Movement Magicians - What to do when parts wear out?
(aka Martial Artists, Dancers, Yoga Practitioners, Gymnasts & Any other kind of athlete!)
Hips are one of the most common major areas of concern, FORTUNATELY the surgical treatment with prosthetic replacements is wildly successful and easier to recover from than many other kinds of joint repairs/replacements.
In 2003 I had a total hip replacement and wondered if my martial arts career was at an end. REALLY? I wondered. I had very few guides to go by, I just decided to keep trying. Fortunately, 7 years later I’ve had very few problems doing Shotokan karate and Shaolin kungfu with my artificial hip.
My doctors tell me I should limit myself only to slow internal martial arts like TaiQi. Fortunately my Karate and Kungfu masters disagree. They convinced me to keep doing the faster styles that I enjoy. Note to self: get new doctors.
Master M. at my school has had both of his hips replaced. He just got the second one done in March. The absolute difference from then til now is amazing. He can grapple, turn, move and just plain walk better now. Whereas, he couldn't do any of this before. The pain was just incredible for him and he could barely walk. He's a heck of a lot nicer now too, since the pain has gone away.
As for limitations, you'll have to find that out for yourself, everyone is different plus you are still very young. Once you've healed, start slow and see what you can or can't do. Just make sure to listen to your doctor and heal. You don't want to mess yourself up by starting too soon.
Master M. can't do some of the kicks or go very high or go down on his knees, but he's in his 50's and put off doing the 2nd one for far too long.
It's not just TKD . Bill Wallace and Chuck Norris both had hip replacements. I heard Don Wilson opine that anatomically hips are designed more for impact with legs at normal walking and running angles. Now, for instance when you do a side kick on a heavy bag that angle is different and part of what takes a toll over time. In one of He Il Cho's books he say to never use a bag over 60lbs because that is enough to develop and test power and heavier bags provide unnecessary impact resistance. Other factors like mine was a congenital misalignment I did no know I had (although I never knew why I had such trouble getting heel higher than toes on side kick until I learned of this) and Orthopedic MD told me this leads to hip issues later - and this was before I was aware of such issue. TKD has a lot of jumping compare to some TMAs so, those landing impacts play a part as well. So, good training surfaces, lessening impact repetitions and similar things can reduce the chance of hip issues.
Tantric approaches to sexuality can be quite powerful and healing, because they connect the body, mind and spirit of a person together, and help bring about a balance that ends dis-ease of all sorts. Unfortunately in our current state of societal and cultural ignorance, we spend our childhood and adolescence afraid of our bodies, and trained to be fragmented in our thoughts and relationships. We have NO idea how to deal with our pleasure systems in healthy and balanced ways, no idea how to manage hardship, and endure pain, or even what a healthy relationship is. Tantric work can help set things right.
