Another Big Bruise!!!

[Faye]

I don't know what is wrong with me, this time, we were doing light contact sparring, hence no gears. I dont' think it'll make a difference with gear or not, unless my partner uses a shin guard. I try to block his kick with the side of my hand, ( the part where you do ridge hands), and i do this all the time, but this man, my god, his leg was hard as steel and I'm not exagerating!!!

This happened to anyone? Now the side of my hand is slightly swollen and of course, purple...

 

[Hwoarang_tkd26]

lol, I too have had my share of huge briuses on my arms, as well as my legs.
My advise to you is, if you decide to block try blocking with your forearm not the side of your hand (note you still will get big bruises with this too, but it's better to bruise your arm IMO than your hand, because it really sucks tying to use your hands when there severaly bruised)
Also for least amount of briusing IMO, try evading, so when you see a kick or punch coming, instead of blocking just simply move out of the strikes range.

But the biggest problem I can see with evading, is that you can't hit your opponent either. But I personally prefur to perry attacks as much as possible, I like to think of perrying as if you are blocking and evading at the same time.
So when you see a strike coming you side step or just slightly get away from the strike at the same time you side glance the strike away from you so it goes past you, this allows you to aviod getting hit and also be able to still be near your opponent for a counter attack, I personally think that this method works the best (at least for me), and keeps your arms and hands bruise free for the most part.

I hope this helps, i appoligize if it didn't make sense, my typing is probably very poor, cause im in a hurry to make it to TKD class on time.

- Hwoarang_tkd26

 

[Marginal]

I don't know what is wrong with me, this time, we were doing light contact sparring, hence no gears. I dont' think it'll make a difference with gear or not, unless my partner uses a shin guard. I try to block his kick with the side of my hand, ( the part where you do ridge hands), and i do this all the time, but this man, my god, his leg was hard as steel and I'm not exagerating!!!

Keep your fists closed. The hand's more stable that way.

 

[Tkang_TKD]

Keep your fists closed. The hand's more stable that way.

I agree. One of our students tried to block a kick in the manner you describe, and he got his hand broken in several places. Took him about 3 months in a cast to heal up enough. He learned the hard way.

 

[BrandiJo]

bruses are part of learning i love showing off my bruses i wore shorts today to show off my shins after sparring last night

 

[Tkang_TKD]

bruses are part of learning i love showing off my bruses i wore shorts today to show off my shins after sparring last night

I tend to prefer showing off my lack of bruises. Better to avoid a strike than to block it I say

 

[BrandiJo]

true but if ya gotta bock its better to have something to show for it

 

[Marginal]

I tend to prefer showing off my lack of bruises. Better to avoid a strike than to block it I say

Kinda like saying, "It's better to hit them before they hit you." Parrying/blocking, countering and evasion all have their place. No real advantage to doing one to the exclusion of the others.

 

[TigerWoman]

Faye, when I was a yellow belt, I have to admit I was kind of proud of getting a bruise on my arm. But I had to go to our company Christmas dinner and I wanted to wear a short sleeve dress too. Actually it looked like my husband beat me up and I got tired of straightening it out.

Usually newer belts have this predilection to getting bruises. The real objective is to avoid them--by using your tools, your hands, and feet correctly and evading, blocking (hammerfist/palm-knife, ridge not allowed in sparring) and countering like Marginal already stated. I always remembered my father got cancer from a real deep bruise at age 49 and I learned real quick not to get them. (not to scare you-it was just my motivation) Fight smarter, you will get some bruises, its inevitable, but you don't need to be the punching bag. Besides getting bruises all the time makes sparring alot less fun the next time! TW

 

[Hwoarang_tkd26]

bruses are part of learning i love showing off my bruses i wore shorts today to show off my shins after sparring last night

LOL!
I don't seem to get bruised nearly as often as I used to, due to myself "fighting smarter". Although when I do get a really mean lookin bruise, I do have to admit that Im proud to show it off in public (espesialy when it's a shiner on the face).
Well, I guess thats cause Im a guy(lol). I tend to think guys sorta seem to do this more so than Women. It's sorta dumb, and doesn't really make any sense but I guess thats just how some of us are.

