Because I’m a very clever soul, I’ve managed to split the foot of my prosthesis:

That’s a shot showing where it’s breaking off. Generally, this is caused by too much impact work when it comes to my kicks – on the previous style of foot I had, it would typically break along the top of the fake toes, which generally wouldn’t bother me too much as I’d still be able to walk around. Given how this one’s split though, I’m inclined to lean on the side of caution as I’m keen to avoid breaking the ends off. Doing so would probably make walking around a bit awkward/dangerous with the whole falling down thing. On the other hand, it would also ensure hilarity as I randomly fell over. In my demented brain, such occasions would be accompanied by some kind of silly gag music, and possibly canned laughter. I often wonder about my sanity in reviewing the many numerous dangers that arises from the combination of my attitude and my condition 😛

Needless to say, I’m writing this blog instead of training. I feel like a bit of an idiot, but I want to be able to do the whole walking thing between now and next Thursday, which is when I go in to get it fixed, so there you go. Also, my thumb I mangled last week is still healing up and is swollen. With ice-burns because I keep insisting on putting ice on it each night to speed up the healing process. This is also a wussy complaint, but I thought I’d share anyhows 😛 It also means that I have an excuse to use one of my favourite tags, “stupid injuries” 🙂

For those interested, I’ve added a few pics to the ‘Leg Stuff’ gallery, so feel free to have a look – just various shots of the mangled foot. I still have the old College Park Tribute foot I severely mangled lying around the place – might throw some pictures up of that later on to add to the gallery.

I’m a bit behind on what’s been happening among some of the regular MA blogs I read up on at the moment, so expect some more insightful-ish blogs in due course once I’ve caught up. I find that if I have ideas floating around in my head on what I want to write about, reading other people’s blogs has a habit of giving me a kick up the arse to actually write down my thoughts!!

Bloginated Wednesday, 8th April 2009 / Prosthesis or amputee stuff
Tag-isms: prosthesis | prosthetic foot | stupid injuries

What I want to talk about today is how building my core strength through karate has helped me as an amputee.

Core strength is a term you’ll often hear dedicated martial artists talk about, but rarely one used when discussing life as an amputee. While I understood the value of the concept previously, it’s only in relatively recent years that I’ve taken the term on for what I used to think of as solely my abs, but there’s more to it than that. For those interested in a neat little definition, Wikipedia has a nice definition of what the core anatomy is (click here).

My first experience with the medical benefits of core strength built through karate was actually with my lower back – I have a family history of shonky backs, but my position is a little more accute due to the amount of abuse my lower back gets as an above-knee amputee. Where able-bodied people have the foot/ankle/knee to cushion their walking, amputees have to absorb extra pressure from walking into our lower backs. Think of it like jumping down from a few steps above the ground, and when you land on your foot, you have your legs dead straight instead of slightly bent to absorb the force from landing – that’s pretty much what we have to deal with as am amputee. Even more appropriately given the nature of a prosthesis, grab a broom, hold it vertically and slam the bare end (i.e. not the brush end :P) onto the floor – the vibrations you feel in your hand is akin to what we feel run up our stump(s) and back. There are certain variables that can alter the amount of force we receive – below-knees can absorb some extra force since they still have their knees, above-knee amputees will vary depending on the length of their stump, and there are mechanical devices (different prosthetic knees, feet and socket designs) that aim to reduce the amount of energy absorbed vertically through the stump and lower back, but for the most part, the principle remains pretty accurate.

While my prosthesis I currently have has a few technological tricks by way of the design and knee/foot equipped, remember that before I was 18 and these extra tools become available to me I was on a leg that wasn’t able to do much to soften the vertical blow dealt to my body through the simple act of walking.

So, with this in mind, its understandable that your lower back gets stressed as an amputee. Therefore you have two solutions to this – don’t walk/severely minimse your physical activity, or strengthen your body to withstand the extra abuse you deal to your body. I don’t think you can guess which path I decided to take 😉

My first experience of the medicinal benefits karate was having on my body as an amputee was when I went to the physio a number of years ago when my then-girlfriend (and now wife) had started living together – I finally went and saw someone about my back, and while my posture was generally very good, I was told that one way to improve the lower back muscles was to get into the habit of using your abs to support your back. This seemed strange to me at the time, but I was told that the muscles are complementary, and strong abs will help support your back. She encouraged me to get into the habit of tensing my abs so that I always have extra support for my back, so I decided to give it a a go. Admittedly, it didn’t help that I was also a bit vain about it and saw it as an opportunity to make my belly flatter by doing the extra exercises, but I found that it started to have positive effect on the overall strength of my lower back.

