martial arts with acl injury

ed6hellsfresh

i´m considering taking up kickboxing/other next year, however when i was 16 i tore my crutiate ligament in my right knee. im 18 now and in theory it should feel better now but i still notice a difference. my other knee was injured this yr too. will this prohibit my progress? i dont know if my kicks will be as strong or confident. i presume that exercises are done in the traing that will strengthen the legs?
anyone else have experience with this injury

dub1dude

You'd think that after two years it would be healed. But the truth is that your knee will never be the same again. It usually takes up to a year or more for your cruciate ligaments to heal properly and reform, but it can take longer or shorter depending on how severe it is. My advice would to go do the training but if you feel any twinge or discomfort rest it for the rest of the class. Take it easy and enjoy your training.

dlofnep

I had severe ligament and tendon damage in my ankle over the past year. In short, go see a physical therapist immediately and get your knee working back again. You could of overcompensating your weight on one leg would could leave the muscles on the other leg not as used which will affect the way you walk.

Cake Fiend

Sometimes they don't even heal at all if they're snapped in the middle. Best person to talk to would probably be a sports physio, preferably someone who knows his martial arts as well.

columok

Surely its a bad idea to expose your joints to any of the dynamic snapping forces that kickboxing or TKD would expose you to?

Wouldnt something like boxing or grappling be a better idea?

dub1dude

It seems we don't always agree Colum

Actually I'd recommend any sport or martial art.

They all have there own +'s and -'s and no I don't want another debate lads.

Matter of fact that in most high impact sports (generally high impact on joints, ligaments, tendons etc. from fast hard use) happens every day. Best advice go see a physiotherapist, get treatment on it even it feels ok. It can take a long time to heal properly. Do whatever sport or martial art that you think you can do. Obviously boxing (getting hit in the face every night) or grappling (getting choked out everynight) is not appealing to everyone. I know there's more to boxing and grappling... let's not get into that. But at the end of the day the decision is yours.

Consult your phsyio, instructor and yourself.

columok

When having had an anterior cruciate ligament injury would it not seem like common sense not to expose that joint to the kind of "snap" wear and tear you'd find in most leg striking martial arts and combat sports. Seems pretty obvious to me.

Just like you wouldnt want to play too much soccer on an acl injury.

dlofnep

It's nothing to do with which martial art will help him. He needs to go see a physio to get it sorted before he does anything. Anything he does after that will be his choice.

PJG

Hi ed6hellsfresh,

Depends on the training you’re going to be doing, from my own experience having coming initially from a rugby background and carrying a few hip and back injuries changing to KB really helped. I got some horse stance exercises from a Qi-Gong guru which helped realign hips and the core stability training that’s done in KB really helped my back.

OK sorry for babbling on, back to your knee problem, if the club you join does a lot of fresh air kicking drills you knees are done for. Try and make sure that your always either kicking a pad or an opponent. Find a good coach using modern training techniques that incorporates plyometric drills for the legs.

And as the previous post said get someone to check it over before you start and when you start listen to your body.

Best of luck……….

Colm_OReilly

Since we're not qualified phsyiotherapists or sports therapists we can't give you any solid advice. That being said, just listen to your body.

Chances are if you didn't complete a rehabilitation program you'll have excess scaring around the tear, which will inhibit movement/cause pain. You may need to break down this chronic injury, if you're injury is severe enough.

Any movement/exercise which will require explosive movements and change in direction can damage joints. Maybe check out some exercises on the SAQ website

Take Care,
Colm

ed6hellsfresh

oh believe me i did rehab and have been playing alot of bball since a pretty high impact sport. my knee is pretty good now and its stability is determined by the muscles around it. i hope to be attending crunch fitness gym on a daily basis upon arrival to ucd and realise that is something that i will have to work on,that and my flexibility. thanks for the advice on the fresh air kicks, and thanks in general for the warnings