Pain

Pain is a very important source of information. It tells you when you’ve gone too far. It tells you when you’ve done too much. In that manner you could say that pain works for you. If something hurts, you stop. As my teacher is fond of saying; “the hot pot teaches best.” Well, I don’t know about best, but it teaches a lesson! When you touch the hot pot you pull your hand away fast. And, you remember the burn!

When you have an injury the pain works for you and tells you to ease up before you pull a muscle or bruise yourself, or it tells you that you need to lay off that activity until the pain goes away so that you can heal. It lets you know when you’d better seek medical attention. Pain works for you and can keep you healthy that way. It can even work for you when it tells you what you can’t do anymore.

There are other forms of pain that can work for you. When you do training you know that you’ve had a good session when your muscles are tired and a little sore. It can let you know if your technique is good and your form is correct.

The pain that is bothersome in my mind is the pain that you work for. Its the chronic pain that will be with you long after it has served its purpose. When you stop doing the things that build you up, that you enjoy, because of some pain, it is no longer serving you. Now, this is a sketchy point because you have to know where to draw the line, and each individual is different. However; I have known many students and teachers in the martial arts who have quit because of chronic pain like arthritis. I was told by a respected orthopedist that because of the degenerative arthritis in my back I would be crippled in a few years if I kept doing the training I do. That was about 30 years ago. My decision then was based on believing that if I wasn’t doing the training I would be worse off. Like I said, you have to weigh your decision and live with it. My decision is that its better to get the health advantages of training and risk the pain.

Let me know what you think!