Some Pretty Cool Quotes

"Pain is the best instructor, but no one wants to go to his class." -Hong Hi Choi, Founder of Taekwon-Do

"The more you sweat in training, the less you will bleed in battle."-Navy Seals Motto

"We tottered together upon the brink of the fall. I have some knowledge, however, of baritsu, or the Japanese system of wrestling. I slipped through his grip." -The Return of Sherlock Holmes

"In walking, just walk. In sitting, just sit. Above all, don't wobble."-Yun-men

"The test of a good teacher is not how many questions he can ask his pupils that they will answer readily, but how many questions he inspires them to ask him which he finds it hard to answer."-unknown

"Children never give wrong answers, they merely answer a different question." - Unknown

"I have learned - that you can get by on charm for about fifteen minutes. After that, you'd better know something." - unknown

"I have learned - that you can keep going long after you can't." unknown

"Karate is a form of martial arts in which people who have had years and years of training can, using only their hands and feet, make some of the worst movies in the history of the world." - Dave Barry"

"Judge me by my size do you? Size Matters Not."-Yoda

"Go to Safeway, buy a six pack of 'harden up' and drink the fucken lot!" - Paul Smith

Ulnar Collateral Ligament Injuries of the Thumb

Sorry Jeroen I can't help myself....... Hope I got it right this time!

Introduction

Injury to the ulnar collateral ligament of the thumb is fairly common. This strong band of tissue is attached to the joint at the bottom of the thumb where the thumb connects to the palm of the hand.

Anatomy

The joint that is affected at the bottom of the thumb is called the metacarpophalangeal, or MCP, joint. Any hard force on the thumb that pulls the thumb away from the hand (called a valgus force) can cause damage to the ulnar collateral ligaments. When the thumb is straight, the collateral ligaments are tight and stabilize the joint against valgus force. If the force is too strong, the ligaments are damaged. They may even tear completely. A complete tear is also called a rupture.

When the collateral ligaments tear, the MCP joint becomes very unstable. It is especially unstable when the thumb is bent back. If one of the ligaments pulls away from the bone and folds backwards, it won't be able to heal in the correct position. When this happens, surgery is needed to fix the ligament.

F*#%@EN INJURIES!!!!!!!

Just when you think you're rolling along training hard and making some progress (not to mention loving every minute of it!) BAM, something gives!!!!! The ligament on the inside of my right knee has been giving me grief for about 2 weeks now. Training today went well however. Took it easy with the knee but still felt soreness when it was in a particular position, defending a guard pass attempt! I must have been going to well defending Rick's attempts to pass my guard as he decided to squash my previously injured left thumb with his arse!!!! Bloody WOFTAM.....

Which leads to my favourite saying: "Go to Safeway, buy yourself a six pack of Harden Up and drink the fucken lot!!!!"

Oh by the way, thanks guys for the knee guards!

The AC Joint.... Friend or Foe?

I find my AC Joints switch allegiences on a daily basis! Usually on a Tuesday and a Saturday!!! I played chiropractor/doctor and found a bit of info in relation to AC injuries and the one I reckon I suffer from! Jeroen will correct me if I'm wrong!!!!

Impingement Syndrome is the most common non-sport related rotator cuff injury. If the supraspinatus tendon passes beneath the acromion, the bone on top of the shoulder, the tendon and the lubricating tissue, or the bursa, is then pinched when the arm is raised into a forward or upward position. Repetitive impingement can make the tendons and the bursa inflamed, resulting in the disease referred to as impingement syndrome.

Factors that put people at a high risk for impingement syndrome:

• Shape/Thickness of the acromion : as discussed in the biology section, the shoulder is a ball and socket type joint, the acromion being the socket, and the humeral head being the ball. In some people the space between the undersurface of the acromion and the humeral head is very narrow, and thus is more likely to pinch the supraspinatus tendon.

• Bone Spur : Some people have bone spurs on the front of the acromion, which increases the risk of impingement syndrome.

• Muscle Imbalance : Either by injury or atrophy, the muscles in the shoulder may become imbalanced, which affects the shoulder motion, especially in the forward direction. Any change in motion increases the risk of impingement.

The symptoms of impingement syndrome are as follows:

• Pain : Impingement syndrome begets an aching pain in both the front of the shoulder and also the outer side of the upper arm. The pain will increase on contact as it is tender to the touch, and also certain movements will result in sharp searing pain.

• Weakness : Due to imbalance, and improper shoulder movement, the shoulder will become weak.

• Lack of Mobility : Some movements may pinch the tendon in such a way that the shoulder will not be able to rotate sufficiently to allow the arm to complete the action. Other motions may simply be too painful.

Impingement syndrome breaks down the supraspinatus tendon near the attachment to the humerus bone. In most severe cases, the tendon may pull away from the bone completely.

Wednesdays.....

Trained with Jeroen today and he gave me some great pointers for defending guard passes. It seems I've been turning the wrong way and really getting myself into a bad position! Me being the youtube addict that I am managed to find a nice video of a brown belt defending guard pass attempts by a purple belt. The purple belt looked very familiar.... I'm pretty sure he was Jeroen's first roll last Saturday! Anyway the brown belt does a very nice job (or so i reckon but then what do I know?) of defending. See what you reckon...

2007 Australian Jiu Jitsu Champions Cup

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

Wow what a day!!! At the 2007 Australian Jiu Jitsu Champions Cup at the Aquatic Centre today Jeroen and Jason both took out gold medals in their respective divisions. Loaded the car up with my 3 kids and Dave and his 2 and off we went. We got there just after Jason won with a flying armbar (I can't believe I missed it!!) I was revved up to see Jeroen compete! This is the first jiu jitsu competition I've been to so I was looking forward to seeing how they are run, etc. Pretty relaxed but a bit all over the place as far as whose fighting who and when! But what do i know? Regardless I really enjoyed myself and seeing how I had my 3 young kids with me, thats saying something. Niles and Chris from Mornington were there and it was great to see the guys from Extreme Chadstone and Ringwood competing and overall they all did very well. Jeroen flowed well and squashed the absolute shit out of his competitors, dominating every match and winning two gold medals. Well done again to all!!!!