Fight Sciences Research Institute blog

‘Nuff Said.

Randy Simpson CPT — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 23:15:25 +0000

This simply has to be shared (hat tip to Brett over at the kyokushinblog):

Using the Overhead Squat Assessment to Identify Reductions in Punching Quality

Randy Simpson CPT — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 20:55:25 +0000

The overhead squat assessment promoted by NASM (Clark & Lucett, 2011) provides a useful evaluation of the functional status of the latissimus dorsi during a common movement (video example here). The OHS requires that both trunk extension and shoulder flexion occur simultaneously, either or both of which may be altered if the muscle has become chronically shortened and tight. When the lats are hypertonic, shoulder range or motion (ROM) is altered due to excessive internal rotation and depression of the humerus, which further affects the actions of the scapula. This can be seen when an individual’s arms habitually fall forward past the line of the torso during the eccentric phase of the squat in an OHS evaluation, which is an indication of the arthrokinematic (joint movement) compensations needed to accommodate functional ROM as the muscle attempts to maintain a shorter distance between origin and insertion (for an excellent visual of how this occurs, take a look here).

Rear view of the latissimus dorsi. Note the broad connection to the pelvis, and the insertion on the humerus. An overactive (hypertonic) lat will cause alterations in shoulder and hip function, impairing good technique by reducing strength and mobility, while increasing the chances of an avoidable chronic injury.

A dysfunction at either the shoulders (inability to maintain starting flexion) or the LPHC (excessive arching of the lumbar spine) will be apparent. The degree to which the hypertonicity is distal or proximal may be assessable by the order in which shoulder or LPHC ROM are affected. Hypertonic lats can also indicate problems with internal shoulder rotation and a relative under activity by the external humeral rotators. An athlete or student who cannot squat without his or her arms moving past the plane of the ears exhibits these symptoms, and will likely demonstrate “forward rolled” shoulders.

Although squatting and punching may seem like two unrelated actions, the ROM for either may be affected by hypertonic latissimi. The cross provides a fairly good example for examining how the lat acts as an antagonist and synergist during punching actions. The fundamental actions of the initiation of the punch are shoulder flexion, elbow extension, and scapular protraction, with the degree of flexion possible at the shoulder being a major determinant in both the trajectory and velocity of the punch. The degree of adduction and abduction required are variable, but typically, alignment of the fist with the shoulder is optimal (Dempsey, 1950). If the lats are hypertonic, optimal kinematics for the punch will be difficult to achieve, and chances of chronic glenohumeral or rotator cuff injury are increased.

The shoulder kinematics of the cross are accompanied by ipsilateral hip extension, knee flexion and plantar flexion, the subjective feeling of which has been described as “sitting down” on the punch. At this point in the kinetic chain, the lumbopelvic hip complex can be affected in the frontal and transverse planes by the status of the latissimi on either side. Shoulder ROM will also be affected via the actions of the lat upon the humerus. A combat athlete or martial artist with hypertonic lats will exhibit excessive lumbar extension and/or inward humeral rotation while punching, and will also demonstrate an inability to maintain shoulder flexion during the OHS (open martial arts seminars can be a virtual buffet of examples of this, with accompanying complaints of shoulder pain/injury). Similarly, preferential use of the trapezius to achieve shoulder elevation (to compensate for the lat’s lack of extensibility), and/or lumbar hyperextension can often be observed during performance of the punch.

Due to the shared role of the latissimus dorsi in punching and in the OHS, the OHS (Clark & Lucett, 2011) is a useful evaluation of the status, or the effects of training upon this muscle. Considering that fighting arts and sports typically involve movements that require concurrent proximal and distal actions of the lats, upper and lower body performance deficits for a variety of skills and techniques may be indicated in OHS assessments.

References:

Clark, M. A., & Lucett, S. C. (2011). Chapter 6 Movement Assessments. NASM Essentials of Corrective Exercise Training. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

Dempsey, J. (1950). Championship Fighting: Explosive Punching & Aggressive Defense. New York: Jack Dempsey.

