“Don’t do nothing completely just because you’re injured; Do everything you can to the best of your ability.“
Have you ever sustained any injuries during training?
Be careful of getting injuries, as injury can prevent you from training at 100%.
But martial arts and combat sports are full-contact sports, so even if you’re careful, injuries can still occur from time to time.
Today, I’d like to talk about the mindset you should have if you’re injured.
I’ve suffered various injuries over the years.
While it’s not good to be unable to train at full strength while injured, I’ve learned to think of it this way:
If you can’t use your upper body, such as your arms, because of an injury, it’s an opportunity to further strengthen your legs and core.
For example, focus more than usual on exercises like squats and running, or on strengthening your footwork, etc.
If you injure your lower body, such as your legs, it’s an opportunity to strengthen your upper body by weight training your arms.
If you injure your back or something and can’t do anything, think of it as God telling you to rest your body, so use that time to read a book to deepen your knowledge, watch a class, or visualise and review techniques you’ve learned in your head, or thoroughly practice breathing techniques or meditation that you haven’t done before.
If you change your way of thinking, there are plenty of opportunities to improve.
Don’t do nothing completely just because you’re injured; do everything you can to the best of your ability.
That way, when you heal, the part of your body you focused on training will be stronger than before.
This will help you develop the indomitable spirit to bounce back from injuries rather than succumbing to them.
If you think about it this way, you will be able to see your injury as an opportunity for growth rather than a bad thing.
Next, review your training methods from now on.
For example, be careful of movements that could cause injury or forceful movements. Improve your movements, etc.
Martial arts is a lifelong practice, so you should study ways of moving your body that you can move in for a long time.
On your martial arts journey, you will pass through many different stages over the course of long training.
In Japanese martial arts, this way of thinking is called transitioning from “Go 剛“ hard to “Ju 柔“ soft.
Develop flexible body movements to continue on your long martial arts journey.
