Since I've occasionally been a poster child for ignoring doctor's advice, this one might seem a bit strange to people who know me! I have trained when I was sick, trained when I was injured, all against doctor's advice. I did it out of my own stubbornness and the occasional conviction that I knew better. I also did it with the full knowledge and acceptance that if I was wrong, I was probably going to make things a lot worse.
And often, that was the case.
So in terms of general training, I will emphasize that if you have sought a doctor's opinion for some physical condition, and you have reason to trust and respect that doctor, then it's probably in your best interests to heed their advice, even though it might really restrict you for awhile. As I've gotten older, I've gotten better about this, primarily because I got sick and tired of being constantly sick, tired, or in pain, and finally realized that sometimes you just can't do all the things you'd normally do.
Pregnancy has had a very positive effect on me where this is concerned. While I am perfectly willing to risk my own health and safety (as I've proven on a number of occasions!), I balk at putting anyone else in harm's way. Harming my unborn child through my own headstrong stupidity is something I absolutely won't risk.
So far it's been pretty easy to follow my doctor's advice, since so far (**knock wood**) I've had a pretty easy pregnancy. The restrictions on me are very limited, and mostly I've been asked to use common sense. Still, I've had to curtail my activities to some extent, adjust some eating habits, and change my physical and mental approach to training. I now go into the dojo knowing that I cannot train at full speed or power, period, so regardless of whether or not I feel "on" and think I could dazzle the world, it ain't gonna happen. Instead I have wisely invested my energies into things I can still work on and improve without compromising the new life. This includes timing, stance, rhythm, and how to make technique properly.
If something changes in my pregnancy, my training will adapt accordingly, or cease if necessary. Not because I want that, but because it's not always about instant gratification, and it's not always all about me.
Your karate isn't always about that either. So if you have no incredibly compelling reason to compromise your health or safety against doctor's advice, then don't. You could cause yourself long-term health problems, not to mention possibly compromising the health and safety of those you train with. Grow up faster than I did and make this choice before you have some overwhelming health issue such as pregnancy force you into it, and you'll probably save yourself a lot of the chronic pain problems I've had in the past!
Comments