FSRI Podcast2: Protective Gear

Robert Miller CPT CES — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 00:23:00 +0000

Random Training Notes 18

Randy Simpson CPT — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 17:01:20 +0000

Regarding historical or traditional training practices:

Within physical culture, old practices or concepts aren’t necessarily good or better than modern ones just because they’ve been around awhile. There is belief in martial arts circles, especially in “traditional” groups, that something which has been passed down for decades is unquestionably valuable, or even superior to modern evidence-based understandings. A common defense is “do you think technique x would still be around it if it wasn’t battle tested?” Another is “look at practitioner x- if it worked for him, and he had no fancy research.”

The plain and unglamorous truth is that sometimes techniques or training practices got passed down simply because no one knew any better, or it fulfilled a cultural function (particularly in Confucian-influenced societies) or because they maintained a certain personal prestige or power structure within a group. A technique may have never actually been used in a fight; a conditioning activity may routinely cause joint damage that actually weakens a student over time, but the status of the originator serves to enshrine it. Old can be good; old is not automatically good.

FSRI Podcast 1: Safety

Robert Miller CPT CES — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 08:10:56 +0000

Linked Resource: Customizing your Medicine Ball

Robert Miller CPT CES — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 03:39:51 +0000

I love using medicine balls with rope handles, but they can be expensive. Take a look at this excellent article by Ross Emamait, from the always interesting RossTraining.com Blog on how to make your own own rope handles.

Customizing Your Medicine Ball

Linked article: Couple badly injured after bodybuilder attack

Randy Simpson CPT — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 00:23:57 +0000

Something for the “size is irrelevant in martial arts” crowd to chew on:

apparently (he) was under the influence of steroids and other drugs, and it took four police officers, two stun gun blasts and four sets of handcuffs to restrain him.

Steroids and “other drugs” indeed.

Linked Article: Anthony Miranda Tried Robbing Ultimate Fighting Champion

Robert Miller CPT CES — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 02:37:03 +0000

At some point, Miranda’s attention was diverted and the victim was able to grab control of the gun and the two wrestled.

During the fight, Miranda accidentally discharged his gun, shooting himself in the ankle, Mirabelli said.

Read the rest here.

Development of Expertise in the Fighting Arts- Some Basic Notes

Randy Simpson CPT — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 20:44:07 +0000

What constitutes an “expert” in a fighting art or practice? Approaching the question from a motor learning perspective is highly useful, and has many obvious inroads into discussing pedagogy, practicality and transferability of a training method to a performance setting.Experts in any physical activity exhibit several common characteristics, regardless of the nature of the activity:

1. Superior ability to anticipate the likely outcome of a situation as it emerges. This is distinct from a conscious effort to guess what will happen, which we see in relative novices. Instead, this is more efficient perception-action linking. It manifests as shorter reaction time, with reaction time being the interval between stimulus and initiation of movement. RT is a reflection of the cognitive processing going on between perceptual and motor regions before a physical response is initiated. Combined with more efficient motor programs for the movement time, the result is a faster overall response time (RT and MT combined).

2. Less visual search for the important aspects of a developing situation. A relative novice looks everywhere, whereas the expert looks immediately at the salient areas (a shoulder movement before a punch, a slight drop of the forearm towards the belt line, etc.)

3. Consistent eye fixation on the important aspects of a situation once they have been identified. The relative novice continues to look at other elements even if he/she can recognize the important ones, whereas the expert will not change once the salient element has been identified and fixated on.

4. More efficient mental organization of knowledge about the activity. This is both conscious and procedural (unconscious) in nature. It is typically difficult for an expert to explain exactly the chain of events in how he/she responds to something with high efficiency, but it can be done; and it is equally difficult to accurately recall how one developed the skill (which is further conflated with training practices which may not have positively developed a skill, but are regarded as important anyway). An excellent example of both phenomena can be found in the introduction to Jack Dempsey’s Championship Fighting: Explosive Punching and Aggressive Defense. After realizing that he couldn’t concisely teach his skills to younger boxers, he spent considerable time writing out notes on his developmental process as a fighter, noting that much of it was easy for him to perform but difficult to explain to someone else. The book was the result of his self-investigations.

