If you are anything like me you want to train all of the time, and your training is pretty intense. Unfortunately, this sometimes leads to injuries. Unlike playing on a sports team, we do not have a coach to bench us and tell us to take it easy. At the Academy of Kempo Martial Arts I have great instructors. However, it is not their job to tell me to sit out of a class because of an injury. That decision rests on my shoulders. So when we are injured the question becomes should we continue training, or should we sit out. My answer is this, you should continue training but only on your own; during class its time to sit out.

            There have been many times where I wanted to continue training even though I am injured. I think “It’s not that bad” or “I can change or adapt techniques to work around my injury.” This may be true, but it isn’t just my training that I am affecting…it’s my training partner’s.

            Class time is not only when we refine our skills, it is when we help others refine theirs. Class is when we get to apply the techniques we have learned so that we actually learn how to use them. A partner must be able to attack at us as if it were a real situation. It takes a good training partner to become a good martial artist. If I am injured, I am no longer a good training partner. If I have to modify a technique (or worse yet have my partner modify a technique) to work around an injury, I am a bad training partner. I am asking my partner to sacrifice their training time and progress for me.

            Now, am I saying that you can’t train at all while injured? No. I am saying that your training should be individual training. You can practice all the motions that you are capable of doing on your own. Focus on technique. Workout all the parts of your body that aren’t injured. Just sitting and watching class can be very beneficial. You can pick up a lot of information by observing. You can even practice the technique with the class as they are learning it. But when it is time to pair up and apply the technique, its best for you to sit out or continue working on refining the technique individually. You want your partner to be at their best so that you can become your best... do the same for them.