Oh the knee pains.

Hello people,

I'm just enquiring to see if anyone has ever had the knee pains im currently experiencing.

The problem is when trying to do the side splits i get a pain in the left knee, its at the side of the left knee, sometimes the left side of the knee, sometimes the right side of the knee. I've been reading alot on knee injuries online and couldn't find anything that matched the posistion of the pain. I've had the problem for about 9 months now. I've been to the doctors and he says its ligament pain. I've come to a conclusion that it's the result of not chambering the knee high enough when doing a round house kick with the left knee.

But now im wondering if it's the literal meniscus of the left knee, as the pain seems to be at the side of the knee cap.

Anybody had these pains? if so then could you please give me some infomation on how you overcame it.


Thanks very much

Obviously I can't be 100% but I would bet serious money that you need to do some serious strengthening.

It sounds as though you are not strong enough for kicks and splits.

Do you weight train?

If not get down the gym, get someone to show you some compound excercises including:

Deadlifts to strengthen the back.
Squats to strenghten the legs.
Leg curls to strengthen hamstrings (not really a compound exercise but will help stabalize your knee).

Once you begin to improve on these you can add lunges (front and side) as well as adductor pulldowns.

This will need to be complemented with a strong stomach so plenty of crunches, situps and reverse crunches to balance you hipflexor and abdomen strength with your back.

These leg exercises should stabalise your knees and stop the pain.

For a more detailed information visit http://www.stadion.com or look at the Tom Kurz articles on this site.

(as an aside you might want to start doing Hindu squats - excellent for the knees, try and work your way up to 100 repetitions (with no weight)).

Thank you so much for the imput, but yes i don't have particually strong legs. For a while now i wondered weather that was the problem so ive been doing light knee strengthnin.

I'm going to the doctors again in the next few days and im going to ask if this could be the case.

It's quite annoying though because i cant help but feel as if im quitting [IMG]http://www.fightingarts.com/forums/ubb/frown.gif[/IMG]

I love martial arts and it's a real pain in the *ss to think that. So i keep telling myself its the sensible thing to do, to stop and wait till pains are gone.

But thanks once again!

The worst knee pain I felt was doing a flying side kick to recover in the front stance. My back leg was turned wrong and I stressed the inside of my knee. It felt like by leg popped in and out(Which I doubt) it was extremely painful. How are your stances, are you aggrevating it without realizing it?

Jeniko:

If you start with Hindu squats this should strengthen your legs enough to rid you of this pain (check with the doc first though).

If you are unsure of hindu squats this is an extract from a Tom Kurz article 'Stretch Yourself 22: Martial Arts and the squat' (available at ww.stadion.com ):

[QUOTE] Hindu squat. Start standing up, back straight, head up, chest up, feet hip-width apart. Feet point forward or slightly out—whatever feels good on the knees. Reach forward with your arms and then pull back as in a rowing motion until your fists are even with your chest. As you pull your arms back, inhale. Start to exhale and squat down letting your arms fall behind your hips. As you squat your heels raise off the floor so you are squatting on the balls of your feet. Squat as low as you can but do not bounce at the bottom. Rise up, simultaneously reaching forward with your arms as you inhale. The breathing pattern is opposite that of standard squats (without those rowing arm movements) and squats with weights. Throughout the whole squat keep your back straight. Repeat the cycle.

Hindu squats should be done fairly fast and in large numbers. One hundred Hindu squats should take less than 3 minutes. At the beginning though, you should do as many as you can do comfortably and go as slow as it takes.

There are many varieties of squats without weights for developing flexibility, agility, jumping ability, or muscle endurance. In all squats without weights, your back should be straight, and as close to vertical as possible. Generally, these squats are done on the ball of the foot, except those done for increasing flexibility. There is not enough space here to describe these varieties. The Hindu squat will suffice as it is the safest one for beginners.

[/QUOTE]


[This message has been edited by UKfightfreak (edited 03-28-2003).]

Thank you very much for your feed back, quite soon aswell.

Scholar: I never seem to have any pain when doing stances, which is a good thing at least [IMG]http://www.fightingarts.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif[/IMG]

It's so annoying though, all of today i just wanted to go into my garage and practise on my bag out there [IMG]http://www.fightingarts.com/forums/ubb/frown.gif[/IMG]


Thank you very much once again UKfight freak for your help and support, very much appreciated.

thanks

I recentally bought the video by tom kurz and regarding my knee problems it's helped me alot. The knee pains are definatly going from squatting with weights. It's also very helpful in getting to know how kicking from cold works and which muscles it effects. The good thing about it is it goes into much detail on all the excersises and recommendations it makes.

this may be a strength problem , but maybe a technique problem
yes the strengthing will help but also look at the pivoting on both legs when you are executing your kicks, if when kicking with your right leg you are not pivoting correctly you could be loading the joint on your left knee . it might not be the cause but its worth the examination
i don't mean to critisize but sometimes we are our own worst enermies

[This message has been edited by viper aus (edited 06-04-2003).]

I know what you mean, but the strange thing is when kicking the pain is in the kicking leg and not the supporting leg.

After many recommendations of Kurz method, i decided to order the video. So the past few weeks / months ive been spending time strenghtening the knee's which is proving quite sucessful at stopping the knee pain.

Sounds familiar. Good to hear your gradually getting over it. However, for me, squatting aggravated my knees, so I'm sticking to the Physical Therapy exercises my doc gave me. I figure in about two months they'll be right on again.

If you'd like some scans of these moves, just email me: shodan_v2.0@lycos.com .

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Jeniko:
After many recommendations of Kurz method, i decided to order the video. So the past few weeks / months ive been spending time strenghtening the knee's which is proving quite sucessful at stopping the knee pain.[/QUOTE]

Glad to hear it worked for you!

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Vash:
Sounds familiar. Good to hear your gradually getting over it. However, for me, squatting aggravated my knees, so I'm sticking to the Physical Therapy exercises my doc gave me. I figure in about two months they'll be right on again.

If you'd like some scans of these moves, just email me: shodan_v2.0@lycos.com .[/QUOTE]


It might be worth trying hindu squats - excellent for knee strenthening.
www.mattfurey.com

Thanks for the link. About the Gama Fitness book; is it worth it?

I haven't bought it myself but I have heard its very, very good.

Although he is a bit OTT with the adverts it is worth having a look around the site and picking up some tips.

I will probably get the combat conditioning book as soon as I can afford it.

Since buying Kurz video, ive been doing squats and the knee pains have pretty much gone. And plus the fact that my legs have become so much stronger than they used to be. They used to be fatty but now they seem to be just muscle so the effort has paid off [IMG]http://www.fightingarts.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif[/IMG]

I think the problem i had was the technique, and a weakness in the knee, but i seem to have corrected that now.

thx for the help people [IMG]http://www.fightingarts.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif[/IMG]

My tip? get Kurz video...

Excellent stuff - glad to hear you have done so well from it...

Now every time I mention kurz I won't get a bunch of posts rolling their eyes - I can just refer them to this post!