Sewing Patterns  

  

Pain Relief

Myofascial Pain
Amazingly common,
rarely recognized

Head and Neck Pain
Muscular origins of sinus and migraine

Muscle-Related Diagnoses
Not all in your head!

List of Entrapments
Which pinched nerve?

ROM Testing
Finding the entrapper

Every martial artist who hurts (and their friends and families) should know about myofascial pain -- how to identify it, test it, fix it. Muscles and fascia (connective tissues) are the most common causes of these and  many other common aches and pains.
Learn the pain patterns   referred by muscle and fascia, the specific muscles that cause restriction and potential injury. Identify muscles involved with our Range-of-Motion Testing charts .

Students of martial arts and yoga will find many of these tests to be strikingly similar to flexibility exercises done in class. For the exercises you can't do, these charts will tell you (or your doctor or therapist) why you can't do them -- and how to fix the problem. They identify the muscles most likely to restrict a specific motion whether it's high kicks or simply combing your hair.

The simple Mouth Wraparound Test evaluates 11 different shoulder girdle muscles to reveal the source of mysterious shoulder and upper back pain.

The Rectus Femoris Test below can actually save you from submission holds in BJJ, judo or wrestling. If you can't pass the ROM test shown below (at left), you may be forced to tap out quickly in the hold shown at right. You may also  have persistent knee-cap pain at home and the office, especially while walking downstairs.

Myofascial pain patterns are remarkably consistent, but can also be confusingly similar. ROM tests distinguish overlapping pain patterns, allowing you to differentiate between problems caused by different muscles. They can also  locate problem areas where pain symptoms have not appeared yet.

Students often want to skip warm-ups to get to the "good stuff." These tests demonstrate the importance of limbering and stretching while helping instructors keep their students safe on the mat. 

Stop trouble before it starts! Learn how to help yourself, how to help others, and how to stay and play on the mat for many years to come.

Health & Healing

Home Test Kits
Test for anemia, a possible source of muscle and metabolism problems



 

DietPower is the best diet tracking software on the market. It sets goals, tracks 30+ nutrients and water consumed, calories burned, and calculates your basal metabolism. Try it out for free; demo version available on request with orders of any two items. 

Sometimes a large part of healing is simply being able to relax. Relax Deeply provides guided relaxation inspired by an ancient practice called yoga nidra. This proven methodology offers relief from the tensions and pressures of daily life, just as it has for centuries. See also Training Materials, below.

--Dr. Mary Lee Esty

Head injury is common in sports (not just martial arts!) and in daily life. Automobile accidents alone account for massive numbers of Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI) from which many victims will never fully recover.

Damage to adult brains can mean loss of professional skills, income, and relationships. Damage to children's brains may be unnoticed until the child begins school with a learning disability or ADD. Whether child or adult, these injuries can tear families apart. Part of the problem is a poor understanding of what brain injury means, what it involves. 

Damage on the mat is often ignored with the notion that it is necessary to "work through" the pain or disability "to toughen up." Unfortunately, adding more brain damage doesn't toughen anyone up. It just makes the damage worse.

One of the most damaging medical superstitions around is this: If you didn't lose consciousness you're fine! Consciousness is managed by the brain stem. As demonstrated by the unfortunate  Phineas Gage, it is quite possible to suffer severe injury with severe loss of basic human skills, massive personality changes, devastating physical symptoms (including fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, depression, and metabolic slowing), without ever having lost consciousness.
 
Look here for information on what is involved in concussion and TBI, what to avoid and what to do after injury. For those still caught in the aftermath of dysfunction and disability, look into the healing power of Neurofeedback.   Find out why "nothing" on the MRI or X-ray does not mean that you are "fine" (or malingering). See what is needed for genuinely useful information on brain function or loss of it.

Our long-time favorite, Ki in Aikido: A Sampler of Ki Exercises, is at the printer's and available for pre-order. Order now and we'll ship your book when ready.
The new edition is bigger and more extensive, including information on the physiology and biochemistry of proper breathing (or lack of it) and its impact on health. Includes a brief history of modern biofeedback and neurofeedback based on the same yogic technologies that inspired the exercises you see here.

There are new exercises, new teaching stories and essays but I would like to comment on one in particular. I collected new snippets and quotes and ideas over the last few years, I just never got around to putting it all together again. Stewart Johnson's gripping essay (Aikido of Ultimate Compassion) is the reason I finally sat down and got busy. His story is what Aikido is all about. Thank you Stewart, and thanks to all of you who helped make this edition a new reality. 

Meanwhile, The Journey to Wild Divine  is a home biofeedback system. In order to play the "game" you must learn to breathe and relax. See for yourself the effects of breathing and relaxation. Do ki or relaxation exercises while hooked to the Wild Divine sensors and watch what happens!

We also publish the best-selling Aikido Exercises for Teaching and Training . Additional ki exercises (and the physics and physiology behind them) are contained in "A Brief Ki Class." Includes tips and tools for training at the dojo or on your own.

And, learn to fall and roll safely with Bruce Bookman's Ukemi videos.

Ordering