Episode 989 - Injury Recovery for Aging Martial Artists

In this episode, Andrew is joined by Mark Warner and Nick Taber. They sit down and discuss how injury recovery can change as you get older, and how you can still train into your older years.

Injury Recovery for Aging Martial Artists - Episode 989

SUMMARY

In this episode, the hosts discuss the challenges of injury recovery for aging martial artists, sharing personal experiences and insights on how the body changes with age. They emphasize the importance of taking injuries seriously and exploring various recovery methods. In this conversation, the hosts discuss the challenges and strategies of training in martial arts while dealing with injuries. They share personal experiences and emphasize the importance of adapting training methods, maintaining communication with instructors, and learning from others who have faced similar challenges. The discussion highlights the mental resilience required to continue training despite physical limitations and the supportive role of the martial arts community in recovery.

TAKEAWAYS

• Injury recovery is a significant concern for aging martial artists.

• The body heals differently as we age, often taking longer to recover.

• It's essential to take all injuries seriously, regardless of age.

• Personal experiences with injuries can provide valuable insights for others.

• Exploring various recovery methods can aid in healing.

• Maintaining a proactive approach to health can prevent future injuries.

• Understanding the physical changes that come with age is important for martial artists.

• It's important to adapt training methods during recovery.

• Communication with instructors about injuries is crucial.

• Mental resilience is key when facing physical limitations.

• Upper body training can still be effective during lower body injuries.

• Learning from others' experiences can provide valuable insights.

• Honesty in training helps instructors accommodate students' needs.

• Injured students can still contribute to the dojo environment.

• Practicing forms verbally can aid in maintaining skills during recovery.

• Injuries can be an opportunity for personal growth and learning.

CHAPTERS

00:00 Introduction and Context

05:29 Injury Recovery for Aging Martial Artists

7:05 Understanding Injury Recovery

10:54 Personal Experiences with Injuries

12:42 Navigating Serious Injuries in Martial Arts

15:12 Adapting Training During Recovery

19:22 The Importance of Communication with Instructors

24:44 Learning from Others' Experiences

27:34 Modifying Techniques for Injuries

33:06 The Role of Honesty in Training

34:35 Final Thoughts on Injury Management

After listening to the episode, it would be exciting for us to know your thoughts about it. Don’t forget to drop them in the comment section down below!

SHOW TRANSCRIPT

Andrew (05:41.911)

Welcome, you're listening or watching to Whistlekick martial arts radio and today I'm joined by two special guests but you know what I'm not going to say their name because you're going to have to wait until I introduce them and if you're on watching us on YouTube you'll know right now who they are but if you're only listening to us on your phone or in your car you have no idea who's here. Anyway

I am joined by two great guests today, but before I bring them on to talk about a very interesting and poignant discussion for me currently, we'll get into that, I want to make sure to let you all know about the stuff that Whistlekick does. Because obviously we have this podcast which has its own website, whistlekickmarshallarchradio.com, where you can find show notes on every single episode we've done.

This episode is going to be episode 989. We're coming up on a thousand episodes. And every single one of those episodes has its own page at whistlekickmarshallartsradio.com where you can find show notes, can find transcripts, you can find photos, all sorts of stuff that you might want to find out about all of our guests and all of our episodes. But the podcast is one small part of what we do. We also at whistlekick.com

have a myriad of things that we do. I love that word myriad. You can go to whistlekick.com and find things to purchase, whether it's apparel, whether it's books. Our book division is constantly growing. Whether you want to purchase a training program, maybe you want to join, maybe you're a school owner and you want to join Whistlekick Alliance and become part of that program. Maybe you want to attend one of our events that we host throughout the country.

We would certainly love to see you there. And lastly, don't forget to please like us on Facebook on our martial arts radio page. Go to YouTube. Even if you're listening to this, go to YouTube, hit subscribe, like us on YouTube, get notifications. All of those things make a big difference. And please consider following us on Patreon, patreon.com slash whistle kick.

