Overcoming adversity / dealing with limitations

[OneKickWonder]

I have arthritis in my feet. It means there are lots of things in martial arts and physical activity in general that I can not do as well as many people can.

In my martial arts training, I train as normal, I'm that I don't ask for or receive any special treatment. I just make best use of what I have, and adapt some techniques to work better for me if I'm physically unable to do them by the book.

I deal with it, and I don't dwell on it. But it does sometimes frustrate me. I know I'm not alone. In our club alone we have people with all sorts of limitations. Not through training I might add. But just through life's little challenges. I'm wondering what folks in here have broken and defective bits, and how you deal with it.

[LLLEARNER]

I have arthritis in my feet. It means there are lots of things in martial arts and physical activity in general that I can not do as well as many people can.

In my martial arts training, I train as normal, I'm that I don't ask for or receive any special treatment. I just make best use of what I have, and adapt some techniques to work better for me if I'm physically unable to do them by the book.

I deal with it, and I don't dwell on it. But it does sometimes frustrate me. I know I'm not alone. In our club alone we have people with all sorts of limitations. Not through training I might add. But just through life's little challenges. I'm wondering what folks in here have broken and defective bits, and how you deal with it.

My brain is defective. As a result, I have numb legs and feet. Shortly before I started training I had a very hard time with balance during the various movements due to the reduced sensations in my legs. I cannot feel vibrations with most of my feet.

How do I deal with it? I ignore it and train. Kata helped me adapt. I follow my doctor's advise. Mostly. I take my vitamins and other medication.

As far as outside of training the decreased sensation in my feet makes me have to pay a little attention when I am walking because I start to weave like I have been drinking.

Edited April 12, 2018 by LLLEARNER

[sensei8]

I've Afib (Atrial Fibrillation); diagnosed October 4, 2016. Had a Cardiac Inversion; shocked my heart back into regular sinus rhythm, January 2017. Six months later, the Afib returned. Cardiologist says I will have to live with Afib for the rest of my life because he doesn't want to do any procedures that don't guarantee that Afib will not return.

Afib is about a irregular heart beat, in which at rest, my heart beat 86bpm, and that scales up and down constantly. I have to be careful with any physical activity because the heart will race to 200bpm quite rapidly. So, I wear a heart rate monitor on my wrist to regulate, and when my heart starts racing, I do breathing exercises given to me by my Cardiologist to slow it down quickly.

Elliquis is my blood thinner medication to lower the risks of strokes!! Meteropol is my blood pressure medication!! These two combine to lower my stroke risks!!

On top of that...

I've two pinched nerves; one in my lower back, and one in my neck. Therefore, 24/7 both my right arm from my elbow to my fingertips are numb and tingly, and my right leg from my knee down to the tip of my toes are numb and tingly. Quite a lot of shooting sharp pain is felt in my foot/toes 24/7.

Can't have a Epidural Steroid Injection (ESI) procedure due to my Cardiologist because of my taking Elliquis, and with that procedure, I could bleed to death, and my Cardiologist doesn't want to take me off Elliquis at all!!

So, I endure, and leave it all in the hands of the Lord!!

The numbness and all greatly now affects my transitioning movements in our brand of Tuite and the like, which are the staples of Shindokan!!

[Spodo Komodo]

My main challenge at the moment is an erratic thyroid so I have piled on the pounds and some days I barely have the energy to lift a pencil. This has kept me out of the Dojo for nearly two years now and I am pretty fed up but I am hoping to return to training as soon as I can tie my belt without losing half my name in the knot. I just practice kata daily and keep hitting the bag for as long as I can stand. Some days that is half an hour or more, others two or three minutes before I am exhausted.

I also have weird hip sockets so I can send a front kick as high as I want but side and round kicks are limited to lower rib height unless I dislocate at least one leg. This makes kicks to the side painful if I am not careful but since I make up for lack of height with a decent amount of power it hasn't been too much of a problem.

That's the great thing about martial arts, they can be adapted to pretty much any limitation as long as you have some basic motor functions.

[singularity6]

Heh, I see I'm not the only one suffering from maladies!

My joints are all a little loose, but my shoulders especially so. They have a tendency to pop out (at least partly) whenever I overuse them. Mat work and some of our blocking/striking techniques take a toll on them.

While my hips are relatively stable (all the muscle keeps them in place,) I tend to strain my hip flexors (adductors and/or illiacus and/or sartorius) when I do jumping round kicks and round kicks.