5. For closed skills (those which the performer chooses when to initiate, in a stable, unchanging environment) fixation is required to develop expertise. Fixation is practice of the skill in unchanging parameters. For open skills (the performer has to time action to the outside environment and other people in it, both of which may be changing; fighting is predominantly an open activity) developing expertise requires diversification, or exposure to as many potential performance scenarios as possible. The interesting bit here is twofold:

a) The conditions present when a performer develops a skill will continue to influence his or her attempts to perform it, even when the performance conditions are different. It’s crucial that early phases of skill development match the crucial elements of the performance environment(s). Otherwise, the performer will have difficulty in performing the skill in contexts which are different than the initial learning environment (which ought to make one reconsider the usefulness of the fetish that exists in some arts for endlessly “polishing basics” in controlled settings).

b) Constant feedback and correction and repetition in a stable environment will lead to better performance in the learning environment, but not in the actual performance environment. Less feedback and more variety of performance contexts, alongside variability and the opportunity to make mistakes and solve them results in better recall and adaptation of a skill to unfamiliar or changing environments (blocked vs. randomized practice). Considering that most violence/fighting scenarios tend to be highly open environments, the implications for training someone to develop expertise in them are pretty obvious and huge.

Game Intelligence Skills

All of the above points merge into what has been referred to in athletic performance contexts as “game intelligence skills.” For combatives and fighting arts, GI skills can be regarded as:

Recognize Constraints

Constraints are the sum of Environmental Context and Action Goals. An affective domain is usually also involved.
Environmental Context: Characteristics of the environmental context, such as supporting surface, objects, lighting, other people, confined space, open space, etc., which influence performance.
The EC may be in motion, or it may be stable; EC may change from moment to moment or stay the same
Action Goals- an action may require body transport, or it may not require transport
an object may be manipulated (weapon, tool, body part) , or no object may be involved .

Identify Priorities

I need to reach the exit by evading/by fighting etc.
I need to protect a person to my left/right/rear etc.
I need to protect a vulnerable or injured part of my body
I need to hold the attacker off until help comes
I need to control this limb

Predict Outcomes

Examples: The opponent’s movements are indicative of an imminent punch to my head
If he completes the punch it will land at X…
If I don’t block or evade, the blow will/will not significantly affect my ability to achieve the priority
Blocking or evading will create/prevent an opportunity to counter attack

Perceive Affordances

Affordances are the possibilities for action that an environment or person offers or provides. For example, the point of my elbow offers smash-into-someone’s face-ability. The side of your face offers smash-an-elbow-into me-ability. A long necked lamp offers use-as-a-club –ability.
Position of a potential weapon or environmental feature relative to you or an opponent dictates our perception of their affordances
In this context, affordances fall into three categories:
- Affordances of my anatomical weapons relative to the opponent’s body and position
- Affordances of opponent’s anatomical weapon relative to my body and position
- Affordances of features of the environment as a weapon

Adapt Familiar Skills to Novel Situation

Movements are behavioral characteristics of the limbs, head or body when performing a motor skill
Motor skillsare voluntary actions of the limbs, head or body with specific goals to achieve
- Open Motor Skills- Motor skills performed in non-stable, unpredictable environment where an object or environmental feature is in motion and determines when to begin an action. Free sparring is an example.
- Closed Motor Skills- Motor skills performed in stable, predictable environments where the performer determines when to begin the action. Hitting a stationary heavy bag is an example.
Different movements may be used to perform the same skill or to achieve the same action goals. Environmental context and the action goals (see Gentile’s Taxonomy) will determine what movements are used to perform a given skill. Fighting consists of predominantly of open skills in an open environment, often moving from open kinetic chain to closed kinetic chain actions.

It should be emphasized that these skills are predominantly procedural and motor in nature, and as such are not necessarily consciously directed (performance of motor skills tends to move from cognitive to autonomous); they do not represent a “flow chart” of how one does or should attempt to think during training or actual fighting. Any of these processes may occur in parallel as opposed to linear, or in a different order than is presented here. The GI skills model is a description of how expert-level performers tend to process and function in performance conditions, not a prediction or prescription.

Here are a few related citations that might be useful for exploring these ideas further:

Ericcson, T.A., Krampe, R.T., & Tesch-Romer, C. (1993). The role of deliberate practice in the acquisition of expert performance. Psychological Review, 100 (3), 363-406.