Andrew (08:00.686)

We really appreciate any donation that you can give to us. Even five dollars a month. Five dollars a That's like a cup of coffee at Starbucks at this point. So Jeremy and I and all of the Whistlekick staff would love for you to buy us a cup of coffee once a month and help us to connect, educate, and entertain traditional martial artists of the world. Okay, so today's episode we are going to discuss

injury recovery for aging martial artists. And so I'm joined by Nick Taber, who if I remembering correctly is younger than I am. Nick, nice to see you.

Mark (08:33.273)

Mav.

Nick (08:41.673)

Nets to you too, man.

Andrew (08:44.154)

So we figured if we're do an episode on aging martial artists recovering I kind of needed to bring on Mark Warner nice to see you mark

Mark (08:55.811)

Well, I think I thank you. I'm not quite sure what the answer is. But yes, it's wonderful being here with you guys again. And I will give whatever input I can to this conversation. Agent Martial Artist, Executive Martial Artist.

Andrew (09:12.096)

executive or the senior division.

Mark (09:14.29)

There you go. I like that.

Nick (09:14.695)

Does he do it?

Andrew (09:17.882)

Although I have to be careful how I use that word because I'm 49 and in Keene they have a senior center that you have to be 50 to go to. So I'm like next year I can go to the senior center.

Mark (09:31.321)

There you go, you're all set. AARP right around the corner, dude.

Nick (09:32.032)

Right on,

Andrew (09:36.847)

So Nick, you first brought this this episode topic up, which I love, you know, and we, you know, we'll definitely talk about, you know, how it is a little different for aging martial artists and not quote younger, you know, not aging martial artists, but injury recovery in general is something that without almost without fail, everyone involved in martial arts is at some point gonna get injured.

Nick (10:05.448)

Multiple times. Yeah. Hopefully on the low side, but yeah, multiple times. You're right. Yeah.

Andrew (10:12.046)

Yeah. And that I'm not saying that injury will necessarily have even happen at your school. It's just in general, people get injured. Accidents happen. And we could. What are our options? Nick, like we get hurt. What are we got? What are our options?

Nick (10:21.272)

Yeah. Right.

Nick (10:31.97)

Well, I mean, you know, obviously would want to go to the doctor to check and see how things are, of course. And then, you know, like back when I started, it was just, all right, you okay? Yeah, I'm fine. And okay, go sit over there for a little while and then deal with, you know, deal it later. But I mean, I think the topic that, you know, I was the one thinking about this, like, this was a good idea because, you know, I have a pretty, you know, like you guys, I pretty long span career in martial arts right now.

over a couple of decades and you know I can remember very vividly hurting myself and then literally walking it off and right now I'm dealing with a shoulder injury and now it's just like oh gosh this isn't really this isn't getting worse but this isn't getting better and you know I'm thinking now and like my dad always said you know jokingly and like I realized more and more he's right

Andrew (11:20.634)

Mm.

Nick (11:27.918)

But when you turn 40 years old, the check engine light comes on. And that was always a G. That was always a joke. And I'm like, dang, he was right about that. You know, he was right. But, you know, the thing is, like, biologically, as you get older, you know, you think of it. And I hate to, like, use this analogy, but it's the only way I describe it is people like you think of cars.

You know, you first get a brand new car, you're driving around, everything's fine, but suddenly, you know, years down the road, you might have to have a hose fixed, change the tires or something might not work right. Or it may totally, there's something that might not be a hundred percent, but it's still workable. But if something happens, it has to be serviced, you know, and like us, as we get older, our muscles lose their elasticity. Therefore what happens is as we recover.

You know, that's just one example. You know, when something gets hurt, we may not recover the same way we used to. You know, as opposed to if it's something like the most common thing is, you know, we have like right now, I have a rotator cuff issue. So I'm like, what happened here? yeah, I I did that. And, you know, I, you know, regardless of what happened, like, you know, there's a little bruising inside there now. Well, that didn't happen before. It probably did.

Andrew (12:50.532)

Mm-hmm.

Nick (12:52.108)

But you know, that's a new injury as opposed to injuries that happen multiple times. You know, the body doesn't recover as well.

Andrew (13:01.176)

Yeah, exactly. Exactly. I think, I think that's an important thing, distinction to keep in mind. Now, Nick, you said your, your dad said when you turn 40, your body's check engine light comes on. So Mark, when you turn 40, did they have check engine lights?

