Tape - My New Best Friend

I am back in class now after taking off 3 classes to recover from a hand injury. I was a little nervous when stepping back on the mat because the guys on our team are so good, you miss only one class, you get your ass kicked when you come back.

My concern was not for my stamina because I stayed active while in recovery. My concern was for my hand. Because I had a pretty bad injury with my thumb 5 or 6 months ago, I know what it is like to not have full use of an essential tool for fighting. But how do I contend without the full use of three of my fingers and a messed up wrist. The answer: very carefully.

The key to avoiding re-injury in this case was imobilization. Over the past few weeks of trying to understand what motions caused pain, I figured out how to best effectively tape my fingers together to allow me a desired range of motion while still protecting the healing parts. In this case, two pieces of tape in between the first and second and second and third nuckle holding my index finger and middle finger together. My index finger acted as a splint for my other three injured finger nuckles. And I had full use of my hand.

So at this point, when I see the professionals tape up, I know that there is a reason. And understanding how to tape an injury just right is an essential art in our kind of combat sport. The best part; 6 rolls of hockey tape at Canadian Tire for just 12 bucks. For that price I can get injured every day of the week and twice on Sunday and never go bankrupt buying tape. Thank you Canadian Tire!!!

Ous.