This now lends itself to how I’ve learned the importance of core strength in karate. Martial artists often talk of the importance of strengthening your core muscles, and how a strong core will lend itself to better power, technique and control. As time’s gone on, I’m a firm believer in the concept. When you punch, to extract maximum efficiency of your technique, you don’t just move your arm – you transfer the energy from the ground, up into your torso and use your core muscles to whip your shoulder, arm and fist into your target, squeeze the muscles at the last moment to gain that extra bit of dynamic power, and then use the core muscles to bring your arm back and maintain a strong center-line throughout your technique. Same for kicking – use your core to support your body and back, utilise your hips, whip the leg out, bring it back. Grappling and throwing are nothing without a strong core – without it, you’ll ruin your back. All techniques in martial arts benefit from a strong core, and the sooner you learn this, the better you’ll be for it.

So what’s the catch with this as an amputee? Well, I’ve found myself utilising my core muscles all the time to support and strengthen my body. When I get out of bed in the morning, I squeeze my abs and use these muscles and my arms to sit up to avoid placing pressure on my back. When I hop around without my leg on, my abs clench every time I hit the ground the prevent a jolt to my lower back. Every time I lift something, I contract my muscles to absorb the extra strength I need to draw from my back since I can’t use two legs (well, knees :P) to assist in lifting a weighted object. When I twist and turn my body when I’m on crutches, I use my core muscles to control my extension and insulate my back. And of course, in class I use my core extensively to improve my balance, control, power, technique and assist my back at all times, whether it be holding a stance or having take-downs or counters performed on me. In fact, I’ve found that even the motions of good form in practicing your stances does a terrific job of stretching your back, loosening the muscles and then building up their strength in supporting your weight.

So, core strength is obviously a very important part of maintaining and strong and healthy back for all people, but for amputees, there is an incredible amount of good it can do for you. At the very least, good core strength will help protect your lower back from the jarring pain you get from walking, but there is so much broader application for using your core muscles in everyday life, and everything you do physically can benefit from it.

While martial arts isn’t alone in being an activity that can radically strengthen your core, I find that the varied techniques and exercises you learn in a good system can be used to develop your core, and the different ways you learn to increase the mastery of your physical behaviour is a huge benefit not only to amputees in extracting maximum potential from their situation, but to all people.

… and now that I’ve written it and looked over it twise, I hope it made sense and wasn’t too jumbled 😛

Bloginated Friday, 3rd April 2009 / Prosthesis or amputee stuff
Tag-isms: amputation | Core strength | prosthesis | stump | stupid injuries | tips

Normally I’d be gearing up to train about now, but I was falling asleep at my desk, so I’m home taking it easy and having an early one tonight. This will likely ensure I get paid out next week at training, but that’s fair enough 😛 Ever since I injured myself through lack of concentration due to sleepiness at training a few years back, I’m always hesitant to train if I’m feeling particularly knackered, so I err on the side of caution these days 😛 Anywho, I digress…

Today I wanted to talk about how doing karate has, for me, taught me how to walk again. This may be a bit of a misnomer, as some may think that doing martial arts was part of my rehabilitation post-amputation; it isn’t, as I had my leg amputated when I was a baby, so I learned to walk as a kid. What I’m getting at is how karate has taught me how to walk *again*.

I’ll explain – as an amputee, you compensate for the lack of muscle movement and control as much as possible. For a below-knee amputee, they utilise their existing knee to a greater degree than an able-bodied person would in order to compensate for the lack of movement you normally derive from your ankle, and the act of shifting pressure and distribution of weight you use the various muscles in your foot for. A below-knee amputee with a good gait can obtain quite a high degree of movement from mastering the use of their prosthesis and their remaining muscles – I’ve seen some footage of Ron Mann doing some work with pads and a bag, and the guy’s awesome despite being a below-knee amputee (if you’re interested in reading more, I’ve linked to his MySpace site and blog on my side panel).

For above-knee amputees, it’s a little different. We have to use our hips to compensate for the lack of a knee, and rely on our stump to pick up the remaining walking motion with our gait. I was watching on… Enough Rope with Andrew Denton a few years back, where they had an above-knee amputee and a below-knee amputee on the show talking about their conditions. It was the first time I’d heard amputees from both sides of the spectrum talk about their conditions, and I didn’t realise that above-knees had to put a higher amount of energy into their gait to achieve the equivalent movement that a below-knee would. That would explain why I look a bit unco compared to the likes of Ron!