Nick (13:13.23)

Right.

Mark (13:17.451)

No, we were still riding the horses on the wagons. Yeah.

Nick (13:23.018)

So...

Andrew (13:24.141)

You

Mark (13:25.122)

Eee-ha!

Andrew (13:26.808)

Now, can you, I mean, obviously, Mark, we're joking, we're kidding, but you are older than Nick and I. And when we were all younger, our bodies just naturally heal quicker, right? Our bodies do react differently when we're older. Can you talk a little bit about some of, maybe some of the issues that you may have had? And I don't even mean now, maybe from when you were younger than to today, just a little bit of that difference there.

Mark (13:34.851)

Yes.

Mark (13:41.41)

Right. Right.

Nick (13:41.495)

Right.

Mark (13:54.895)

Well, I'm glad you mentioned when I was younger, because this is something we want to think about. We always want to take all our injuries seriously. And this goes out to the younger people. One of the reasons I limp so much is because when I was 17, I'm 66 now, when I was 17, I jumped out of a tree house and fell wrong on my leg and snapped a little bone. It was fine.

I joined the military in the infantry marching around for a couple of years. It was fine until I hit about 50. Then I'm like, oh, what's going on here? Ow, ow, ow. So it does, at the youngest stages of your life, keep up with it. Now, personally, what I do now, one of the things I do now is I actually see a traditional Chinese medicine specialist, acupuncturist. His name is Ron Williams, fantastic guy.

It's kind of like a PMCS, call it in the service, Preventive Maintenance Security Checks, Service Checks, excuse me. I do that once a week. I listen to what he says and he gives me feedback on how to keep this classic antique running perfectly.

Now, it does take longer for things to get better. My leg was, I had a tight mouth fill on my leg. I didn't know what to do for longest time. have to dig this out.

It's a heating pad, but it's also a massage pad. I've got that on the leg and that's moving better now. So pretty soon you'll see me doing jump spin and hook kicks. Well, maybe not.

Andrew (15:32.28)

Mm-hmm.

Nick (15:32.59)

Yeah.

Andrew (15:42.053)

So, you know, obviously, you know, we are talking about, you know, things that we're still, we're still active. We're still moving around. Like, you know, it's not necessarily debilitating, but I do want to discuss and we have done a full episode on this, but I think it's an important thing to bring up again, which is what if we have a seriously debilitating injury? And I'm going to give you an example and I'm going to use myself as an example.

I'm 49 years old. Back in August, I slipped. I slipped and fell. I wasn't at the dojo. I wasn't in a sparring match. That would have been a way cooler story than wearing flip-flops that were wet and stepping on smooth concrete and just my feet came out from underneath me. And I clearly had to have tried to catch myself with my feet, you know, as I'm scrambling.

And I fell hard and sprained my ankle really, really badly. So this happened in August. We're recording this on January 1st. Happy new year. So we're talking August, September, October, November, December. We're talking four and a half months. It still is not better. And I went to, I did go to the doctors and they did an x-ray and they did an MRI and

The reality is I need surgery. I'm going to have to be off my foot 0 % weight bearing for four to six months after my surgery. So I have two options really. One, I can sit at home and not do any martial arts at all. And I can't even drive because I can't use my right foot to push a pedal.

Nick (17:24.814)

Okay.

Andrew (17:36.377)

So I've got two options. I can do nothing or I can still train the upper half of my body, which includes my brain. So I want to talk a little bit about that because again, most of us in martial arts will at some point have an injury that we won't be able to go to the dojo and we still want to be able to train. So Mark, any thoughts on what I should do? What should I do? I'm not going to be able to go anywhere. I'm going to be stuck at home.

for four to six weeks, if not longer, after my surgery.

Mark (18:12.375)

What do you want to do? That's the only question. The answer is, do you want to move? You have an ankle that you cannot use. We put that in a basket or something and put it over here. Now what do we have left? good. Got hands, got brains, got eyes. We have everything else. In fact, I put that leg up. I might tie it down actually, so I don't use it at all. But my other foot, my left foot.

Andrew (18:15.281)

Good question.

Andrew (18:21.338)

Mm-hmm.