I also am struggling because I didn't do too much physical activity outside of walking/hiking for most of my life, so I had almost no upper body strength. This has left me more vulnerable to injury. The running joke in my school is "what part of you is broken today." There have been substantial improvements in my physical shape, but I am pushing 40, and I suspect those gains will be more difficult to come by/maintain before too long.

[Shizentai]

I have arthritis in my feet. It means there are lots of things in martial arts and physical activity in general that I can not do as well as many people can.

In my martial arts training, I train as normal, I'm that I don't ask for or receive any special treatment. I just make best use of what I have, and adapt some techniques to work better for me if I'm physically unable to do them by the book.

I deal with it, and I don't dwell on it. But it does sometimes frustrate me. I know I'm not alone. In our club alone we have people with all sorts of limitations. Not through training I might add. But just through life's little challenges. I'm wondering what folks in here have broken and defective bits, and how you deal with it.

You are not alone.

I have polycystic kidney disease, which means that I will eventually need a kidney transplant, and I must avoid hard hits to the kidney area, lest I expedite that process. The same mutation that causes this condition causes the ligaments throughout my body to be more lax than they should be, which means that I dislocate joints easily. Just since December I've dislocated my left elbow, my left thumb (twice), and two toes on my right foot. Toes and feet are indeed rough. There's no way to rest them, so healing takes a lot longer. Probably the worst injury I've had was a broken T12 though (caused by my spine bending backwards further than it should have, and my chipping off the process). When I was a kid I always had braces on my feet and wrists, and would just sit on the side in PE class. I always had a bit of discomfort. I thought that was as good as it got. It wasn't till high school that I found my way to the dojo. Since then I've built up a lot of core strength and have helped take the strain off of my lax joints with about 20 extra pounds of lean muscle. It makes a world of difference in my quality of life.

Edited April 10, 2018 by Shizentai

[MatsuShinshii]

I have a bad knee and the other has arthritis. I've been told my right rotater cuff needs surgery at some point along with other ailments of getting old. Like you I just deal with it and keep going until something falls off. I guess at that point I'll pick it up and try to put it back on and continue to train until the good lord comes calling.

I figure you have two choices in life. Stop everything and stop enjoying your life or push on and enjoy what you can for as long as you can. I'm for the later.

What's the old saying? "what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger" or "7 times down, eight times up". Words to live by IMHO.

[JR 137]

I have arthritis in my feet. It means there are lots of things in martial arts and physical activity in general that I can not do as well as many people can.

In my martial arts training, I train as normal, I'm that I don't ask for or receive any special treatment. I just make best use of what I have, and adapt some techniques to work better for me if I'm physically unable to do them by the book.

I deal with it, and I don't dwell on it. But it does sometimes frustrate me. I know I'm not alone. In our club alone we have people with all sorts of limitations. Not through training I might add. But just through life's little challenges. I'm wondering what folks in here have broken and defective bits, and how you deal with it.

You are not alone.

I have polycystic kidney disease, which means that I will eventually need a kidney transplant, and I must avoid hard hits to the kidney area, lest I expedite that process. The same mutation that causes this condition causes the ligaments throughout my body to be more lax than they should be, which means that I dislocate joints easily. Just since December I've dislocated my left elbow, my left thumb (twice), and two toes on my right foot. Toes and feet are indeed rough. There's no way to rest them, so healing takes a lot longer. Probably the worst injury I've had was a broken T12 though (caused by my spine bending backwards further than it should have, and my chipping off the process). When I was a kid I always had braces on my feet and wrists, and would just sit on the side in PE class. I always had a bit of discomfort. I thought that was as good as it got. It wasn't till high school that I found my way to the dojo. Since then I've built up a lot of core strength and have helped take the strain off of my lax joints with about 20 extra pounds of lean muscle. It makes a world of difference in my quality of life.

Polycystic kidney disease runs in my family. My maternal grandmother had it, and 8 out of 9 of her children (including my mother) have it. 2 have passed away relatively young from complications due to it. I’m one of 4 children; 1 has it, 2 don’t have it but aren’t old enough yet to be 100% sure they won’t get it.* I don’t have it. A lot of my cousins on my mother’s side have it. I guess you can say I know too much about it without actually having it. I guess you could say I got lucky.