Anywho, the preamble is meant to set up discussion on walking. So, as an above-knee amputee with a reasonably good gait for my condition to begin with, my typical method for walking was to simply plod around the place without paying much attention to how I walked, except to try and minimise the limp 😉 However, over the years I’ve found that I have gradually evolved my complete method of walking. I’m no longer plodding around – instead, I’ve learned to use my remaining leg to a much greater degree to assist me in walking. Before where I’d simply walk or plod everywhere, I now use my calf muscles, knee, ankle and all the muscles running along my foot and in my toes to walk with far more control and less tension. Instead of each stepping-phase being a case of stepping with my right foot, step with the left and try and match up as the body falls forward as fast as practical, I can now take measured action preceding the step with my prosthesis, gently arc my body over my center line, and gently ease myself into the next step.

Karate has also had an immeasurable improvement with balancing on my left leg. Walking as an amputee is kinda like walking on slits; the extra problem you get as an above knee is that your stilt has a free-swinging hinge in the middle of it, and the wrong move will see you fall over in a dramatic, if not amusing, fashion. From doing karate, I’ve gradually improved the ability to balance myself on my left leg, move my center of balance, and be able to control my body by twisting myself while pivoting on my artificial foot. The simple act of kicking with my real leg and holding myself up with my prosthesis has meant that I’ve gradually enhanced my balance as a general rule, but particularly on the fake leg.

The end result, as far as walking goes, is that I have a two-pronged attack on my previous method of walking – my control has become far greater with my real leg, and I have learned “flexibility”, enhanced balance and more control over my prosthesis, meaning that I can walk in a way that places less strain on my body while achieving a far superior gait.

So my advice for other amputees out there is to give martial arts a go – it will be hard work training your body to work with your prosthesis, but if you can stick with it, the results are not only beneficial for all the usual reasons (fitness, confidence, self defense), but it will also assist in the most basic of movements – walking.

So there we go, I’ve made a contribution that should ease my guilt for not being at training tonight 🙂

Bloginated Wednesday, 18th March 2009 / Prosthesis or amputee stuff
Tag-isms: Karate | prosthesis | stump | Technique

Source: Gisoku no Jutsu
Original post date: 24 August, 2007

Part of being an above-knee amputee is accepting that it’s tricky learning new techniques and mastering ones you’ve already been taught – granted this is difficult for anyone trying to master any kind of martial art, but when you’ve lost a limb (or part thereof) in a discipline that is designed to work your entire body in perfect harmony, you get some tricky stuff coming up. To this day I still can’t fire off a decent round kick with my right leg as I have very little support from my prosthesis on my left – I don’t have a foot to subtly shift my centre of balance, I don’t have an ankle to control the pivoting of my body, and I don’t have a knee to take the weight and securely leverage and assist my hips in swinging through a powerful kick; in contrast, I can feel all of this working in natural coordination when I kick with my fake leg and accordingly stand using my right. The best analogy for someone able-bodied is to imagine that they have to kick with their good leg whilst they balance on a stilt attached to their hip with a hinge in the middle in place of a knee – not only do you have to balance yourself by default, but if you shift your weight a little you’ll go arse-up as the hinge will cause the leg to collapse on itself. It means that your stance isn’t as stable as you would like, and its from your stance that you deliver true power.

On a technical note, there are legs with knee units that can counter the ‘collapsability’ of the knee unit I use; the side-affect of such a knee is that by doing this, I lose the ability to swing my left leg around and snap it back like a nunchaku. The knee I use is better suited to the way I use my leg, and it has the benefit of being servicable locally.

So, technicalities aside, I’ll get to the point of this post. Due to my physical condition, there has been a bit of self-taught/self-learnt techniques, or rather, variations of existing techniques better suited to my body. I’ve started working these out over time, but I thought it might be a good opportunity to start to write about them, if I haven’t mentioned them already 😛

The easiest (and the first) variation I learnt came early on, after I’d been training for about 6+ months and I had my boxing station to help with my training. When breaking down a simple round-kick, the move consists of raising your leg (bent) so that it’s horizontal to the floor, swinging through with your hips and letting your leg swing out, quickly retract it once it hits full extension, then return to your stance. The variant on this technique is what I call a ‘torque kick’; the principle movements are the same, but it employs a greater swinging action by using your supporting knee and your hips to generate a much greater level of impact.