Mark (18:41.583)

can still kick with that foot all over the place. So I might be in a wheelchair, going around doing everything in the wheelchair, moving that way. I probably would tie the injured leg down because you'd want to try to use it.

Andrew (18:56.899)

Hahaha.

Mark (18:58.681)

But I had a student once and he had a rotator cuff, was it? And it wasn't too bad. It was really bad. But he knew if he used it, it would get worse. Whenever he came in, he put it right in the sling. He wouldn't use it. He wouldn't use it at all. He'd take the sling off when he left. So then he could use it again. So that's what I would think of.

I had a friend who said, doesn't matter if he's late in the bed like this, he's still going to be working his stuff like that. So it's, it's, we're not going to stop. We're going to be doing something. thing that we have to do is we have to be smart when we do it. If we want to keep that leg immobile, immobilized, like I said, you might want to tie it down just so you can be little smart. So you can be smarter than me. I'll put it that way.

Andrew (19:34.094)

Yeah.

Andrew (19:49.562)

Nick, how about you? Any thoughts on things? I mean, I have a few as well that I'm already planning on doing, but I wanted to see if maybe you guys give me some inspiration.

Nick (19:58.894)

Well, you know, one thing I'm gonna say, like, you guys know me well. I suffer from cerebral palsy. I got an arm that doesn't work some days, you know? And, you know, with that being said, I wanna echo some of the things Mark said. There are so many things that a martial artist could do without one appendage. And I'm not joking about myself at this point. I'm being really serious.

And you know, when you, when you think of it, like you could be able to, and I agree probably tying the leg down might be a good idea. And I have a good friend out of Las Vegas who he's wheelchair bound and he does Kempo. And you know, he has to obviously do some modifications and some things, but he's still doing it. You could still work your arms and still work your brain. I'm going to do a plug. I'm surprised, Mark, you didn't say this, but you could write some articles for Marshall journal.

and you know and you know and other stuff that could still occupy your time and I mean you know when you think about it what is the you know what does the word martial really mean you know when you think of it it's martial arts is fighting in style of arts well sometimes you might not be able to you might do something and you might be in an actual education and something might be pinned down

Andrew (20:54.413)

you

Nick (21:22.07)

So, hey, here's your chance to practice. If my right arm is pinned down, okay, what do I do? How do I do that? Think about other things. You know, I have those days if I can't do it. Well, what can I do? If my arms really bad today, I'm going to try to work my legs as much as possible and still practice. Or maybe I could try to grab some weapons and stuff like that, you know, and I think the thing that I would say in that respect is, all right, I've gone this far right now.

Now that I've had this and people behind me who have been in the arts, I mean, these arts have been around for thousands of years, have had other problems and other issues. Well, how can I take myself a little further with this issue? Or what can I, and always, as I've always told people, a good teacher, a good sensei, Tashi, or whatever you want to hold that title for yourself is always a perpetual student.

Andrew (22:06.68)

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Andrew (22:22.113)

Absolutely, sure. Yeah.

Nick (22:22.926)

So what can I, you so the question is, what can I learn from this? You know, and what can you do because there's going to be someone down the road and I know you, Andrew, there's going to be someone down the road who is probably in the same situation. You're teaching five, six, 10 years down the road. I've done that. Let me show you what I got. Yeah.

Andrew (22:42.393)

Mm-hmm. Yeah. some takeaways that I took from you guys. Mark mentioned the wheelchair. Like we have had guests on the show that are wheelchair bound. Episode 918, we had Guto Carlito Bonjock. He was on, he's in a wheelchair and he still is actively teaching seminars all over. He is phenomenal, right? So.

Nick (23:01.326)

Great.

Mark (23:06.233)

He's fag-

Andrew (23:10.838)

Everything you've said are great ideas and there are things I've thought of except the writing for martial journal. I am not a writer Yeah, not gonna happen. Sorry mark For those that don't know mark is the editor-in-chief for martial journal. So if you are interested in writing you should reach out to mark but Not training to me is not an option Right four to six weeks of not going to the dojo. That doesn't mean I can't train so

Here's an example of some of the training that I will be and have already started doing. And I'll tell you what, guys, it is a lot harder than you might think. I have started verbally saying all the moves of my kata. As an example, the first six moves of, there's a form in the style of shoren-ru that I have been trained in called fukigatani. It's from Gojiru.

