Kendo injuries

[David J]

I know quite a few kendoka who have missed practice due to kendo-related injuries (and obviously some that were down to other things). So, I'm just curious - how much of 2002 did you miss down to Kendo-related injuries?

<rei>

Dave

[Cary Y. Mizobe]

ZERO

I practice 3 to 5 times a week. Haven't missed a practice day in 2002.

With kiai :^{ )

Mizobe-sensei

[alexpollijr]

Me neither. Three times per week, no injuries whatsoever so far.

[kendokamax]

Missed 1 practice because of one Injury related to kendo (right shoulder). Then at the second practice tried jodan because it doesnt really need as much motion for the right shoulder. (jodan is sooo tiring!)

I have notice that after all tournaments my back hurts a lot for 1 or 2 weeks.. maybe should do more proper warmup before them ..hmmmm

[Jerry Wellbrock]

I started kendo and in 3 months had a Achillies tendon tear....down time.....ugly take down in karate and seperated shoulder AC Joint...down time....more recent was Bursitis and Tendonitis in the left knee....maybe over use in iaido....I think I am getting older.....it just moves from one spot to another...but all is going well to start the New Year.....so this year hard practice better conditioning and hopefully no down time....and my wishes for a healthy year to all of you out there....Jerry:old_man:

[JSchmidt]

Well, I've had injuries, but it usually meant I only practiced 1-2 times a week instead of the usual 3-4.
I had 2 months downtime in 2001 due to a backinjury, but that wasnt kendo related. (In fact, the moment I restarted kendo, rehab sped up markedly).
Despite the speed and force kendo is play...erhh practiced at, there's remarkebly few injuries..I had more from playing baseball!.

Jakob

[Steve]

Never missed any kendo classes due to KENDO related injury, but i missed about 6 weeks this summer due to some surgery involving my right leg and left shoulder.

[Haowen]

To all the injury veterans:

Can anyone recommend a kendo rehab program? I had just recovered from trigger finger tendonitis after a year(!), thought I was totally cured, and jumped right back into training. Blam! After just one very light training session the symptoms came right back! Laid me up for another two weeks. Now that the symptoms are gone again I'm ready to start thinking about easing back into kendo, more slowly this time.

Does anyone have any recommendations for a rehab program for easing slowly back into full training?

Thank you!!!

[JSchmidt]

Tape up your finger?. (As in tape it to one of the other fingers). Usually works well for recovering from finger injuries. Otherwise it sounds like you need non-kendo exercises..speak to your physio.

Jakob

[M.K. Kawai]

Been lucky so far...

No injuries took me out of Kendo in 2002.

MKK

[stinkyKote]

A guy at our dojo recently had a mishap where he tore a ligament and broke his fibula- he'll be out for a few months at least- another guy from our club got his big toenail kicked off during a shiai, that got infected or something and put him out for a few months as well- <shiver> ...

[KATSUJIN]

i missed 3 weeks of training...because i stretched the muscle under my left foot.....man it was painful....i couldnt do men cuts properly becos i couldnt jump....so i had to 'take' 3 weeks of rest.....

[saki_wooah]

Hmm... I haven't missed a practice because of injuries... I just try to stretch the maximum I can, even before practice. After too is important. aouch... my right wrist hurts... recieved too much kote yesterday!!! I hardly could write today... Hopefully I didn't had much writing to do.

[Steve]

Haowen, i also have/had what is commonly called "trigger finger" but i think its a bit different. Its called "tino-sinavitis", which is basically a swelling of the sheath that surrounds your tendons in your palm.

Depending on the structure of your hands, you may or may not get it. Many weight lifters, or people who use heavy equipment like chain-saws or jack-hammers get it. When i went to the doctor he had never heard of Kendo, let alone a Kendo induced case of sinavitis!

I described what Kendo was to him, and the various exercises we do and here is what he told me.

1) Try wearing "weightlifters" or "Biking" gloves (padded palms) while it is flaring up during class and under your kote.

2) Use a shinai with a WIDE, ROUND handle. I was using an oval carbon at the time. Much like the pencils and such made for those with arthritic fingers. You should be able to order those from any online retailer.

3) Carbon shinai do not absorb impact as well as Bamboo. Use a bamboo one.

