| Having your arm in a sling can be helpful if you are | | | | Take it slow and easy. When your muscles are |
| trying to solve the zen koan, "What is the sound of | | | | warm, they work a whole lot better. They are more |
| one hand clapping," it will not work so great when | | | | flexible and are much more efficient. |
| you are trying to practice your martial arts. Face it, a | | | | 2. Be Flexible |
| martial arts injury can really cramp your style. From | | | | Cold muscles hurt when you stress them. Kick too |
| my experience, I have found that there are basically | | | | high with cold hamstrings and you will find yourself on |
| three mistakes that you can make (aside from being | | | | the floor in pain. It is not cool. Do some simple |
| careless and walking in front of a car or falling off of | | | | stretches when you are warming up and increase |
| your roof) that will put your arm in a sling and your | | | | your flexibility. Don't bounce, keep your stretches |
| martial arts activities on ice. | | | | even and smooth. When you bounce while stretching |
| 1. You don't warm up before your workout. | | | | you can pull something and that could knock you out |
| 2. You are not flexible. | | | | of the game. That is the last thing that you want so |
| 3. You don't take the time to learn the correct | | | | it is better to take the little bit of extra time to |
| techniques. | | | | warm up, stretch out and become more flexible. |
| Now, I am not your mother or anything, but you | | | | 3. Learn the Correct Techniques. |
| really should try to avoid these mistakes so that you | | | | When you exercise, using the wrong form can cause |
| don't hurt yourself. Casts, slings, splints and ace | | | | injury and it can make the exercise less effective or |
| wraps are no fun, especially when you have stuff to | | | | not effective at all. Guess what? It is the same for |
| do. The best thing that you can do is steer clear of | | | | martial arts. If you don't know the correct techniques |
| them and you can do that by taking a little friendly | | | | or you are just plain lazy and don't use the correct |
| advice. | | | | techniques, you could be setting yourself up for |
| 1. Warm Up | | | | some heartache. Incorrect technique is a leading |
| Many sports injuries, including martial arts injuries, | | | | cause of martial art injury and if you aren't doing it |
| occur from failure to warm up. You should always | | | | right then that is where you are heading. |
| warm up your muscles before engaging in activities. | | | | Do yourself a favor to keep that arm out of a sling |
| Get your blood pumping and your muscles warm. You | | | | and your feet in the ring, warm up, stay flexible and |
| can combine your warm up with some stretches so | | | | learn the right techniques and form. If you don't, |
| that you can be more flexible too. A warm up should | | | | when I see you limping along, arm in sling, frown on |
| involve gentle movements, nothing wild or crazy | | | | your face I will walk up to you, put my hand on your |
| where you could pull something or hurt something. | | | | shoulder, smile and say, "I told you so! |