- Hwoarang_tkd26

 

[Jade Tigress]

Keep your fists closed. The hand's more stable that way.

This exact thing happened to me when I was sparring. I haven't done much sparring and I went to block a kick. It was total reflex, I didn't/don't have the skill yet to think ahead when acting quickly....I just blocked and the angle I had my hand turned out to be like a ridge hand, I intended to slap the kick away but that's not how it turned out. My hand was sore for about 8 weeks and I can still feel it slightly if I push against the base joint of the little finger. The whole side of my hand was swollen and bruised. I think I may have fractured the bone in my little finger where it meets the hand. Push ups, or any pressure against the base was painful for a looooong time. I know as I become more skilled injury will become less of an issue but for now I react before I can think about the proper block.

Recently we were also doing some Chin-Na sparring and I jammed the little finger of the opposite hand on the mat...it still hurts 3-4 weeks later. There is a Reiki healing touch seminar coming up in November that I think I need to attend! LOL!
I have to try and remember I'm not at a tea party and do a better job of protecting my fingers...I don't heal as fast as I used to!

 

[Faye]

Sil Lum Tiger Lady- I hear you! I was talking to one of the lady black belt in my school, she said , as we get older, it takes much longer to heal, even a pulled hamstring, takes longer to heal!! My bruises, surprisingly went away really quick, it's just weird, because people always stare, and they probably think my husband beat me up.

 

[Zepp]

Faye, I don't know if you're still interested, but...

If you must absorb the force of a blow, I recommend using a sturdier part of your arm than your hand. In the case of blocking a roundhouse on the shin, I often block using both my arms, though it does leave me open a bit. You might also try blocking with the underside of your arm, because there, you've got the support of both bones and some muscle.

Of course, the best choice is probably just to evade a roudnouse kick altogether if you can.

 

[bluespacething]

Well...I really like getting bruises. Not really for the fact that I can show them off, but I just love to poke at them. Just ask bignick...he's usually the one who gives me the bruises. It's good if you do some arm conditioning...eventually you will cut down on the bruises you get and a blow won't hurt you as much. I forearm condtioning from time to time...granted I get gigantic bruises from it, but it's better to get bruises from condtioning yourself than to get them elsewhere I think.

 

[bignick]

Well...I really like getting bruises. Not really for the fact that I can show them off, but I just love to poke at them. Just ask bignick...he's usually the one who gives me the bruises. It's good if you do some arm conditioning...eventually you will cut down on the bruises you get and a blow won't hurt you as much. I forearm condtioning from time to time...granted I get gigantic bruises from it, but it's better to get bruises from condtioning yourself than to get them elsewhere I think.

shhhhhh....nobody listen to this crazy lady....never even met her before...ever...not ever.....nope....no idea who she was and she most definitely wasn't in class tonight...because i don't know her....


*looks around*....."hey what's that!!!!!!!!!!"......*runs away*

 

[Feisty Mouse]

All these bruises... time for the medical-grade leeches to do their work! They'll clear up a fresh bruise in a few minutes, bless them.



I don't mind the bruises I get, usually, but I forget what it must look like, and then answer very kind, very well-intentioned questions from doctors and acquaintences about if I'm being abused.

 

[Faye]

All these bruises... time for the medical-grade leeches to do their work! They'll clear up a fresh bruise in a few minutes, bless them.



I don't mind the bruises I get, usually, but I forget what it must look like, and then answer very kind, very well-intentioned questions from doctors and acquaintences about if I'm being abused.

No kidding. Unfortunately, when people see woman with bruises, that's what they will think immediately. After my test on saturday, my right leg was so bruised, i don't even know how i got it bruised like that. Big bruise on my shin (I always get shin bruises, and this time, i had my shin guard on!!), instep, and near my ankle.....

 

[bcorner]

One thing I havent seen mentioned here is that a good round kick can easlily break an arm. let alone your hand. If you cant get out of the way of the kick (ie to close, bad foot position, etc) I find the best way to avoid enjury is to cut the power of the kick. (and something that my instructor taught us) the easiest way to accomplish this is to block at the knee level with your oposite hand as you close the distance to the oponent. this can effectivly cut the power of the kick 60%-80%. plus they are now out of position and you can counter with a reverse spin kick or reverse punch.