a combination of things over a ong period of time. Initial impact injury in right leg coupled with upped roadwork rate in preparation for bout; according to the physio, this then led to an adjsutment in weight and load bearing which began to weaken the other leg.

the whole time i was continuing to run, jump rope and spar in the belief it was shin splints, although i should have known it wasnt as i've never had these before.

Anyway, one session the pain was unreal when jumping rope, to the point i couldnt bear to put weight on my right leg, (subsided after maybe 15-20 min) and then i went through the whole xray, MRI scan etc process

now i'm just resting up, upper body work weights etc, going back boxing in 3 weeks ish. (not trained muay thai since march 5th)

At the end of the day-

Hes learning an effective fighting style.

And you are not.

Ha what a Joke. He's learning a good sport... thats it. (as are you)

^ you can't seriously be suggesting that as muay thai is a "sport" it is somehow inferior to the "deadly" *ing **un?

have you had a look at Martial Arts Planet at all? It might be more "you"

Ha what a Joke. He's learning a good sport... thats it. (as are you)Well, I for one I'm interested to learn how you deflect/absorb a powerful shin kick with the soft sides of your leg. Since you made the claim that such a technique is not only better, but possible, it is time for you to demonstrate that technique.

Please provide video where you deflect/absorb a powerful shin kick with the soft sides of your leg. I want to see how you do what you advocate.

actually I do , they are just stuck on my camera till I can get Photoshop reinstalled , I had a crash last week and wiped out my system drive . My camera is so old I can find no other way to import photo's except through photoshop .

Right now it has four layers of wrapped foam of varying thickness and about 200 yards of bailing twine and hemp . I put another dent in my shin trying to figure out how much more padding I needed . It is not nearly as bad as the first dent , and I have some pics of the dents as well . Man, I wish I had enough space to have a heavy bag, a wavemaster, or anything :(


About this micro-fracture thing ,

Purposely damaging yourself is silly , which should be a given .

I was under the impression that micro-fractures happen whenever you apply a sudden ( and large ) load then release it quickly , and that those types were the types that healed and formed those neat honeycomb structures .

I thought lifting and striking proper surfices were just the thing to cause the above effects , am I just plain wrong on this one or what ?Well, that's one way to get them. But you can also develop one over time, with small, sudden but not so large force applied to the bone.

Around April, 2004, I developed a hairline fracture on the ball of my right foot, about an inch below the area where the the big toe joins the foot. I ended up getting it from dancing (actually, spinning on my right foot using less shoes not appropriate for spinning).

A barely noticeable pain started one day, and after a month of dancing like that, it suddenly became unbearable. I almost needed a cane to walk, and it took about three months off dancing (and running and almost everything else) for it to heal.

Very unpleasant experience.

Lets get back on topic or I'm locking this. Discuss shin care as the OP requested. If you want to talk about the merits of soft tissue yielding start your own thread.

After taking some time off sparring, my bumps have subsided a bit. Kicking the bag and doing squats are keeping my shins nice and healthily dense.

in my experience, those little bumps will be there for a long time, i've had them last for 6 months plus. As far as i'm aware its calcification, little deposits of bone matter over a bone injury site. They've never done me any harm. Apart from the stress fracture, obviously.

I roll my shins, kick things randomly, and thump myself on the legs on and off all day, bagwork and sparring. Bruises come with the territory.

This thread is a bit funny since I've since accumulated a bone "bruise" on my tibia and I have to take 8-10 weeks off kicking. Doh.

This thread is a bit funny since I've since accumulated a bone "bruise" on my tibia and I have to take 8-10 weeks off kicking. Doh.
A bone bruise on your tibia ? how did you kick yourself in the dick with your shin?

A bone bruise ? What is that exactly ? Why does it take so long to heal ? Fractures can take that long to heal ...


and how did your "bone bruise" come about ?

The aim is to deaden the nerves, not to kill them. You need some for walking/balance. If you wax a kickboxers shins, he'll feel it when you pull that **** off...just won't affect him the same.
(I wouldn't reccomend waxing a kickboxer's shins) ok, stupid example, but the idea is to punish the area of the shin/thigh to the degree that it lets you block kicks with the shin...(not kicking it, a receding block....nothing stupid or dangerous) to save the thigh...and condition the thigh to stay loose if it does get tagged.

