u/Chevalric

I saw Mortal Kombat 2 yesterday and although I enjoyed it, I noticed that the fight scenes were a bit too slow. For example, in the Kitana vs Shao Kahn fight, the latter held out his arm after a punch, so Kitana could stab it.

This got me thinking: in the 90s we had action heroes that actually had a real martial arts background. People like Jacky Chan, Jean-Claude van Damme, Chuck Norris or Michael Dudikoff were actual martial artists and the fights, even though they were choreographed, showed that skill.

Nowadays, we get guys like Karl Urban and to a lesser extent Keanu Reeves who are big names in Hollywood and have been trained in MA, but they weren’t black belts coming into acting, they are actors becoming proficient enough to play their roles.

And a guy like Alan Ritchson is more like Schwarzenegger: cast for his impressive looks, but not an actual fighter.

Am I looking at this through nostalgia or were the old action heroes more “real” martial artists?

About a month ago, I started to feel some pain in the ball of my right thumb. I had been gaming quite a lot since Christmas, so I just attributed it to that and tried to limit myself for a few weeks. But the pain didn’t go away, so I decided to see a hand physiotherapist. After explaining myself, she examined my hand and came to the conclusion that it is arthritis.

She advised me to get a brace, a simple one at first, but maybe a fitted one if that didn’t work. So I did, but I’m hardly feeling any improvement.

Now I notice it is also affecting me mentally: the fact that I have always (incorrectly) associated with really old people, and I’m not that old yet (50 is not old, right?). And more importantly, that it could affect my hobbies: gaming, bouldering and golf. I worry that the pain will be chronic and that it will impede my life much more than I want. I worry that my other hand (my dominant hand) might also start acting up. And all that makes enjoy life a little less.

I’m not sure what I hope to achieve with this post, but some encouraging words from people that have the same problem might be helpful.

Also, is the pain now something I will have to live with, or does it come and go if I give the joint some rest? I think I probably let it go on too long now for it to quickly go away, but knowing that some rest and diligently wearing my brace will improve the situation would be nice.