* I was told by a few specialists that if you don’t develop autosomal PKD (the genetic type) by age 28, you won’t develop the disease, as it hasn’t been seen to start after that age. Reading the PKD Foundation website, they say symptoms can start as late as 40. Kinda has me scratching my head here. Maybe they don’t see cysts start initially developing after 28, but there might not be symptoms until 40 at the latest? All I know is I was ultrasounded every year, with my last one being at 30. My doctor had to argue with my insurance company to cover it at 29 and 30; they reluctantly did due to my family history. I’ve never had any kidney problems though.

I’ve never heard of the joint laxity associated with the disease before. None of my family members with it have ever mentioned joint laxity. They’ve only relatively recently found the gene (I think around 10 years ago?), and there’s still a ton of stuff they don’t know and are finding out. It’s quite an odd disease.

[bushido_man96]

I have bad knees. They hurt constantly. As a result, I don't jump as much as I used to, and when I kick, I usually take a little off of them so the lockouts don't aggravate my knees quite so much. I also had a right shoulder impingement some years ago, and because of that I can't really do push-ups or bench presses, so I do different upper body lifts in the gym. Some days I squat, and some days I don't. One of these years, I'll have to get my knees cleaned out, but I think I'll wait until after I test for 5th dan to do that.

For now, when I train, I just listen to my body and do what I can, when I can. If the knees feel good, then I might kick with more power that day. If not, I make sure to take it a bit easier in basics so they don't hurt.

Also, steady, regular doses of vitamin NS doesn't hurt.

[Shizentai]

Polycystic kidney disease runs in my family. My maternal grandmother had it, and 8 out of 9 of her children (including my mother) have it. 2 have passed away relatively young from complications due to it. I’m one of 4 children; 1 has it, 2 don’t have it but aren’t old enough yet to be 100% sure they won’t get it.* I don’t have it. A lot of my cousins on my mother’s side have it. I guess you can say I know too much about it without actually having it. I guess you could say I got lucky.

* I was told by a few specialists that if you don’t develop autosomal PKD (the genetic type) by age 28, you won’t develop the disease, as it hasn’t been seen to start after that age. Reading the PKD Foundation website, they say symptoms can start as late as 40. Kinda has me scratching my head here. Maybe they don’t see cysts start initially developing after 28, but there might not be symptoms until 40 at the latest? All I know is I was ultrasounded every year, with my last one being at 30. My doctor had to argue with my insurance company to cover it at 29 and 30; they reluctantly did due to my family history. I’ve never had any kidney problems though.

I’ve never heard of the joint laxity associated with the disease before. None of my family members with it have ever mentioned joint laxity. They’ve only relatively recently found the gene (I think around 10 years ago?), and there’s still a ton of stuff they don’t know and are finding out. It’s quite an odd disease.

Wow! Small world! Yeah, I'm 4th generation Autosomal Dominant PKD myself. The only living members of my family with it are my dad and my two sisters. Dad got a transplant back in 2007 though, and is doing awesomely! Neither of my sisters nor I have faced the worst of it yet. My kidneys are probably in the best shape of the bunch, not sure why, perhaps because I have always had abnormally low blood pressure (at the doc last week it was 103/62, which is really good for someone with PKD, since it causes hypertension).

I think you are right on the money about seemingly conflicting age of diagnosis for AD PKD. Because a healthy person has more than 2x the necessary kidney tissue to function, you wouldn't expect that you'd detect a decrease in kidney function for a PKD patient until more than half of your kidneys had already been destroyed by the cysts. Those are some big cysts at that point. An ultrasound can pick them up long before that point, but most people don't get kidney ultrasounds for fun. It seems like a good idea that you got a diagnostic ultrasound. I'm 32, and when I was your age mine were already 2.5cm in diameter each and too numerous to count. Even so, I've been told that I'm on a slow track course of the disease, and if I play my cards right, I may not even require a transplant until my mid-70s. Given this, even if you have PKD, it sounds like you are unlikely to be on a time course fast enough to require a transplant, unless you expect to live to over 100. Still, I'm not a medical doctor. If you really want to put that nail in that coffin, you could always get genetic testing.

As for the hypermobility, not everyone gets it, in fact not even most people with PKD get it, but PKD patients have a higher probability than normal folks. The way my doctor described it, cystic disorders in general (not just PKD) tend to have high co-morbidity with connective tissue disorders because they often arise from an abnormality in the production of extracellular matrix. I consider myself lucky though. I'd rather have trick joints than IBS or brain aneurysms. My heart is...well, backwards (?) but so far as I know, that is unrelated.