Kung fu martial arts injury prevention:
what you can do to prevent injuries occuring at training

In Kung fu or in any type of martial arts training, martial arts injuries can decrease your enjoyment of the sport.

Similarly, in any sporting field, injury is also a common occurrence. For example, during the winter months we continually hear stories in the media about the latest footballer to succumb to a soft tissue injury.

Even with the recently completed Australian Tennis Open, there were stories covering Lleyton Hewitt’s hip injury leading up to the final. Injury, whether we like it or not, goes hand in hand with sport and as many of you would attest, martial artists are not immune to it. No one is Superman.

Here, when we talk about injuries, we are placing both soft tissue (muscles and tendons) and hard tissue (bones and joints) injuries under the same definition.

There are many factors that contribute to the occurrence of an injury in kung fu or martial arts and they can be physical, environmental and even psychological. But through careful management and good habits, many injuries can be avoided and treated.

In kung fu or in any types of martial arts, even simple, well-executed movements, such as moving from horse stance to dragon stance, places many stresses and strains on the body. Even in this simple movement, we have involved many major joints and muscles and if these tissues are not properly cared for, then some form of injury is inevitable.

Let's now look at some strategies that we can all use to help prevent these injuries.

There are two equally important approaches to injury prevention. One is orientated at your respective kung fu training centre (Kwoon) and the other is at home.

Martial arts lessons in the training centre, the Kwoon or Dojo

The warm up and cool down are extremely important components of the kung fu class at Golden Lion.

The warm up gives the body the opportunity to increase blood and oxygen flow to the working muscles and increase in temperature. Another purpose, which is often overlooked, is to provide an opportunity for the student to focus the mind on what they are about to do.

Kung fu is not only an exercise for the body but also for the mind and too often we have seen injuries occur because students aren’t in the moment and concentrating on what they are doing.

The cool down is just as important as the warm up. It includes a series of stretching and breathing exercises and gives the body an opportunity to safely return back to its ‘normal’ resting state. It’s also an opportunity for the mind to slow down and consolidate any new movements learnt.

Kung fu stretching exercises are important for both the warm up and cool down. Besides lengthening the muscles during the warm up, it also helps reduce muscle tension (which is key pre-cursor to muscle injury), promote circulation and help develop body awareness.

The stretching exercises should be performed after the muscles have been warmed otherwise the exercises will be less effective and in fact may cause a strain or a tear in the muscles. During the cool down, stretching helps to maintain the length of the working muscles and also helps promote circulation to flush away any toxins (such as lactic acid) from the body.

At Golden Lion kung fu, there are already exercises in place to help prevent injuries. However, that doesn’t mean that there’s nothing that can be done outside of class times to help prevent injuries. We have also found that acupuncture treatment (opens in a new window) is very helpful in fixing injuries to get you back to training quickly.

Martial arts home study or when outside of class

Many principles and exercises learnt in class can also be followed at home. For example, by following a daily stretching routine, the muscles will naturally lengthen over time and become much more supple. As the muscles lengthen, the physiological properties of the muscles change and the amount of force required to bring the muscle to failure will be greater, meaning that that particular muscle is less susceptible to injury.

As a guide, a good daily stretching routine for one exercise is:

- Hold the stretch for between 15-30 sec
- Perform this 3-5 times (one set)
- Perform 5-6 sets per day

5-6 sets per day may sound difficult but if you spread over a period of a day, it isn’t too bad. For example, you can perform the same hamstring stretch when you get up (set # 1), after breakfast and before you head off to work/school (2), in the afternoon (3), when you get home (4), after dinner (5) and before you go to bed (set # 6).

Naturally, if you cannot possibly fit in all the stretches, that’s ok, as long as over a period of time all the major muscles get a good stretch outside of class times. Do the best you can. Remember, it is better than doing nothing at all.

The joints in the body, especially the knees, hips and ankles take a real pounding in class. After a 60-minute work out, the joints will swell (not necessarily noticeable) and get inflamed. If not treated quickly, it will lead to joint stiffness and decreases in joint movement.

To help prevent this, both kung fu and martial arts students should apply an ice pack to their joints as soon as they get home for approximately 10 minutes. This will help reduce any swelling and reduce any joint stiffness experienced the following morning.

One of the best exercises to do for a cool down, if you have access to the resources, is to simply walk around in a cold pool, or in the sea. This allows you to continue to promote circulation in the body and also help reduce swelling and joint stiffness at the same time. Recently, this has been popularised by football clubs and has shown to be very effective.

On the other hand, the worse thing you can subject your body to straight after a workout is to sit in a hot bath/tub/spa. Sure, it may feel great at the time but you will feel the effects in the medium to long term (especially the next morning). If the body hasn’t been properly flushed of toxins, the effects is much more noticeable.

By staying in the hot tub, you cause the blood vessels to dilate and the blood to pool in the muscles. This causes the toxins in the body to also pool in the muscles and results in major soreness and stiffness experienced in the muscles the next morning.

By following the above the strategies you will help prevent injuries. However, by no means is it guaranteed that you will never be injured. It is simply impossible.

Even the most successful athletes in the world, with the best laid out plans, have been stricken by injuries (think Shane Crawford and his broken forearm in the 2004 AFL season).

There are many factors which are not discussed here which can contribute to them. Ultimately, the only thing we can do as kung fu martial artists, and athletes, is to prepare and protect ourselves the best we can.

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