4) Loosen your grip on the shiniai

5) Apply heat to the affected area as often as possible.

The doctor also said that if it doesn't go away and gets painful or interferes with your life, you can get an injection of a cortico-steroid (anti-inflamatory) into your tendon, but that's usually done only for sever cases.

Personally, i found using a large grip bamboo shinai made all the difference, along with heating and massaging. it took a number of months for it to go away. (well...99% gone anyway).

Have your sensei check your grip to make sure your not holding the shinai too tightly as well.

Other than the things listed above, you can't do anything but just deal with it.
On a side note, i didn't miss any classes due to this. I just couldn't open my hands after class for a few months without bathing them in hot water for 10 minutes or so. The things we do for kendo, right?

[odqstr2]

I was down for 12 weeks with “plantar fasciitis“ in my left foot. My own fault, I have a nasty habit of turning my foot out (to the left) instead of keeping it parallel to the right. When I push off using this bad kendo form it tears the fibrous tissue that supports the arch. Exceedingly painful to walk in shoes, excruciatingly impossible to walk in bare feet. I now do plenty of stretching before hand and keep a careful watch on how I place my feet. Hard leason to learn but it has improved my kendo (burnt hand teaches best, sometimes).

[Haowen]

Thanks Steve!!! Really appreciate your help!

It's nice to know that there is hope for my kendo yet! Yes, I have exactly the same injury, stenosing tenosynovitis I believe, where a nodule forms due to inflammation of the tendon sheath.

Right now I'm trying rehab with a pair of soft cotton work gloves. I'll upgrade to weightlifting gloves soon, thanks for your recommendation.

Thanks for the suggestion of getting a shinai with a larger handle. I've looked in a few places (e-bogu.com, bogubag.com, eguchi.net) and can't find any large handle shinai - maybe I'm not looking for the right thing? Could you give me a link to the large handle shinai that you get?

I've also thought about using some of that grip tape they put around tennis rackets and wrapping that around the tsukagawa to provide more cushioning. What do you think?

[stinkyKote]

Tozando.com sells large grip shinai- I don't know about putting grip tape around the tsuka? better ask your sensei first, thinking about it, I don't think any of my instructors would be very please to see me adding stuff to my shinai - even if it was just for practice-:confused:

[gill]

If you want to increase the width of the handle of your shinai, you can use 2 tsuka gawa. Cut the inside one back by a couple of centimetres, so you don't have the thick leather bit, then place on your shinai, then put the second tsuka gawa on top, and tie up as usual.

hope it helps

Gill

[Haowen]

That's a great suggestion, I'll try it out. Thanks Gill!

[dulcinea_wt]

Hello i'd like to inquire if anyone suffers from "shin splints" while practicing kendo. (v. common condition among runners, i gather)
I find that it happens if i regularly practice >2 times a week.

I am new to kendo, only doing it for a year; and i fully believe my seniors who tell me that improving my footwork would help. In the meantime though, i've tried using sports support bandage (wrapped around calf/ shin) in order to keep going; this approach has only had moderate success.

If anyone has been through such an experience i would love to hear your views.

[Ares2907]

Shinsplints or 'Periostitis' can be caused by a number of things, the most common cause is inflamation of the tibial sheath (periostium), which can be caused by overuse of the muscles surrounding the area (or general weakness of these muscles). It
can also happen if the ankle is hyper-pronated (ie rolls inward).

The pain you are suffering may also be attributable to tendonitis or even stress-fractures, so best consult a professional if you have not already done so.

I am no physician, but it sounds like the surrounding muscles are too weak to support the sort of activity you require from them. There are a number of things that you might like to do:

Firstly rest and recovery. If you don't give the area sufficient time to heal, then it's not going to. Consult a physiotherapist about deep-tissue massage (of course avoiding the periostium), anti-inflams and taping techniques.
On your own you can:
Apply ice when the pain is at it's initial acute stage,
Warm the area up and/or (preferably and) apply heat before commencing training. Tape the ankle properly (you may need to tape the ankle all day, not just during training to allow the area to properly rest).

In any case you will most likely want to add some sort of daily stretching routine for the area. Part of your dojo warm-up should include relevant stretches, but again that's something you can ask a professional therapist about.