Nick (23:56.503)

Nice.

Mark (23:56.911)

Mm.

Andrew (24:08.964)

karate, they would call it Gekisai Daichi. It's the same form. And so I am learning and not learning. I have worked myself to be able to say, Fuki Gatani goes like this, small step forward with the right foot, pivot to the left with a left rising block, step forward into a forward walking stance, right punch high, step back with the right foot, low down block with the left to the left, pivot ahead.

slide the left foot up towards the right, right foot forward in walking stance, right rising block, step forward, left rising punch in a short walking stance, step back low, shikodachi with a right low block looking to the right. Now that's just the first six moves. It's really hard to do that and not use your hands, right? Now I will have access to my hands, right?

Mark (25:03.001)

Mm-hmm.

Andrew (25:06.774)

I will be able to sit in my wheel chair. Those of you that are watching on YouTube can watch me sit, can watch me do this. I'm only gonna be booted from the ankle. My knee will be to use. So I'll be able to put my knee up here and I can still do my forms like this.

Andrew (25:32.655)

Right. I'll still be able to utilize some movement and still go through my forms. Right. And I am going to be, I have a friend who is going to be coming over once a week and we're going to go through just me sitting in my wheel chair. And I'm going to go through and look at modifying all of the bunkai, all of the applications that I do for my forms. Can I do them from a seated position?

Nick (25:39.852)

Yeah.

Nick (26:03.82)

Yeah.

Andrew (26:03.928)

The answer is, I don't know, because I've never done it before. But I'm going to use this as an opportunity to see how would I do it? How can I do it? Nick, you said you have to continue to be a student. That's exactly what I'm going to do. And I hope that people recognize that this is not going to be easy. This is actually mentally is going to be really hard on me because I'm not used to not going to the dojo and training.

Nick (26:08.184)

Mmm.

Nick (26:12.344)

Yeah.

Andrew (26:33.282)

Right? This is just something that I do. And so it's going to be a little hard, but I can't give up.

Right. we all know you, Nick, you mentioned you had a friend in Las Vegas who's in a wheelchair. You know, I mentioned Carlito that was on the show. Like there are people out there that have to do this on an everyday basis. And I only have to do it for four to six weeks. So why should I give up? So I already have some of those ideas in there. And then reading, listening to other podcasts, believe it or not, martial arts radio is not the only pod.

martial arts podcast I listen to.

Mark (27:13.667)

Ha ha

Nick (27:14.956)

Really?

Andrew (27:15.17)

Shout out to my good friend Nick Tabor.

Mark (27:17.775)

Andrew (27:19.426)

Real talk with Sensei Nick. I definitely listen to Nick's podcast.

Nick (27:24.366)

Yeah, that's great.

Andrew (27:26.49)

So, you know, what else guys like I I'm, you know, I've talked a lot about what's going on with me. But have you had other students that you've had in your school that have had maybe not as debilitating as a broken leg or something, but stuff that they have had to change? You know, Mark, you mentioned already one student that that you had Nick, how about yourself?

Nick (27:44.749)

Yes.

Nick (27:48.492)

Yeah, I actually had one that comes to mind when you said not a broken leg. I had one person who he had a concussion. And then what he had to do was then he had to he had to memorize things a little differently. So at that time, what I was doing instead of and it's actually inspired me a lot. And this was not that long ago, mind you, he got a concussion and

Andrew (27:58.37)

Okay.

Nick (28:15.982)

I would do, I wrote out all the forms and I had this in a book and I had it on my shelf in my office and I would Xerox the copies of it. It's okay. Work on ye. Here it is. You have questions. Let's work. Let's read it. He couldn't retain it that way. So what I had to do was that I had to be able to learn to be able to do that. And I did the video.

and then showed him, okay, let's do that. So he visualized it, saw me doing it was able to learn that way. Now he went over time. He ended up being a little bit better, you know, a little bit better. It got a little better over time, but then it was a force for me to change and say, okay, how does this person learn? When I can't, you know, I learned from, you know, I, I learned going in the dojo, but I was given worksheets and I was given the, you know, the printout saying,

Andrew (29:01.455)

Mm-hmm.

