Sewing Patterns 

 

Pain Relief

Myofascial Pain
Amazingly common,
rarely recognized

Head and Neck Pain
Muscular origins of sinus and migraine

Muscle-Related Diagnoses
Not all in your head!

Every martial artist who hurts (and their friends and families) should know about myofascial pain -- how to identify it, test it, fix it. Muscles and fascia (connective tissues) are the most common causes of many other common aches and pains. Learn the pain patterns  referred by muscle and fascia, the specific muscles that cause restriction and potential injury. Identify the muscles involved with our Range-of-Motion Testing charts .

Students of martial arts and yoga will find many of these tests to be strikingly similar to flexibility exercises done in class. For the exercises you can't do, these charts will tell you (or your doctor or therapist) why you can't do them -- and how to fix the problem. They identify the muscles most likely to restrict a specific motion whether it's high kicks or simply combing your hair.

The simple Mouth Wraparound Test evaluates 11 different shoulder girdle muscles to reveal the source of mysterious shoulder and upper back pain.

The Rectus Femoris Test below can actually save you from submission holds in BJJ, judo or wrestling. Treating the problems this test reveals can actually help you win. If you can't pass the ROM test shown below (at left), may be forced to tap out quickly in the hold shown at right. You may also  have persistent knee-cap pain at home and the office, especially while walking downstairs. (You might have crackly knees, chondromalacia, or be diagnosed with Osgood-Schlatter disease as well). 

Myofascial pain patterns are remarkably consistent, but can also be confusingly similar. ROM tests distinguish overlapping pain patterns, allowing you to differentiate between problems caused by different muscles. They can also  locate problem areas where pain symptoms have not appeared yet.

Students often want to skip warm-ups to get to the "good stuff." These tests demonstrate the importance of limbering and stretching while helping instructors keep their students safe on the mat. 

Stop trouble before it starts! Learn how to help yourself, how to help others, and how to stay and play on the mat for many years to come.

Health & Healing

Home Test Kits
Test for thyroid (TSH), iron, blood sugar (A1c), and more





 

--Dr. Mary Lee Esty

Head injury is common in sports (not just martial arts!) and in daily life. Automobile accidents alone account for massive numbers of traumatic brain injuries (TBI) from which many victims will never fully recover.

Damage to adult brains can mean loss of professional skills, income, and relationships. Damage to children's brains may be unnoticed until the child begins school, fails and falls behind with a learning disability or ADD. Whether child or adult, these injuries can tear families apart. Part of the problem is a poor understanding of what brain injury means, what it involves. 

Damage on the mat is often ignored with the notion that it is necessary to "work through" the pain or disability "to toughen up." Unfortunately, adding more brain damage doesn't toughen anyone up. It just makes the damage worse.

One of the most damaging medical superstitions around is this: If you didn't lose consciousness you're fine! Consciousness is managed by the brain stem. As demonstrated by the unfortunate  Phineas Gage, it is quite possible to suffer severe injury with severe loss of basic human skills, massive personality changes, devastating physical symptoms (including fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, depression, and metabolic slowing), without ever having lost consciousness.
 
Look here for information on what is involved in concussion and TBI, what to avoid and what to do after injury. For those still caught in the aftermath of dysfunction and disability, look into the healing power of Neurofeedback.   Find out why "nothing" on the MRI or X-ray does not mean that you are "fine" (or malingering). See what is needed for genuinely useful information on brain function or loss of it.

We publish the best-selling Aikido Exercises for Teaching and Training . Tips and tools for training at the dojo or on your own.

Learn to fall and roll safely with Bruce Bookman's Ukemi videos.
 
Our long-time favorite, Ki in Aikido, is under revision and returning soon. Meanwhile, consider some exciting new options for ki training. Heresy? Hardly.

Ki exercises are a traditional approach to what we now call biofeedback. They test for good body mechanics, relaxation and focus with the help of a partner who serves as a sensor. Identical exercises are now common in professional sports training. Civilians using traditional approaches and unaware of the cross-over, tend to look upon these concepts with doubt or disdain. Comments are often heard suggesting that claims attributed to ki training be monitored and measured with electronic tools, although over many years I never saw this done.

Not only are the tools now commonly available, but modern modern biofeedback training has been shown to be extremely useful in healing, headaches, relaxation, control of blood pressure and heart rate, ADD, learning skills, and performance enhancement. Sensors document physiological changes, explaining the many physical benefits long-attributed to yoga and ki training.

The popular computer game The Journey to Wild Divine is a biofeedback system. In order to play, you must learn to breathe and you must learn to relax. The Grapher displays the physiology behind the game. Watch your blood pressure or heart rate changing, under your control, in real time. See for yourself the effects of breathing and relaxation. Do ki or relaxation exercises while hooked to the Wild Divine sensors -- and watch what happens!

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