Pete's Corner

As the years have gone by, technology, living and medicine have advanced... conversely the planet and human health has been deteriorating. Can we heal ourselves? Are we able to carry out the tasks we wish to do pain free on a day to day basis? No.

Chinese philosophy recognises the importance of balance and harmony between people and the environment. Hundreds of years ago people were able to live to the age of 50 without even having an illness or disease and live a longer, more energetic life. Now that medicine has advanced over the years along with the technology and way of living, some people are getting ill at an age of 45 and some dying at the age of 65.

The Chinese philosophy believes in the Tao, The Way of Life. This is of understanding the balance of Ying (Cold) and Yang (Hot) as the transformation energies of the Universe. Healthcare was seen as a high priority thousands of years ago, but as the years have gone by our health and environment has been taken for granted. To keep in good health, people before in China would practice Dao-in (energy conducting movements) which consisted of stretching, massage and breathing to promote energy flow and meditation to help maintain and harmonize themselves with the Universe. They also ate a balanced diet at regular times, woke up and went to bed the correct time, avoided overstressing their bodies and minds and refrained from overindulgence of all kinds.

As time has changed, people’s way of life has also changed; people drink wine like water, drain their body’s essence source of energy known as Jing and deplete their natural Qi (energy). People now days don’t know how to keep healthy, at balance and look after their Qi. Poor lifestyle, diet and sleeping improperly affect us along with our emotions. When an illness occurs we immediately go to the doctors to find a cure for the present illness (symptoms i.e. runny nose sore throat), but the treatment is a temporary cure. Chinese Medicine looks at an illness from a deeper perspective, identifying its true cause such as dealing with the root of the problem. Once the root of the illness is identified along with its causes, Tui Na and Acupuncture – Chinese Medicine tools are used to help tackle the problem.

When participating in Martial Arts, an individual always wants to be in good health at all times. But this is a constant challenge in its self to carry out let alone building the stamina, endurance and learning the techniques of the art in class. Humans perform better when in good health, so for us to be in good health a lot of factors have to be considered. The factors are listed below along with how they can affect the Martial Arts training and learning:

Diet
Not eating the correct food resulting in a stomach upset (vomiting, wind, nausea), not eating before the Martial Arts class or during the day.

Endurance/Stamina
Lack of Qi (energy) or Jing in the body would not help facilitate personal performance within the class. Lack of Qi would deplete the internal organs and result as an imbalance in the body.

Mental state
From being stressed from a hard day at work to having an argument before class will affect your mental and physical performance, further not only disrupting the flow of your Qi (energy) in your body but also making it difficult to access your physical tools (legs, arms) and techniques.

Injuries
Having a small knock against the door or table will cause a shock to your body and cause stagnation around the bruised or swelled area. This causing discomfort in class and again affecting your performance

To get the best out of your Martial Arts the above should be kept at balance and pain free. In Chinese Medicine, pain can be caused in the body by stagnation, trauma or an imbalance in the body disrupting the flow of Qi in our body causing aches and pains. We should be living a pain free healthy life especially when participating in any Martial Arts exercise let alone the day-to-day activities.

It is a challenge to keep your body at balance, especially with the day to day lives we live. For example: a Martial Artist who attends his/her class in the evening from a stressful day at work may find it difficult to distress him/herself from their tough day. This would affect their mental and physical state during the class, further affecting their overall performance and progression level to accelerate, their mind and body would be at an imbalance. Whereas if he/she was balanced before class, then he/she would be able to apply themselves effectively to the art, which will further help to enjoy the class and progress.

Particular Acupressure points can be worked on to treat Martial Artist before and after their class. From whether you’re lacking in energy during or after class to having lack of motivation or having built up emotions inside of you i.e. fear, worry, grief or anger.

As a Martial Artist we are prone to injuries, those injuries being as small as a pulled muscle in the neck to further not being able to correctly stand move your neck thus further affecting your posture. A small injury like this can lead to a big injury were later affecting the way you walk or the movement in your hips. In the long run this will cause an imbalance in your body structure and affect your Martial Arts. But to prevent this from happening Martial Artist would benefit from having Tui Na or Acupuncture treatment before and after their intense Martial Arts class.

Organ Roles

With Traditional Chinese Medicine using the five element cycle, all the organs can have positive effects towards Martial Arts, for example:

LIVER/GALL BLADDER = Moving Qi around the body, remove any stagnation. Strengthen Ligaments and tendons, control anger.

KIDNEY/BLADDER = Promoting bone marrow, strengthening bones, maintain Jing, control fear.

LUNGS/LARGE INTESTINE = Inhaling of air, strengthen Kong Qi; help fight colds and flu’s.

STOMACH/SPLEEN = Help Make Qi, control worry, clear dampness, tone muscles.

PERICARDIUM/SMALL INTESTINE/HEART/SAN JAO = Control blood pressure, calms mind, stabilises all emotions, fever, Cardiac Rest.

Each organ has its power point which can be treated alone to be strengthened when needed, this can only be carried out by a qualified Tui Na or Acupuncture Practitioner. Along with these organs and points that can be worked on, dietary suggestions can be given to particularly help an organ or help overall with energy levels, relaxing to sleep or emotional problems, this enhancing your ability has a Martial Artist and being able to do your day to day tasks pain free.

Train hard, train well, train in good health,

Pete Lall.