When a teacher can no longer teach certain techniques...

[Makalakumu]

I've done it again. My lower back, right at the L5 junction is highly inflamed and I'm having a real hard time moving around. The culprit is the same. Jump spinning kicks and really high falls. I've been having a problem with these techniques for a long time and my doctor doesn't think I should do them. I have a particular problem with the L5 junction in that it is partially fused to my sacrum and that makes it more suseptible to certain injuries.

I talked to him about just demoing these techniques and he gave me the go ahead as long as it didn't cause any problems.

On Thursday's class, I was working one of my senior students through the advanced requirements and I thought that everything was fine after demoing some of the jump spinning kicks and taking a couple of rough falls after teaching tomoenage. Unfortunately, I woke up the next morning in a lot of pain and now I have some decisions to make.

I don't have to take the high hard falls because I can always make someone else do that, but someone needs to be able to show the students what one of these jump spinning kicks look like. I don't know if I can do it anymore and I'm not sure what to do.

It wouldn't bother me much if I just stopped teaching them, but other Tangsoodoin expect it. What can I do?

 

[JWLuiza]

Gymnastics coaches teach moves without being able to do them, they use verbal descriptions. If you can still do a spin kick, it's not much of a step to a jump spin kick.

Good luck! Check out the info: re Bassai translation when you get a chance!

 

[Blotan Hunka]

Living a long functional life and being around for your family trumps anything MA related in my book. Id say its time to re-evaluate what's most important to you and make the right adjustments.

 

[terryl965]

Upnorth sometimes we need to change are teaching habits and you my friend may need to do more talking your student though than actually doing the techniques for a while. Good luck and hope it gets better.

 

[Makalakumu]

Living a long functional life and being around for your family trumps anything MA related in my book. Id say its time to re-evaluate what's most important to you and make the right adjustments.

This is weighing heavily on my mind, because I agree. My only problem is one that I think stems mainly from pride. I don't like to give in. I don't like to admit that I can't do certain things...

 

[Blotan Hunka]

This is weighing heavily on my mind, because I agree. My only problem is one that I think stems mainly from pride. I don't like to give in. I don't like to admit that I can't do certain things...

Then the decision is easy. (easy for me to say, at least )
Never listen to your pride/ego when it comes to your health or the welfare of others.

 

[theletch1]

Then the decision is easy. (easy for me to say, at least )
Never listen to your pride/ego when it comes to your health or the welfare of others.

You sound just like my wife afte my back injury. JW had an excellent point here. Being able to explain the technique well and having the students fine tune as you go is better than having the students see you take an injury trying to do a technique that you shouldn't be doing. My instructors knees give him a fit now and then and he has trouble with suwari-waza (techniques from seiza) so he'll have a senior student that's familiar with the techniques demo them. Same with my back. I fell off a roof and compressed my S2 pretty badly. There are days that I have to have someone else demo the technique. When they aren't around I just don't teach that tech that day or I'll talk them through it with comparisons to other, similar techs.

 

[jks9199]

Can you use one of your senior students to demonstrate the techniques you can't do yourself? Or start coaching one up? There's no need for you to personally teach and demo all the basics if you've got senior students who can give the junior students enough that you can then correct it.

 

[agemechanic03]

Ouch!! Sorry to here that UpNorth. I know how serious you take your TSD training. But I agree with Blotan. What is more important? Try and talk teach it to your students. If you have to, try and get a vid of someone doing the kick or fall and stand there by your students and have them take it really slow and just go thru the motion first. Hope u get better soon!!

 

[Makalakumu]

Well, its official, I got back from the doctor, its sprained. The good news is that it's not as bad as I thought. I should be good to practice in a few days if I take it easy now.

I'm wondering if I can take some supplements to build up the joint so that it doesn't bother me so much. Does anyone have any experience with this?

As far as the particular techniques that are giving me problems, I do have some video of the techniques in question. I took these about a year ago because I felt that I needed to get them recorded in case I ever came to the point where I couldn't do them.

Do you think these could be used? Five years ago, they looked A LOT better...but I that was before my back really started to bother me.

 

[Makalakumu]

Can you use one of your senior students to demonstrate the techniques you can't do yourself? Or start coaching one up? There's no need for you to personally teach and demo all the basics if you've got senior students who can give the junior students enough that you can then correct it.

The problem is that I'm trying to teach my senior students how to do them. I'm not sure how to do it yet without showing them myself. It'll take some rethinking, methinks...

 

[Makalakumu]

Then the decision is easy. (easy for me to say, at least )
Never listen to your pride/ego when it comes to your health or the welfare of others.

Easy enough, it would seem, but I'm only 31. I'm young, healthy, and strong except for this, I feel like its my Achilles Heel.

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

Really it is not a problem teaching jumping kicks and not showing it. I can teach a flying side kick or jumping kick without ever actually performing it if I want to. It just requires a little more explaining of the process. In IRT we only learn jumping & spinning kicks to be able to counter them and to know how the process works. You can do it UpNorthKyosa just break the process of doing it down and then put it back together as a whole.