Gruber, H., Jansen, P., Marienhagen, J., & Altenmueller, E. (2010). Adaptations during the acquisition of expertise. Talent Development & Excellence, 2 (1), 3-15.

Mann, D.T.Y., Williams, M.A., Ward, P. & Janelle, C.M. (2007). Perceptual-cognitive expertise in sport: A meta-analysis. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 29, 457-478.

Simpson, R.E. (2011). Game intelligence skills of the fighting arts. (Unpublished, contact for reference). A.T. Still University/ASHS, Mesa, AZ.

Williams, M.A., Hodges, N., J. (2005). Practice, instruction and skill acquisition in soccer: Challenging tradition. Journal of Sports Science, 23 (6), 637-650.

Wulf, G., Schmidt, R.A., Deubel, H. (1993). Reduced feedback frequency enhances generalized motor program learning but not parameterization learning. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 19 (5), 1134-1150.

Paying Respects to Joe Frazier

Randy Simpson CPT — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 18:30:17 +0000

Boxing legend Joe Frazier passed last night. Boxing fans will remember his devastating left hook and uncanny bobbing and weaving skills, and the trio of grueling, legendary fights with Muhammad Ali.

What better way to remember him than by watching some highlights of his first (1971) fight with Ali, in which he gained the heavyweight title and delivered his opponent’s first professional loss:

More Fun with Duct Tape

Randy Simpson CPT — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 20:54:10 +0000

In the previous post, I mentioned using proxy “cell phones” and a padded bottle as rehearsal aids and simulated weapons of opportunity. Making these is pretty simple:

Help at the Push of a Button

Randy Simpson CPT — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 22:22:23 +0000

This semester I agreed to teach a series of weekly self protection seminars for a women’s resource group on Ferrum College campus. Without going into too much detail here (more will follow in later posts),part of my planning for these included researching the contexts and scenarios in which violence against women tends to happen, as borne out by DOJ victimization and outcome stats and reviewing case reports. The incidence data, and conversations with friends of mine who have been victimized made it woefully clear that the “carry your keys in your hand” strategies, and “on the street/in a dark alley” conceptualizations of violence against women are pretty inadequate by themselves, because they only apply to a limited range of the situations in which a woman may find herself at risk . Since this seminar series is for college-aged women, I structured the program to explore the scenarios and types of assault that are created by social, interpersonal and predatory contexts.

Last night we worked on social scenarios, incidences of sexual assault that begin in a social environment that lend themselves to opportunistic victimization. One scenario involved being passively or forcefully denied exit from a closed room or space after willfully entering. Throughout these scenarios, I had the participants use proxy “cell phones” to rehearse calling for help once their request to leave was denied (made of plastic bags bundled into a phone shape with duct tape, so that they can be used as impact weapons without causing injuries). The partner in the defensive role starts out with the “phone” in her pocket, and is asked to “use” it in the same way that their current phone operates (touch screen, keypad, etc.). As the defensive partner request or attempts to leave, the partner in the aggressive role blocks access the door and becomes aggressive or manipulative, and the partner in the defensive role immediately pulls out the “phone” and makes it clear that she is calling for help, progressing into aggressive action if their partner advances or becomes violent. If the aggressive partner advances, the defensive partner then begins to fight for access to the exit through use of body weapons and defensive shapes, attracting outside attention and use of weapons of opportunity (phone, appliances, furniture, etc.).

In just a few rotations the participants began to move and respond in very effective, physically aggressive ways that were far superior to anything I could try to teach them, and the role playing from the aggressive partner got richer and richer. In between rotations, observations from the participants who just finished the scenario and from the observing participants who watched it were discussed and use to evaluate what was successful or less successful. One issue that immediately became apparent after a few rotations was the need for the defender to put her visual focus on the “phone” for a moment or two in order to “dial” 911 and hit send. During this moment, she is open to surprise by the aggressor if the aggressor begins an aggressive approach. On a few occasions, the defender was quickly overwhelmed by the aggressive partner while looking at the phone, and lost several feet of ground while attempting to recover from a shove or hold, or being pinned to a wall.