I've had a mild bruise on my right shin for 6 months now, and I keep thumping it on and off.....it doesn't feel the way it used to...and when I block with it, or the left, and I've got shinpads on, I can take sooooo much more than 2 years ago. I've never eaten a kick to the thigh on purpose (exept drunk as a joke with the band), unless I angle in/out to punch and it's a good trade for me.....otherwise, you gotta have hard conditioned shins....dont believe me? have someone karate chop your shin or the muscle next to it real hard 2 or 3 times. Then jump up and get in your ready stance....it feels funny if you're not used to it. When I started sparring, I hurt myself on them, as much as they hurt me. How can anyone expect to kick effectively, if the first time they kick the elbow or knee on accident, then fall over crying? Some conditioning is needed for the shins...or it's a gaping vunerability. Same goes for the thighs...just within reason.
Medium contact sparring with cloth and foam (not shell armored) shin pads will allow for conditioning, without bone damage. Thai pads, bag work, all of this is important, if you actually plan to spar at a level where you can test the techniques properly.

Guys without conditioned legs, drop their hands to block after a few good tags....leaving them open for fake low round- high round kick combos. Or they just drop to teh floor in cramped agony when they do get tagged real good...it's just how it goes.

I just rub it with the orange muay thai oil I got in Bangkok. I know it's for warming up muscles but it helps. I think Khun Kao's method is better though.

Bruised shins are part and parcel of conditioning, so I just accept it, and allow it time to heal. I just ask my partner not to kick me on that side, or if both sides are injured I just do boxing sparring.

This post makes a lot of sense (bruises just come part and parcell with it, like finger callous for guitarists). My first teacher gave me this oil, that had camphor, menth, and turpentine in it (if I remember correctly)....when I'd pull a muscle she'd have me put some on, and bandage it....it would burn (turpen-fing-tine???) but I'd feel better after. Is this the same sort of thing as that oil you're talking about?

^ you can't seriously be suggesting that as muay thai is a "sport" it is somehow inferior to the "deadly" *ing **un?

have you had a look at Martial Arts Planet at all? It might be more "you"

Muay thai might be the only combat sport that you don't have to change for street safety...it already uses the hardest parts of the body to strike (knuckle,knee, heel, shin, elbow) Thai boxers sacrafice their bodies to be badasses in their prime....that's some warrior ****...and I'd have to say, an old, injured thai boxer would still be the match of most tag-karate or partner drill only martial artists. john joe, if you could only kick the doubters in the shins...can you email shin kicks? do they have that yet?

My first teacher gave me this oil, that had camphor, menth, and turpentine in it (if I remember correctly)....when I'd pull a muscle she'd have me put some on, and bandage it....it would burn (turpen-fing-tine???) but I'd feel better after. Is this the same sort of thing as that oil you're talking about?

http://www.alsgym.co.uk/images/misc/BTTO.jpg (javascript:popupWindow('http://www.alsgym.co.uk/thai-oil-pi-169.html?osCsid=d438c01769466fcccdf89ed90bc8053b') )

Consider one of the greatest, meanest mofos that have ever existed, Mas Oyama. He had turned his index and middle knuckles into one big giant mass of solidified tissue over ligaments and bones... Great for knocking the **** out of people, but not so great if you want to grab a pencil and write with it.

Uhhhhh... FALSE.

Mas Oyama on occasion had some mild hand pain later in life, when he was in his late 60's & on, and this was due to stunts, letting people hit his hands with sledge hammers and **** like that. Not his conditioning. His hands were just fine, and his writing was unaffected until his death.
& if you don't believe me, ask Cameron Quinn.
It's not about what you do but how you do it. My teacher's teacher, Rudy Terlinden, had sick conditioning, what they called "Black" conditioning. He had mad callouses, elbows, wrists, knuckles & hands, knees & shins. NEVER had any health issues from it.
& my teacher takes kicks with his elbows, he punches a steel bag, and has no problems. & he's almost 60.