You can also start an exercise regime targeted toward building strength in that area. Calf raises are a good start. If you go to the gym and they have standing/seated calf machines, use them if not, use a step or a couple of phone books (some sort of stable, raised platform), put the balls of your feet on the edge of the platform so that your heels do not touch the ground at the ankle's most relaxed point. With slow and controlled movements, extend your ankles until you are standing on your toes, hold for a moment then slowly lower yourself down again using the complete range of motion of your ankle. Do this with no additional weight until you can do 3x10 sets without your muscles hurting. If you can do this, great, add some resistance. Hold a dumbell or two. The important thing is to keep the movement slow and controlled to stop your body 'swinging' and adding momentum to assist the movement.

(I am not advocating that the above exercise is a cure for shinsplints, it is an example of how to correctly do calf-raises)

Check out:
http://www.sportsinjuryclinic.net/cybertherapist/front/lowerleg/shinsplints.htm

http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/fact/thr_report.cfm?Thread_ID=135&topcategory=Sports

http://www.ucls.uchicago.edu/Activities/sports/girls_track/articles/shin_splints.html

Most importantly, (just in case I hadn't said it enough already) see a professional sports therapist before deciding on any course of action.

[Haowen]

Dulcinea, I've also had a mild case of shin splints occur before in kendo. Everything that Ares2907 said is excellent advice.

Like he said, basically you need to rest (+whatever therapy you elect) until the pain is totally gone, then slowly condition your calf strength and stamina to the point where high intensity kendo training can be carried out without injury.

I would like to highlight the Rest and Recovery bit though. It sounds like you're trying to train through your injury through the use of supports. That is just one thing that should never be done. Supports cannot replace proper body function. Continued training can aggravate the injury whether or not the supports are there, and make a minor injury (1-2 weeks) into a chronic one (years-indefinite).

[nodachi]

If shin splints are being a pain to you, always ice after practice. Take a break and ice if you need to like Ares said.

A good stretch for shin splints to do before practice and after is to sit down, both legs out in front of you, sit up straight, take a towel, hold the ends with each hand and wrap it around the foot near your toes. Gently pull the towel back, thus pulling the upper part of your foot back. Don't over stretch to the point of pain.

It won't seem like it does too much or that it is not even stretching your shin, but it should help. I ran track and field and tons of us had shin splints from a crappy track. The trainer told us to do this stretch and it will help reduce the problem. It won't solve it, but it helps to improve the situation somewhat.

I hope this makes sense. It is always hard to explain things like this without visual aids. Ask any runner and they should have seen this stretch at least once in their lives. They can help clarify my not so good explanation.

[oniandre]

Originally posted by dulcinea_wt
Hello i'd like to inquire if anyone suffers from "shin splints" while practicing kendo. (v. common condition among runners, i gather)
I find that it happens if i regularly practice >2 times a week.

I am new to kendo, only doing it for a year; and i fully believe my seniors who tell me that improving my footwork would help. In the meantime though, i've tried using sports support bandage (wrapped around calf/ shin) in order to keep going; this approach has only had moderate success.

If anyone has been through such an experience i would love to hear your views.

Dulcinea, the first thing you must do is see a sports or musculoskeletal doctor that specialises in lower leg injuries. I have persisted with a shin/calf injury for 2 years before it was correctly diagnosed.I was told i had shin splints and treated it correctly to no avail.I visited my family doctor ,podiatrists, orthopaedic surgeons, myotherapists and so on.I took all their advice with little improvement. VISIT A MUSCULOSKELETAL DOCTOR.
Before you go there though, here are a few points to explore;
1. Shin/calf pain can basically be attributted to 3 conditions; stress fractures, shin splints (various forms) and chronic compartment syndrome ( various forms) . I suffer from chronic compartment syndrome.
2. Stress fractures are generally an impact injury , ie running. Shin splints are a muscle attachment problem ( muscle tearing off the bone ) and comparment syndrome is an intramuscular pressure problem where the pressure inside the muscle increases to a point when the muscle fails.There are chronic or overuse causes or acute causes such as a "cork" or deep bruising/bleeding into the muscle.
3. Draw a graph with the Y axis with a scale of 1 to 10 for the pain intensity and X axis fot time.Plot the graph from the moment you start to exercise or train with the resting/pre training pain and note what it does through training and after.This will help diagnose your condition.
Each condition will have differing treatments that can worsen your pain if you are doing the wrong thing.Get it diagnosed correctly and then begin treatment.The one coarse of action that I will give you now is to warm the area up ,stretch it before training and then cool it down, stretch it and then ice it.
Something else to think about while you lay on a physiotherapists table ( as I have) is correct posture and alignment of your toes, feet, knees and hips- keep them straight and parallel so your body moves in the most biomechanically correct way.
If you need or want more info check my details and email me, but I am irregular on the computer.

