Martial Arts and permanent physical damage

[Reyv]

I'm about to start Aikido. I've found what seems to be a great dojo and sensei, and watched a 2 hour session today.

Here's the problem: I'm uncomfortable with all the focus that's being placed on taking the attacker's palms to their extremities. Isn't there a risk of that degenerating into a chronic condition like, oh I dunno', say Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?

This is quickly turning into a limiting belief for me, and I'm hoping I'm going to be able to free myself of it through knowledge.

To make this more generic, what is your track record of permanent and/or chronic injuries suffered as a result of martial arts? How long have you been practicing? Are there any practices in the martial arts which are known to cause irreparable long-term damage?

I'm really enthusiastic about Aikido, but I'm going to be plagued by fear if I don't straighten these things out first, and at least figure out the best prevention methods.

[Andrew Michaels]

I've been studying Ninjitsu for 6 years, which incorporates many aspects of Aikido. I know all about the wrist twists. I've never experienced any extended problems, and many of the people I train with have been at it for 15-20 years, and they seem to be doing fine, sans the occasional injury.

I think you'll probably be fine. Besides, most arthritis/ bone wear/ type issues have proven to be preventable/ reversible as long as you're following a diet that doesn't eat away at the calcium in your bones. No dairy, meat, and eggs, and you're fine.

[Matt]

I think you should be fine. Most repetitive injuries come from doing the same thing over and over and over for hours on end. You are probably more likely to get stress injuries from prolonged typing.

I used to take Taekwondo and we would do drills where we would bang forearms against each other in order to toughen them since we used our forearms for blocking. I never had problems with it.

My uncle is a weight trainer and has also trained in several different martial arts throughout his life (he is 55 now) and his only long-lasting injury is that he no longer has feeling in his fingertips; the nerves are shot from banging his fingertips against stuff. I'd imagine that could also be avoided with proper training.

[MartialDev]

Injuries related to knee-walking are common in Aikido. CTS/RSI is not.

[JohnnyJimJams]

I love martial arts threads.

Yes. There is a risk of injury. But the benefits way out weight the risks in my opinion.

Specifically the wrist area does get put under a lot of strain in Aikido and related arts, but I've yet to hear of a permanent wrist injury yet. You don't have to apply much pressure to the wrist to get your opponent to flip their whole body. This is a natural reflex so as not to have your wrist broken.

Go get em bud

[Alvin]

Yup, there're risks. But learn how to flow with the attack, and start slow. As long as your partner trains properly and isn't a jerk (your sensei should be able to spot), you'll be fine.

It's also important to learn proper body posture, my knee went cus of the improper ways of doing the horse stance when I was younger and less experienced (I hyper-extended the knee way too much). I also think it was caused by way too much snapping of the knee via roundhouse kicks.

The injuries were good in a way, since they forced me to learn moves that didn't require excess strength and needed to be done with good posture.

[Wanderer]

Ive recently started Akido, and have not been in any damaging situations yet
Ive also been doing jujitsu for 4+ years which is alot more violent, and potentially alot more dangerous just listen to the instructor and their is no reason you should get hurt, ensure you have a license though just in case (250,000 for the loss of a single eye) i sometimes wander lol