One participant commented “It would be better if I didn’t have to look at it but could just push one key.” This observation reminded me of a smart phone app that I heard about a while ago. Several developers now offer “panic buttons” that can be set to send an automatic message to a specific number, or to dial the local 911 dispatch. By holding down a pre-set key or screen feature the app is activated. Some even offer automatic inclusion of location and identity information. Installing such an app and spending some time rehearsing activation while the phone is in a pocket or held in a defensive position would provide one with the ability to quickly contact emergency help without significantly compromising his or her attention to a developing situation. After discussing this option, all participants agreed that being able to pre-set a phone to this function would be an excellent preventative measure, and that it would lessen the chance that using their phone under duress might expose them to further risk.

When we repeated the scenario with the assumption of a panic-button enabled phone, the problem of losing eye contact with the aggressor was resolved. And each participant was much better positioned to respond aggressively or access a weapon if the aggressive partner encroached or attacked. The defensive partners’ ability to escape, attack or access weapons (in this case, plastic 12 oz bottles wrapped in a layer of padding) to enable escape was immediately and drastically improved. Given that almost everyone carries a phone around these days, panic button apps are a preventative measure that women could easily adopt and include in self protection training for scenarios that afford a moment to access the phone.

Below are links to a couple of panic button app providers. Some are available for a fee and others are free. Features also vary, so take a look and decide which one offers what might be important. Note: some provide email or text contact with preset emergency lists, while others dial 911 or a preset number. If opportunities to access and activate the phone and app are limited, 911 contact is a high priority.

Blackberry PB app

Red Panic Button app for iPhones and Android

iTunes store Silent Guardian App

Random Training Notes 17

Randy Simpson CPT — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 19:49:50 +0000

In the words of our favorite Sumo wrestlers, Eric Gaspar and Tyler Hawkins:

Train hard, eat plenty.

FSRI-STL Members Discover Gravity.

Robert Miller CPT CES — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 19:51:59 +0000

We feel like this could be an important discovery. For the time being we are calling it gravity. We’ll keep you posted if there are further developments.

Gravity

This movie requires Adobe Flash for playback.

Get More Out of Your Chishi With Proper Kinematics

Randy Simpson CPT — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 23:05:45 +0000

Back in the days when I identified myself as a karate practitioner, I enthusiastically pursued all forms of supplemental conditioning that I could find throughout the branches of the folk art. I spent a considerable amount of time researching, constructing and using various makiwara, kakiya, and weights according to the notes left by early authors such as Motobu, Funakoshi, Mabuni & Miyagi. Among these, the chishi soon became a favorite in my training regimens. The chishi is an example of a class of asymmetrical lever weights that can be found in physical culture around the world. “Indian Clubs” are another example of the concept, and Chinese martial arts may also include them in their conditioning methods (Kennedy & Guo, 2005). The early Okinawan karate culture discovered its utility as a training device, and several branches of karate adopted them as part of their “hojo undo”, or supplemental training.

Despite my enthusiasm for the chishi, my concurrent study of kinesiology eventually began to make me question the effects some of the traditional methods of usage, and my formal education in this field has only confirmed that some common practices are dangerous to the shoulder joint system.

The chishi and its relatives are useful tools for conditioning because they approximate some of the kinetic and kinematic demands of fighting and training. What exactly are these demands? If we look at the demands of self-protection (defensive and fighting skills), it becomes obvious that the kinetic and kinematic demands are anything but regular. A few standouts are:

asymmetrical loading while off balance/changing balance
production and management of force in all three planes
isometric fixation of a joint followed by explosive concentric movement to eccentric resistance or isometric fixation in a second or less. Click here for more on these terms.

Used properly, the chishi can provide resistance exercises that mimic these challenges. However, the chishi is also capable of causing and encouraging poor movement and control of the shoulder joints (particularly the glenohumeral and acromioclavicular articulations) and scapulae. Several of the standard chishi training exercises involve two movements that are especially problematic for these structures:

movement of the weight over head and behind one’s back, a la a back scratcher or a triceps kick back
internal rotation, or moving the end of the weight towards the body’s center with an extended arm

To discuss the problems that these exercises might reinforce or cause, two terms are helpful:

kinetics: movement described by the forces (weight, friction, impact, torque, , etc.) involved in an action (Hall, 2007).
kinematics: descriptions of movement quality (speed & velocity, direction & displacement, acceleration, angles, rotation) described without regards to force. “Form” or technique are often used synonymously (Hall, 2007).

