Did I take makiwara training too seriously?

[RW]

Why put yoga as a martial arts style in your sig

Easy:

http://brutalgamer.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/UndisputedStreetFighterSamplePage02.jpg

Huhu yoga flame!!

I misheard all of their movies when I was a kid.

Yoga fire = "blow my fire!"

hadoken = "a boo cat"

sonic boom = "alec, who?"

tiger uppercut = "hyper uppercut!"

[Spartacus Maximus]

The injury in the original post sounds like what typically happens when someone tries to do too much and too soon. Hopefully no lasting damage has been done because that is really easy to do. This is why makiwra training must be done slowly and gradually with correct form. In this case the only thing to do after checking the injury is to avoid any impact conditioning until fully and completely healed.

[sensei8]

The injury in the original post sounds like what typically happens when someone tries to do too much and too soon. Hopefully no lasting damage has been done because that is really easy to do. This is why makiwra training must be done slowly and gradually with correct form. In this case the only thing to do after checking the injury is to avoid any impact conditioning until fully and completely healed.

Solid post!!

[JazzKicker]

Unless you practice old school bareknuckle style, Western boxing is a bad example for hand conditioning. Most famously, Mike Tyson broke his wrist when he got into a bareknuckle scrap with someone.

Hand conditioning can indeed cause permanent debilatation long term if you overdo it. Most of us modern, soft people want to do other things with our hands besides punch hard objects, like tapping computer keyboards. A lot of those Okinawan masters (Funakoshi nonwithstanding) didn't live that long by our standards- 60's was old age, so they likely didn't deal with decades of arthritis, etc.

[MatsuShinshii]

Makiwara can be an invaluable tool to training but must be used properly. It is a process not an instant result tool.

Starting out you should be striking it only to the point of pain. I don't mean discomfort, I mean pain. As soon as you begin to experience pain you should stop. Over time you will find that you are able to strike it for longer periods of time and harder.

Its a tool that teaches you. It teaches you how to generate power and how to address a target correctly. This is sometimes misunderstood for hitting it as hard as physically possible from the start. Again it's a process. You will condition your body over time and you will be able to strike it for longer periods of time and progressively harder. If your striking it past the point of pain you are doing unnecessary damage to your body.

I know many that have sever arthritis (one that can't close his hand) due to this type of misguided training. It should be used but it needs to be used correctly.

"No pain, No gain" does not apply to Makiwara training. I realize some will disagree with me, but I've been using one faithfully every week for 41 years and I have hit it as hard as I want without any damage by following my Shinshii's guidance and as he taught me. Continuously striking it to induce more pain in the hopes that somehow this will gain faster results is folly thinking.

Take it slow and you will reap the benefits of Makiwara training.

[Spartacus Maximus]

It is easy to underestimate the potentially irreversible damage that can be done to one’s body by rushing training. This is especially true of anything that involves repetitive strain or impact to delicate structures such as the smaller joints, tendons and bones of the hands.

As for makiwara, many people make the mistake of believing that the physical changes such as calloused skin are the purpose. These changes are not the aim of impact training, but only “side-effects of the body adapting to the repetitive and frequent impact with something hard.

The true purpose of makiwara training is to learn, train and practise correct alignment and structure to strike hard(without the protection of gloves) without injuring oneself in the process. Learning and applying correct structure alignment for optimum force is a process that takes time. It must be thoroughly practised to do it consistently. Once achieved power can be gradually added and increased.

[mirkoinbrazil]

I tore up my elbow trying to lift a 24 pack of pepsi out of a shopping cart recently, that was march, and its just now starting to feel ok. One thing i noticed was that it hurt until i started taking a shot of pro T gold protein, as well as a few protein bars. I guess all the junk food i eat don't have enough protein to heal my body, even though I take vitamins. Aleve works pretty well on joint pain too. If you can, go see a roadside clinic and get a steroid shot, its hard to heal if it's inflamed.