knees

[Jotun]

Hello

Thanks to those who took the time in reading and responding to my previous post on sparring .

I would like to ask those who know exercises to strengthen the knees if they could please share them with me. i have had knee problems for a long time and it definetly hinders my training.

Thanks for the input

[Kristoffer]

jump

[ursa major]

Hello Jotun,

Well one thing you can 'not do' is hyper-pronate your knee which is for example, when bending your knees in a bow stance (hill climbing, mountain climbing, etc) do not let your forward knee progress beyond 90 degrees vertical over your lead foot. Doing so does all kind of nasty things to the ligaments and tendons of the knee area.

Also, I've found one of the best things for my knees is proper stretching before and after training.

Hope this helps,
UM.

[spiralstair]

there are 2 rules of thumb in athletic movement about knees.
1. the knees and toes should always point in the same direction.
2. the knees should never 'cover' the toes( more than a 90 degree angle to the ground).
you must establish these movement rules by continually looking down to check your alignment. You should always be able to see your toes in front of your knees without bending your upper body forward at the waist. even if all you can see is a tiny crescent of the front of your shoe, that is enough.
based on your body type, you may have to widen your stance(increase the distance between your feet) before sinking your hips, or your knees will cover your toes.
that's just the basics to alignment. once that is habitual, you can use wieghtlifting exercises to rapidily increase the strength in your thighs and calfs, which is ultimately the best way to protect your knees.

[Siuhoimoon]

"the knees and toes should always point in the same direction"

Please, somebody tell me: when we do the horse stance (ma bo),
the toes should point to the front? Because when we do this, the toes and the knees don't get aligned, the knees keep pointing outward.
If we want the toes and knees to point in the same direction, then the toes should be at a certain angle, outward. Is this right?

Thanks in advance for the replies

[spiralstair]

In a static horse stance(non-moving, for stance training and strength building), the knee cap points at the little toe. this stresses the tendon end of the quad musculature and contributes to strong knees.
in a non-static horse stance(in the forms), the knee cap points at the big toe for proper alignment and injury prevention.
once your knees are properly strengthened for your style (3-5yrs training) you can play it a little looser....at your own risk.

[laotzumantis]

for the longest time, my knees too caused me a good deal of trouble. i'm also a cyclist, and i was very surprised that i could ride 60-100 miles in an event and have no knee strain, whereas a 2 hour workout would have those kneecaps burning.

in addition to being extremely mindful of good stancework (as our classmates in this post have noted) i've also found benefit from using athletic knee supports. there are several styles, mine is simply a heavyweight spandex with grips that cling to the skin above and below the knee to prevent riding up or down during movement. one of my classmates uses a style with velcro cinches...i wouldn't recommend these however, as blood flow could be impeded from wearing them too tightly.

lzm

[cha kuen]

If your horsestance has your toes pointing 45, then your knees shoudl be pointing 45 also. I didn't do this for the first two years and it hurt my knee

Also you can try some accupunture to help your knee.