[Ueshirokarate]

By the way, are you using at dit da jow? A quality mix is amazing. That said, I think you are getting hit too hard. The point is to train, not beat up each other.