As for your own practice it may be time to eliminate the certain techniques that bother your back from your own individual repertoire.

 

[Kacey]

The thing to remember is that you're teaching something you've done - even if you can't do it now. If you had never been able to do jump spinning kicks and were trying to teach them without a demonstration, that would be one thing (and I know people who've tried) - but you know how they look and how they feel, so from there, you should be able to break them down into pieces small enough for you to demonstrate without hurting yourself, while still being able to teach your students until you have another one who can demonstrate for you.

Getting old enough that old injuries accumulate and don't heal like they used to when you were younger sucks... but it's way better than the alternative!

 

[aplonis]

You can turn this into a good thing of a different kind. I've never been much for any of those really flash arial techniques myself, especially now at almost 52 and with knees no longer what they were. That they are most cool to watch I'll be the first to admit. But anyplace they can be applied is a more than equal opportunity for grounded techniques that pose less potential risk of injury and less opportunity for a counter.

Consider, perhaps, during your recovery period focusing on counters for those arial techniques. Most people try to block or back away. Teach them what happens when the oppoment rushes well inside that circle, striking upward or capturing said spinning leg at the knee while you are still airborne.

So many schools focus so strictly on tournament-rules sparring that their students never expect or guard well against these counters. Two of the schools I have trained at never even taught what those rules are. Those students tended to get disqualified, when they'd forget and do elsewhere what they were taught in their own schools. But they were doutless safer walking dark streets at night, surely.

Now as you are unable to demonstrate the high stuff, this would seem your opportunity to focus strongly on their counters. It will be showing how to press on even while injured. That too will be very inspiring. Your students won't be suffering in the least for it. Not at all. The only downside is that should they all become adept at the in-rush counter to arial techniques, they may not be so enamoured of them as previously.

 

[exile]

In IRT WE ONLY LEARN jumping & spinning kicks to be able to counter them and to know how the process works.

But anyplace [spinning/jumping kicks] can be applied is a more than equal opportunity for grounded techniques that pose less potential risk of injury and less opportunity for a counter.

Consider, perhaps, during your recovery period focusing on counters for those arial techniques. Most people try to block or back away. Teach them what happens when the oppoment rushes well inside that circle, striking upward or capturing said spinning leg at the knee while you are still airborne.

...Now as you are unable to demonstrate the high stuff, this would seem your opportunity to focus strongly on their counters. It will be showing how to press on even while injured. That too will be very inspiring. Your students won't be suffering in the least for it. Not at all. The only downside is that should they all become adept at the in-rush counter to arial techniques, they may not be so enamoured of them as previously.

Lots of good advice here, UpN, and I especially like these two posts. The thing is really a matter of street effectiveness; from what I know of your training philosophy, your take on KMA training in terms of personal defense is right in line with what I've bolded in Brian's and Aplonis' replies. What might be useful is to have your students study some well chosen videos of the jump/spin techs that have been a problem for you, and then demo the counters in detail in your dojang; that way, they'll know exactly what the techs are they're responding too, and will learn to handle them (though it's unlikely that any street attacker would use these techs in the first place). Doing things that way would also have the benefit of emphasizing to your students that the kicks aren't things you want to add to your repertoire unless you're interested in pursuing a primarily competitive career; Aplonis' comment in bold above really rings true here.

The thing is, even if you're going to recover faster than you were afraid you would, this whole episode has made it clear that these kicks are no good for your back. Somewhere along the line you're going to need to stop doing them, eh? As your mechanic (or dentist) might say, you can pay me now, or you can pay me later. At least if you prune them from your repertoire during the course of the next year, it won't (at 31!) be a case of encroaching old age, eh? :wink1:

 

[kidswarrior]

The thing is, even if you're going to recover faster than you were afraid you would, this whole episode has made it clear that these kicks are no good for your back. Somewhere along the line you're going to need to stop doing them, eh? As your mechanic (or dentist) might say, you can pay me now, or you can pay me later. At least if you prune them from your repertoire during the course of the next year, it won't (at 31!) be a case of encroaching old age, eh? :wink1:

What exile said.

I'll just throw in my belief that real, deep-seated wisdom begins when we first realize--really know--we're not going to live forever. So if you get that at 31, well, you're way ahead of me!

BTW, how many pro football players might think the same thing--I'm only 31, or 28, or 25. Yet, they can't do what they once did. No disgrace in that. :asian:

 

[Makalakumu]

Thanks everyone, you've given me lots to think about. Now, I'll do what I can to heal this bad boy and get back to work...​

 

[Lynne]

That would be a bit depressing. But a physical problem won't stop you being a great teacher. You have an inherent gift, upnorth, and a physical problem can't take that away.

 

[kaizasosei]

i suggest you practice seiza until your back is in better shape.