These movement and control problems related to the chishi can be referred to as a result of poor kinematics. Good kinematics promote a distribution of force that works with the soft tissue and bony structure of a joint; poor kinematics promote distribution of force that work against the soft tissue and bony structures of a joint. With regards to chishi use, this is most evident by looking at two areas of the upper body: the position of the upper arm relative to the body, and the position of the scapulae relative to each other and to the spine. If the scapula protrudes out and away from the back (“winged”), the position of the humerus in the glenoid fossa (the shoulder “socket”) will be altered, and all movements involving this joint system will also be altered (Anderson, Hall & Parr, 2008) . Two major groups of muscles that act on the shoulder joint system are involved here:

Click on the links for interactive illustrations that are useful for understanding muscular actions, insertions & lines of pull:

the anterior (frontal) subsystem, consisting of the lats, pec major (and minor), subscapularis and serratus anterior, are kept overactive, short and tight, pulling the humerus past the lateral line and rolling it inward (“forward shoulder roll”), and pulling the lateral (outer) edge of the scapula forward
the posterior (rear) subsystem, consisting of the rhomboids, middle trapezius, teres minor and infraspinatus are chronically stretched and inhibited, allowing the medial border of the scapula to be pulled out and away from the spine, and the humerus to be pulled forward by the dominant anterior subsystems. Click here for more on the posterior kinetic chain.

The images below illustrate the concepts mentioned so far:

Correct position: Both scapula are retracted and the line across the top & bottom edges is more or less even

: Poor position: Both scapula are “winged”, both humerus are rolled forward and inward, and the line between the top and bottom of the scapulae is significalty uneven to compensate

Poor position: The right scapula is retracted, but the left is not; note the disproportionate angles

Poor position: The scapulae are retracted, but the right humerus is forward and inward. Here, the upper trapezius compensates for the lack of range of motion

The same compensation viewed from the side. Red line indicates how far the scapula is protruding from the back.

Correct position: Both scapula are retracted and both humerus are stabilized

Poor position: Dominant anterior subsystem pulls the humerus inwards and forwards. The red line indicates scapular displacement from the back, black line indicates approximate orientation of the humeral head, blue line indicates distance from midline.

Correct position: posterior subsystem is stabilizing humerus in a neutral position. Black line indicates approximate orientation of humeral head, blue line indicates distance from midline

The problems caused by these resulting upper arm and scapular positions fall into a few categories:

Reduced kinetic and kinematic efficiency of the shoulder region due to excessive anterior muscular tension (short and tight lats, pecs, subscapularis and serratus anterior), with the posterior muscles (rhomboids and middle trapezius) being chronically stretched and inhibited
Damage to cartilage & bone of the GH joint due to improper kinematics
Impingement (trapping) of the rotator cuff tendons between the humerus and acromial process, leading to fraying an`d likelihood of eventual failure
The posterior ligaments of the shoulder joints become loose (which is more or less permanent once it happens) while the anterior ones become frayed

Kinetic forces of movement and load bearing will be distributed unevenly and compromise the soft tissue structures involved, reducing movement quality & performance and increasing the chances of chronic injury. The longer a muscular imbalance like this persists, and the more it is encouraged with more of the same poor kinematics that created it to start with, the more performance in that area will be decreased, and the more likely a major injury will eventually occur as a result. This can be seen on a very simple level with the forward pelvic tilt and protruded chin of people who sit at a desk for long periods of time, or the shoulder hunch of gym rats who bench press every session without ever thinking of their backs.

Similarly, long term use of the chishi with poor kinematics will reinforce existing scapular/shoulder problems and creates new ones. In fact, several anecdotal sources from “old timers” in the Okinawan karate world make mention that long-time, middle aged practitioners of Goju Ryu “lose strength as they age” or have trouble raising their arms above their heads (Bishop, 1999; Cook, 2009). If we look at this observation objectively for a moment and consider it from a kinematic perspective, it does not take much creativity to see that such individuals were negatively affected by some of their conditioning practices.