I’ll explain by using myself as a reference – remember that my right leg is the good leg, and the left is my above-knee prosthesis; I’m not sure if this will be of much use to below-knee amputees, but I thought it might still be interesting in case the technique some how helps them. First up, start off in a short fighting stance. Slide your right foot across a little to your left, keeping your foot pointed straight ahead like you normally would in a short fighting stance; keep your left leg in the same spot. Doing this should twist your hips very slightly.

Next, keep your right leg in the same position, but twist your right foot further to your right about 10 – 15 degrees and turn your hips slightly clockwise. This movement is what earns this technique its name – you’re literally holding your body in a twisted position and have all the muscles in your leg, hips and torso torqued nice and tight.

Next, release all of the built-up pressure and swing the leg out using your stump, leg, hips and torso (in that relative order) into the target. The result, with practice, should be an incredibly powerful round-kick into your target. When I got the hang of the move, I spent a good 10-20 minutes pounding my boxing bag with the kick repeatedly, using both the foot and the steel pole of the ‘shin’ without the padded cover as striking points. The technique proved so effective that I actually tore the bag apart, sending shit everywhere. It was supremely awesome in the heat of the moment, but it also meant I had to grab another bag 😛

All that being said, the technique is certainly not without fault. It’s difficult to master control of the technique, making it extremely dangerous if performed outside of the appropriate circumstances, and never, ever use it when sparring; never.

Secondly, the pressure it places in your joints (ankle/knee/hips/lower back) is quite high and without the proper precations and care, you could do yourself a pretty serious injury to these vital parts of your good leg and your lower back – don’t say you haven’t been warned!!

Finally, if you don’t connect with your target and you haven’t mastered control of the technique (which is difficult as it relies un unleashing a large portion of stored energy), you’ll be leaving yourself open for a nasty counter attack. Again, don’t let me tell you that you’ve been warned 😛

I was going to write about a couple of other variations I’ve worked on, but I’ve waffled on enough for one post 😛 The names I’ve attributed to some of the other variations include the spinning-heel strike (like a modified roundhouse kick, but taking advantage of the strength of the artificial foot), modified jumping round kick, inside-out hook kick, jumping inside-out hook kick and modified-ish jumping roundhouse kick (possibly evolving into a modified tornado kick – we’ll see how it goes).

I’m hoping to actually throw together some footage of some of these techniques as well as some basics that show how amputees can perform and control a number of the basic moves if people are interested, and will probably fire up a blog and send out a bulletin whenever I get around to doing it. I’ll probably get it done whenever I manage to get Wifey to take some training photos, which we’ve been meaning to do for ages. I’m keen to share all I can about how these excellent moves can be modified to suit the limits of what amputees can do. I think what I’m afraid of is coming off like some kind of faux-expert, when I’m a student through-and-through, and am always learning from my teachers and from personal experience. Humility is the best trait one can have when doing martial arts, and my fear is that this won’t be reflected if I throw some footage together or what-not. Having had to learn a lot of this myself through trial and error, I’m hoping that by showing it in motion it’ll be easier for people to understand.

Bloginated Wednesday, 18th February 2009 / Karate, MySpace blogs, Prosthesis or amputee stuff, Technique
Tag-isms: 2007 | Karate | prosthesis | Technique | training

Source: Gisoku no Jutsu
Original post date: 30 March, 2007

Well, it’s been an interesting week! I’ll keep this one short and snappy tho!!

Okay, first up – no karate on Wednesday night, as the silicone liner has been a real pain lately and I tore some skin off the back of my stump on Wednesday during the day… again. This being said, I managed to get an appointment to see the guys who take care of my leg for Thursday, and we have moved to a different shaped silicone liner, and its working an absolute treat! I didn’t wear the leg on Wednesday evening and didn’t wear it on Thursday to give the stump a rest, and the muscles are waking back up, but on the whole it is soooo much better!

News number two – I had a trip to the emergency room at the hospital on Wednesday night at about 10:30pm! I finished brushing my teeth, and within a few minutes, my mouth was swelling up, the right side of my face was going numb and my mouth has this crazy stinging feeling. The docs were mystified and the inflamation went down naturally. Got home at 3:30am. Ouch, tough night, but glad nothing worse happened and that it worked out. Props to Wifey for keeping me company, and to my mum for giving u a lift to the hospital 🙂

Will post more stuff next week – I’m outtie for the weekend!

Bloginated Friday, 13th February 2009 / MySpace blogs, Prosthesis or amputee stuff
Tag-isms: 2007 | prosthesis | silicone liner | stump | stupid injuries