Nick (29:10.478)

Here it is just because I learned that way. And by the way, I was forced to, I didn't have any, we didn't have YouTube then. Barely had the internet, barely had the internet and had the Boulder cap.

Andrew (29:20.026)

Sure.

Andrew (29:24.174)

I mean, Mark didn't have electricity then.

Mark (29:27.011)

We were giving out smoke signals back in the day.

Nick (29:27.21)

No. I was gonna say was it passed down story to story over the campfire? Yeah.

Andrew (29:40.859)

So, you know, the other thing I think that I want to touch on a little bit is the recovery part where for an injury that you're still able to go to the dojo, maybe it's a rotator cuff, Maybe, so for the last, you know, I hurt my ankle in August, it's now January. You know, have been given, you know, my doctor said I'm okay to walk on it, I just have to baby it a little bit and be careful about the way I twist it.

So, I mean, I have been using my leg, my ankle. The hope was that it would strengthen itself with the physical therapy that I was going through and it wasn't enough and there's a bone that's been misaligned, whatever. But I have been going to class, but I have had to modify stuff for myself. And I think that's an important discussion that has to happen with if you are the person that has this injury that...

Nick (30:34.638)

Yes.

Andrew (30:37.303)

you have with your instructor. So I let my instructor know, you know, this is the issue with my right ankle. It's easy to see because my right ankle is twice the size of my left. So obviously there's an issue there, right? But I told them like this, these are my limits. Like I can't do super deep stances because my ankle doesn't allow that bend to happen. I can't do a lot of twisting on it. So when I'm pivoting around, I've got to do two or three shuffle steps.

Right. So, but I'm still doing it. That's the thing. I'm still going to class. And he has even told me if you need to just sit down in the middle of class, that's fine. Just, you know, no, not a big deal. You don't have to even say anything to me. Just go sit down. But I think, you know, as an instructor, we need to hear those things. Right. Mark, do you have any thoughts?

Mark (31:11.364)

Yes.

Nick (31:13.432)

Yeah. Right.

Mark (31:35.659)

It's on both ends. need to hear them. If a student is injured, we need to know what's going on in their life. Definitely. I if I, if I'm out there and somebody's not moving properly and they say, I'm fine. And I let them go and they injure themselves more. Never a good thing. At the same time, we always have to keep our eyes open. When we see these things, we have to say, Hey, are you okay? One thing I have noticed.

in many schools, my school in particular, is that the students in the adult classes tend to fall in line with the instructor age wise that way. So a lot of my students are over 60. So I have to keep an eye on them a little more because many have injuries that they keep. communication as Andrew was saying is key. If you don't tell your instructor that you have an injury of any type,

It's going to get worse. But if he knows, he might be able to say, hey, try this way or try this way or don't do this or try this.

Nick (32:45.678)

I agree with what Mark's saying 100%. And I mean, I take it a little step further with everybody. I have in my school, I have the honesty pledge and I told them like right off day one, know, 100 % honesty, 100 % of the time. I don't care if it hurts my feelings a little bit. It really doesn't, you know, but it just, if you tell me what's going on, I can work with that.

You know, and with somebody having injuries, like I've had students over the years who have had plenty of them, I've said the same thing, you know, if something's up, tell me. You know, I can't do anything unless you tell me what's up. And then we work on that as long, and as long as you're trying, it's good. But on the other side of it with, you know, my current situation right now with a couple of students, it's also been very interesting because

I've had the students now where it's like, okay, I can't do that, but I've also taken the opportunity kind of selfishly to force them to look at their own stuff. So if I'm doing an outward block like this, and I just can't move it a little bit further, I'm forcing myself to go slow and then they're forcing themselves to go at my speed.

Andrew (33:54.82)

Mm.

Nick (33:59.894)

so that I can look at their accuracy and do this a little differently. But, you know, as we all, you know, I don't have a lot of students right now, so it's pretty easy to mend that. But if you do have it, it's just simply being honest, but also on the instructor side.

you know, being super honest with this thing. Yes, you know, you do have this injury right now and then celebrating that, you know, that you're trying that celebrating the trying and then trying the best you can to just, you know, accommodate but say, you know, how's the standard what's going on and check in as much as possible.

