Redding Shotokan Karate

I just got done with a visit to my chiropractor. While trying not to be defensive, I have to say this guy is a real doctor, a healer, who just chooses to work in a preventive/wellness way. I've been to the regular GPs, docs who will do the "energy" thing to try to locate trouble spots (I'm skeptical of that approach), and docs who use a little popper to try to move joints gradually. I like my current chiropractor the most.

This guy works on the muscles and tendons - stretching and heating (with nice hot towels, wow!) - and then the joints. The whole time he works, he's talking - about how the joints work, how the muscles and tendons support them, how they affect other joints, how to stretch or otherwise take care of them. The talking distracts his patients from the therapeutic stretching pain and helps us internalize the systematic nature of caring for ourselves.

OK, now that this short post has turned into a long story, I'll say what I learned.

First, the hip joint is a ball-and-socket, with limited range of motion. Some stretching allows the ball to move out of the socket. (Think about that in the context of aging and muscles without the strength and elasticity of youth, please.) The hip joint is complemented by the sacroiliac (SI) joint. In a graphic demonstration with the usual "I'm a chiropractor so I get to have a skeleton for show-and-tell" skeleton, my doc showed me what happens when, for instance, I get out of the car.

Starting from a horrible seated position in the first place, I extend my left leg out, push up with my right leg, twisting at the same time to avoid disembowelment by the steering wheel, and lunge out of the car. If you've ever gotten out of the car and had a bit of trouble straightening up, most likely it's because your SI joint opened up and didn't quite get back into place before you locked it with your body weight.

Further research online (try this page) shows that when you do the splits-type stretch, you're opening your SI joint too.

Amusingly, none of the web sites I perused recommended any chiropractic care for SI joint inflammation. My experience is that chiropractic combined with stretching almost immediately alleviates the symptoms. Disclaimer: I wasn't injured, just a bit out of whack.

Second, the muscles of the leg have a great effect on the health of your spine. The quadriceps tend to pull the pelvis forward; the hamstrings tend to pull it back. Ever heard the old saying that an fat man's belt buckle either points at the sky or at the ground? Tight quads result in a forward tilt of the pelvis (pointing the belt buckle at the ground), while tight hams will tilt it up. What do you suppose happens when one leg's quad is tight and the other's is elongated (or the hamstring on the opposite side is tight)? Pelvic tilt or twist! And what happens when your pelvis is tilted or twisted? Scoliosis, or a facsimile thereof! When that happens, difficulty travels up the spine and even into the neck. As an exercise for the student, think about what activities (or lack thereof) can cause these problems. A few hints: sitting at a desk at work; bicycling with the seat too high; sitting in a car for a long time with your foot on the accelerator...the list goes on and on.

Today I got both my quads and my hams stretched. Quite fully, in fact. Ow!

Rest assured that karate classes that I lead in the future will incorporate stretches to psoas, quads, hams, and the glutes. Additionally, we'll make sure we do kicks equilaterally, and that we'll explore natural ways to kick.

I want to be practicing karate until the end, and I also want the end to be a long time from now. A healthy spine will be a foundation for that practice!

 P.S. If you're in Redding or the surrounding communities and need some quality chiropractic care, contact me. I'd be glad to hook you up!