Corrective Strategies

It’s safe to assume that the average practitioner of a fighting art or sport spends considerable time on activities that focus on the anterior subsystem, such as push ups, bag work, presses, and open chain (air) striking. For a student who exhibits the kinematics discussed so far, the posterior subsystem needs to be retrained. This is not intended to be an exhaustive approach to the problem, so for our purposes the muscles that retract the scapula (pull to the spine and flatten against the ribcage) will be focused on. These are the rhomboids and middle trapezius. The teres minor and infraspinatus are the two external rotators of the humerus that will be focused on (refer to the links above as needed).

The first task is to gain a proprioceptive awareness of where the humerus and scapule are in relation to the body, and relative to movement forces. If you feel the front of your arm slightly above the anterior deltoid, there is a palpable depression. This is where the tendons of the anterior subsystem converge and work to pull the humerus forward and inward. Imagine that there is a laser pointer embedded here, pointing straight up. When the scapula is retracted, the laser will point more or less at the ceiling. When the scapula is allowed to “wing”, the laser will now point something closer to 45 degrees and slightly across your body. The goal is to encourage the laser to point upwards.

All puns aside, the thumbs can also be very handy visual references for the position of your humerus. With your arm extended straight in front of you, point your thumb straight at the ceiling. If the humerus is pulled forward and inward, you may feel some discomfort in the shoulder region as you try to point the thumb up.

A partner can be useful in feeling where your scapulae may be, since trying to look at them in a mirror can change their position. Ask your partner to place her finger tips on either side of your spine, right between the shoulder blades, and push in slightly. Attempt to roll your humerus back (laser and thumbs up) and “pinch” her finger tips against your spine with your shoulder blades. When you correctly retract your scapulae, hold the position for 10-15 seconds to allow the nervous system to strengthen the muscular recruitment patterns involved.

Once these positions can be correctly achieved, an extremely helpful exercise involves retracting the scapulae against a portion of the bodyweight. A strap (or a karate belt: who knew they were actually good for something!) placed around a post provides a way to leverage body weight against the scapulae:

Grasp the strap firmly, and lean back a few degrees. The more severe the “winging”, the less the angle should be for the first few weeks
Ask a partner to watch your scapulae, and attempt to retract them. This should pull you into a slightly more acute angle than you started at. If one or both begin to wing out, ask your partner to point it out to you. If they start to slip, take a short rest and try again
Hold this position for 15-30 seconds; work up to longer holds if you find yourself starting to falter after 10-15. Repeat this 3-5 times before training and conditioning, especially if a chishi is to be involved
After achieving stabilization, perform the scapular retraction as above, then with your upper arms horizontal (elbows out), and your neck, back and hips neutral, pull against the strap so that you raise towards the pillar at a 3 second tempo. Maintain scapular retraction. Hold the top position for 3-5 seconds, then lower to a 3 count, maintaining scapular retraction at the bottom. Repeat. As above, ask a partner to indicate if your scapulae begin to protrude. Repeat 10 reps across 2-3 sets.
Consider avoiding any chishi work for a few weeks while you work on posterior subsystem activation and stretching for the anterior subsystem. “Training hard” and “quality training” are not always the same thing

Poor position: Slightly winged scapulae. The red lines indicate protrusion of the medial borders.

Correct starting position: both scapulae are retracted and both humerus are stabilized

Correct bottom position: scapulae are retracted, both humerus are stabilized Correct top position: both scapulae are retracted

Correct top position: both scapulae are still retracted, humerus are stabilized

It’s important to note that tightening the lats will not help to retract the scapula. Due to the lats’ insertion on the upper anterior humerus, contracting this muscle will simply pull the upper arm down and inward, but not back. The lat also contributes to the excessive inward rotation that we are trying to avoid, as it pulls the anterior midline of the humerus inward towards the body. Mistaking lat contraction for shoulder stabilization is a common issue, particularly in groups that do a lot of open chain (air) striking and activities which encourage forward shoulder translation (exaggerated karate’s Sanchin kata, fighting out of a high guard)