Andrew (34:38.041)

Yep. Yep. The last thing I would say is if depending on what your injury is, if you feel comfortable, I also think there's some, if you are a higher ranked student or an assistant instructor in your school. So I do, you know, I have done a fair bit of teaching in the schools that I have been a part of. And if the lower ranked students don't know that I have an injury and they see me doing something,

this way because I'm modifying. Well, I'm going to pick forms for an example or like kicks right now. can't do any impact with that ankle. And you would think, well, OK, well, I can kick with the other leg, but I can't. My other leg, the turret, I can't really support it while I'm kicking, right? So I'm not really doing much kicking. But forms, if a younger, if a lower rank sees me doing my forms right now and thinks, that's way it's supposed to look.

they're going to be wrong. So I think having a discussion with your instructor and if you feel comfortable, the instructor can let the other students know, hey, everybody just, know, you know, Andrew's right ankle is bothering him again. In my case, it's easy to tell cause you just look at it. but you know, he's modifying a bunch of stuff. So, you know, just be aware. There's nothing wrong with that and can help to alleviate issues in the future. So.

Just something else to, again, it's all about that open communication.

Mark (36:06.703)

Well, I'm going take that one a step further because I'm a couple of years older than you guys. And a lot of times it's like Tashi Tim, come out here and demonstrate the way this is supposed to properly look. Because I have scoliosis issues with the back issues with my knee and to do some of the kung fu stances, I'm able to do them, but to make them look the way I want them to look, he's going to do it. He's 28. So he's got that benefit.

Andrew (36:09.039)

Great.

Andrew (36:18.786)

Mm, sure.

Andrew (36:31.566)

Mm. Yeah.

I was thinking more in terms of what if Tashi Tim hurt his foot and the younger ranks start looking at him on his modified. I was thinking more along those lines, but that is a great point that if you can't demonstrate something, there's nothing wrong with asking someone else to. So is there anything that we've missed in regards to this topic of being injured and still training or recovering from injuries?

Mark (36:45.571)

Right.

Nick (36:52.407)

Right.

Nick (37:00.398)

I would really say one other thing is to whatever the injury is, is you know, was there open communication was a good thing, but really make sure that, you know, if you go see a health professional to make sure that that advice is adhered to and you know, and then, but let them know what's going on as well. No, I am still going to the dojo, but here's the plan. Um, so that way everybody's in the loop.

Andrew (37:30.552)

Yep. Yep. I would agree. Anything else, Mark?

Nick (37:30.776)

Biddle.

Yes.

Mark (37:35.087)

I think we covered it all. Pretty much we get a really, really, really good thing there. And oh, only one thing. When you're 17, don't do anything silly. It'll come back and bite you when you're 50.

Nick (37:46.606)

That's true.

Andrew (37:47.331)

Like jump out of a tree house. Great. Well, thank you guys so much for joining me for joining. And then for all of you listening, thank you for joining us. We appreciate you being a listener. know, obviously at the beginning of the episode, I talked about all of the stuff we do. The one thing I didn't mention that I wanted to make time to say right now, the biggest and one of the biggest and best things you can do for us.

Mark (37:48.867)

That's right.

Andrew (38:14.838)

leave a review on Apple podcast or give us a rating on Spotify. I'm not even going to tell you, you have to rate us five stars. I'd like you to, but you know, that hugely helps us the Patreon thing. But the other thing is maybe there's an episode you listen to, maybe this one, maybe a different one that you think a friend will like, send it to them. Help us spread the word, help us connect, educate and entertain traditional martial artists of the world.

It really means a lot to us and it helps us in our goal to get everyone in the world to train for six months. Every little bit helps. So Mark and Nick, thank you so much for joining me.

Nick (38:56.03)

It's great to be here as always.

Andrew (38:59.206)

and we're going to try this all together ready until next time train hard smile and have a great day high five

Mark (39:04.207)

Granhardt, Snowell, and that was my day.

Nick (39:05.806)

Smile and have a great day.

Mark (39:13.921)

awesomeness