Extremely Painful – and Beneficial
I wrote some time ago about processes that help to speed healing the regular knots and bruises that one acquires through training and in fights. These treatments are really indispensable for me in my desire to fight very frequently (generally 3 times per month). It’s inaccurate to say I’m never injured – it’s more true that I’m always injured – but I don’t allow it to affect my mind or training, so I take Bill Parcells’ words to heart that there’s a difference between playing hurt and playing injured (“don’t tell me about the pain, just deliver the damn baby!”) and basically if you’re hurt you keep playing, if you’re injured you sit out and suck it up with resting for days or weeks. I don’t do that second part, so I’m hurt. And always being hurt somewhere, I just manage it. Sometimes knots will persist for a while, like this one just below my right elbow, which I got from blocking a kick a few fights ago and then kept training and fighting on for a few more weeks.
That’s when I have to turn to Nook, who is expert at a very painful massage where he uses the bone of his forearm and elbow to drive the swelling out so fresh blood can circulate and recovery can take place. He also knows a lot about the “Sen” lines in the body (like meridians or chi) and can find where painful blockages are that are not directly located at the area of soreness. It’s crazy, he’ll start feeling around beyond the swelling and I think to myself, “well he’s getting colder, no pain there” and then BAM! he’ll find somewhere farther up the arm (or leg if it’s my shin) that is just crazy painful and I didn’t even know. But it expedites healing like nothing else. “Doctor Nook” and hot water.
click to read my post on healing knots and bruises