Once the scapulae and humerus are moving with proper kinematics, and you can reliably identify when they are in kinematically efficient positions, usage of the chishi may be reintroduced. Recall that the two problematic movements with a chishi involve moving it overhead and behind the back, and holding it straight in front while inward rotating it. Below are suggestions for getting the same benefits as the standard exercises, without the problems encouraged by poor kinematics :

Overhead:

Activate the posterior system with the strap retraction exercises above
Use a light (1-2 kg) chishi
Choke up on the handle as needed to reduce the angles and forces involved
Use your other arm to brace against your upper arm, so that it cannot slip behind you out of control. The upper arm should be restricted to 45 degrees.
Bend the arm at the elbow, making sure that the “laser” is pointing straight along your upper arm up as opposed to across your body. Move the chishi towards your back and then extend the arm at the elbow to return
Maintain a pace of 3 seconds per movement phase

Correct overhead starting position: scapulae are retracted, humerus is stabilized. Blue line indicates approximate orientation of humeral head.

Correct bottom position:scapulae are still retracted and humerus is still stabilized. Blue line indicates approximate orientation of humeral head.

Correct return to top: scapulae are still retracted, humerus is still stabilized. Blue line indicates approximate orientation of humeral head.

Inward rotation:

Activate the posterior system with the strap retraction exercises above
Use a light (1-2 kg) chishi
Choke up on the handle to the middle or higher, extend the straight in front
Start with the thumb pointing at the ceiling, then rotate the chishi towards your midline, no farther than 90 degrees.
Reverse and return the thumb to pointing at the ceiling
At the bottom of the movement, keep the “laser” pointing no farther than 45 degrees arcoss your body. Any farther and you are impinging (trapping & grinding) your rotator cuff tendons between the acromial process and the humerus
Maintain a pace of 3 seconds per movement phase

Correct inward rotation top position: blue lines indicate that lower arm and humeral head are neutral

: Incorrect bottom position: blue line indicates that thumb humeral head are past 90 and 45 degrees respectively

Finally, if you’ve had shoulder injuries or a long history of instability and a weak posterior/tight anterior subsystem, consider leaving the chishi out of your training until you rehab the muscle groups, or maybe permanently. There are other ways to condition that place less stress on this joint system. In the end, the question with many of these practices is: are they necessary without any alteration because of a “tradition”, or are they reflections of the demands of the activity, which can be trained with other, safer methods as needed?

Proper kinematics go a long way in enhancing your balance, stability, force production and controllable range of motion, even in challenging environments

References:

Anderson, M.K., Parr, G.P., & Hall, S.J. (2008). Foundations of athletic training, prevention, assessment and management (4th ed.).Baltimore, MD: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins.

Bishop, M. (1999). Okinawan karate (2^nd ed.). Boston, MA: Tuttle Publishing.

Cook, H. (2009). Shotokan karate a precise history (2^nd ed.). England: Page Bros.

Hall, S.J. (2007). Basic biomechanics (5^th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Kennedy, B., & Guo, E. (2005). Chinese martial arts training manuals: A historical survey. Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books.

First Aid

Gillian Russell — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 00:52:49 +0000

I was buying some new supplies for our first aid kit tonight. Next person to get scraped up at the Wash U club is getting one of these…

(Also, we have more alcohol swabs, athletic tape and neon stretchy bandage.)

Random Training Pictures

Gillian Russell — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 15:12:27 +0000

Here are a few photos from a recent FSRI (Missouri) training session.

Chris hits the jump rope. (Photo credit: Anais Miller)

Balance training with Jon. (Photo credit: Anais Miller)

Bob dancing with the heavy bag. (Photo credit: Anais Miller)

Quality Time With the Kakiya

Randy Simpson CPT — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 21:49:08 +0000

After a brutally hot summer the last few weekends have brought nice, mild weather here in VA, and what better way to enjoy it than working duck-to-counter setups on the training contraptions in the back yard:

Study looks at why second ACL surgeries fail

Gillian Russell — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 12:40:22 +0000

Apropos of our current “Injury Comeback Story“, this new study will examine the reasons 2nd ACL surgeries are more likely to fail.