[dulcinea_wt]

Thanks v much for all the advice n suggestions.

From what i can gather, its warm up before, ice/ cool down after: and seek professional help.

I am currently not fully active in kendo but will begin again in feb/ mar when uni starts. We'll see how it goes.

Thanks again for the overwhelming responses!
(^_^)

[Paburo]

Originally posted by Steve
Haowen, i also have/had what is commonly called "trigger finger" but i think its a bit different. Its called "tino-sinavitis", which is basically a swelling of the sheath that surrounds your tendons in your palm.


i have that too. you can feel some little lumps on your palm, invisible to the eye. mine is below the middle and ring finger. it hurts like hell, but you can still move your hand.
i haven't missed any training because of this, but i did add another tsukagawa to my shinai to make the grip more comfy.
now my shinai is heavier, but since the gravity center was lowered, i dont have to grab it as tight. and i gained more speed too. now it makes a woosh sound with every suburi :D

woosh.

[Haowen]

Hi Paburo,

Is it easy to fit the second tsukagawa over the first one? The first one is quite a snug fit as it is (much swearing and cursing before it can be pulled all the way over the shinai). Any tricks or tips?

Thanks!

[nodachi]

I just came home today with a severely mashed thumb. I know my grip is wrong but am having trouble correcting it because no matter how I adjusted how I held the shinai with my right hand, my thumb kept getting mashed. It frickin' hurts, typing is really hard right now. :)

How exactly do I hold the shinai with my right hand? Today I discovered that whatever I am doing was wrong and no matter how I tried to correct it, it kept getting mashed. Especially when we both went up and tried to hit men on each other at the same time.

I know speed up is an answer so my hands don't get hit, but how else can I correct this until I get faster?

[Paburo]

haowen>>

it does take some work to fit one tsukagawa over the other. specially if its new. but its possible, since leather stretches.

tips? umm... if possible use an OLD tsukagawa of yours, so it will be easier cause it would be more stretched than a new one.

i didnt modify the tsukagawa in any way, so now the tsuba is half an inch lower. more speed :D

nodachi>>

this is the right way to hold the shinai.

http://kenwakai.org/grip-1.jpg

if you do this and still get hurt i think it means you are too slow. try speeding up or doing 'small' waza. (i suggest you ask a qualified sensei near you to check on your grip or something)


i got a mashed thumb today too. i need to improve nuki men waza and reflexes.

[JSchmidt]

"I just came home today with a severely mashed thumb."

When do you get hit on it?
When they go for kote/kote-men?..or when you are trying to cut at the same time?
If it's at the same time, you might be sticking your thumb out when cutting...and once hit gets hit once, only a slight touch will make it hurt even more (Been there, done that).
I guess it's something we all go through :)

Jakob

[nodachi]

Ya, I am getting mashed when we go for simultaneous men strikes. Maybe my hand is twisting. I will work on that this week. My thumb is still hurting today too. And yes, I am slow, stupid beginners curse. Don't have the option of doing smaller waza as my sensei want me to focus on big form right now. Ouch, grumble grumble, ouch, grumble grumble...

:)

Thanks everyone

[JSchmidt]

Tape up your thumb in roughly the right position. (It takes some experiementing to get it right). This will both remind you when you try to move your thumb where it shouldnt be and reduce the pain from getting hit on it. (Worked for me anyway)

Jakob

[hwarangdo]

i haven't missed any time due to injury however...

i got hit 3 times in the butt during my last kumdo sparring session. gentlemen tried to disembowel me left-to-right but missed completely, hitting my backside full swing.

it hurt so bad i limped the rest of the session. it was all i could do from trying to decapitate him. nice guy he is, but should practice his hurees more, as we all should.

learning patience, compassion through pain. that's why i love the sport of swords.