Thursday, December 27, 2007

The doctor is in

This is related to the question recently raised about centerline theory, which in turn led to discussion about striking targets on it. Dr. Rowe forwarded this about chest wall impact.

Volume 338:1805-1811 June 18, 1998 Number 25
Next

An Experimental Model of Sudden Death Due to Low-Energy Chest-Wall Impact
(Commotio Cordis)

Mark S. Link, M.D., Paul J. Wang, M.D., Natesa G. Pandian, M.D., Saroja
Bharati, M.D., James E. Udelson, M.D., Man-Young Lee, M.D., Mark A.
Vecchiotti, B.S., Brian A. VanderBrink, B.S., Gianluca Mirra, M.D., Barry J.
Maron, M.D., and N.A. Mark Estes, M.D.

ABSTRACT

Background The syndrome of sudden death due to low-energy trauma to the
chest wall (commotio cordis) has been described in young sports
participants, but the mechanism is unknown.

Methods We developed a swine model of commotio cordis in which a low-energy
impact to the chest wall was produced by a wooden object the size and weight
of a regulation baseball. This projectile was thrust at a velocity of 30
miles (48 km) per hour and was timed to the cardiac cycle.

Results We first studied 18 young pigs, 6 subjected to multiple chest
impacts and 12 to single impacts. Of the 10 impacts occurring within the
window from 30 to 15 msec before the peak of the T wave on the
electrocardiogram, 9 produced ventricular fibrillation. Ventricular
fibrillation was not produced by impacts at any other time during the
cardiac cycle. Of the 10 impacts sustained during the QRS complex, 4
resulted in transient complete heart block.

Conclusions This experimental model of commotio cordis closely resembles the
clinical profile of this catastrophic event. Whether ventricular
fibrillation occurred depended on the precise timing of the impact. Safety
baseballs, as compared with regulation balls, may reduce the risk of
commotio cordis.


Source Information

From the Cardiac Arrhythmia Service, Tufts-New England Medical Center,
Boston (M.S.L., P.J.W., N.G.P., J.E.U., M.-Y.L., M.A.V., B.A.V., G.M.,
N.A.M.E.); the Maurice Lev Congenital Heart and Conduction Center, the Heart
Institute for Children, Christ Hospital and Medical Center, Oak Lawn, Ill.
(S.B.); and the Cardiovascular Research Division, Minneapolis Heart
Institute Foundation, Minneapolis (B.J.M.).

Address reprint requests to Dr. Link at the New England Medical Center, Box
197, 750 Washington St., Boston, MA 02111.

More on the "interesting question"

This from Dr. Jacobus in Nebraska.

For clarification sake for the blog. The "Box of Death" is referred to in many Trauma textbooks as an area, as I described. But we use it in description of concerns for penetrating trauma. As was concisely described by others, the confluence of science within the martial arts will offer up more "mainstream" science hopefully to balance the knowledge of the body that comes with Oriental Medicine and the hundreds and hundreds of years of human anatomy knowledge from martial arts etc.

Historical interest

Over the years the system has changed in regard to how many techniques are taught per level. There are instructors still teaching the original 32, there are some still teaching the Parker curriculum as it was before he created the lists of 32. In the early 80's it was chopped to 24 per belt. People say he was "going to make it 16" but I never heard him say that. The techniques were re-sequenced in the 80's also. Some techniques were dropped and others added. This seems to be of some interest and I base that comment on how many videos I've sold of the original ten yellow belt techniques as well as seeing how many people don't know them when I go out to teach seminars.
I scanned and uploaded the original requirement booklets from yellow to green on my website. If you're a member you can see every page along with the commentary I've added. You can see the changes made in form sequencing, lists of the freestyle techniques, and the elaborate grading code he developed.
In addition I scanned in the IKKA member handbook. It's neat to see how he laid out the standardized uniforms and testing procedures for what was originally a very tight and strong group, along with other items.
I want to emphasize that Mr. Parker marked them as copyrighted in the 70's and they're not up on the web for people to go and use them in their schools, so I hope people will respect that. They are there for the historical interest. I have them and want to share the information.

Saturday, December 22, 2007

Interesting question

One of my Chicago guys, Tony Velada, sent me a link written by a kung-fu stylist about the "centerline". As all you martial artists know, we are always talking about it - what it is and where, how to protect it, how it moves, and how to control it. The article was accurate and had good detail from the internal arts point of view. I forwarded it to many of my students and former students. One of the people I sent it to is Craig Jacobus and chiropractor now living in Nebraska and teaching emergency medicine. Craig was a paramedic when I met him way back in the 70's or early 80's and went off to med school. I'd like to share his comments on the centerline as related to Western medicine, with a slant toward emergency medicine.

The concept of Centerline, as it is described can be related to what we call in trauma the "box of death". It is the mediastinal area, as you know. The middle of the chest that contains the vital organs- heart, lungs, aorta, sup/inf vena cava and of course the vagus nerve. Cranial nerve 10/ vagus nerve, "operates" the workings of a good part of the 'automatic'/ autonomic nervous system. Striking a target that is innervated by the vagus nerve (many) can cause anything from a very slow almost imperceptible heart rate to unconsciousness to multiple organic failures.
From the medical perspective, most all of the article makes sense. Coupling that with my meager early training in acupuncture, admittedly just enough so I was not ignorant but not enough to practice it, the points correlate. But the healing arts of thousands of years are still being understood and hard to correlate with our current system of only a 150 years or so.
Take care guys,
Craig Jacobus

The original link for the article is below.
http://www.kung-fu.se/centerline.htm

Thanks to you guys for the questions and participation.

Monday, December 17, 2007

Ed Parker's passing


This past Saturday was the 17th anniversary of Ed Parker's passing. I posted a small salute to him and those who have kept the flame burning on my site. I include even those who just started taking kenpo lessons because they are a part of the history of the system.
The photo I put on the site is the same as the one above. I could have used one of the portrait shots I have but I wanted one that showed him as one of the gang. He's relaxed and enjoying being with the guys. You see Frank Trejo throwing a back elbow at John Conway Jr, too, so you see it's not a formal photo.
I've been working on scanning many of my photos for inclusion on my websites photo gallery and another book I'm working on. But these pictures always remind me of how much I miss him, and of the responsibility people like me have as seniors in the system.
I had the strangest thought on Saturday morning, which was the actual anniversary day. It was that if I live only as long as he did I have five years left. When it's your time to go, it's time. I'm pretty sure I'm going to be around a long time to aggravate you guys. My dad is 80 and going strong.But, realistically, I do ride a motorcycle and fly airplanes, which are "risky" and, God help me, I drive in the Ft. Myers traffic. Some blue-haired old lady who's been mixing her medication and martinis could take me out. In the meantime I'm not going to not about dying. Got too much stuff to do.

New You Tube videos

Tom Fanelli has posted two more videos on You Tube. You can see Broken Rod and Snapping Twig, both shot at Mike Squatrito's school in Cape Coral, Gulf Coast Kenpo Karate. By the way, I was invited to attend their Christmas party Saturday and "the joint was jumping".
The two videos are answers to technique questions. I have two more questions that have been submitted and will do more as they come in. We like to shoot several videos at a time, so send me yours at lee@leewedlake.com.
There's a link to the videos on my home page at www.leewedlake.com, too.

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Mensa

If you live in the SW Florida area and would like to take the Mensa admission test, I am now a proctor and can administer it. Mensa is the High IQ society. The test takes about 1.5 hours lotal time, consists of two parts, and you only have to pass one to be invited to join. We can't tell you your IQ but if you pass you know you're in the 2% that has a genius IQ. If you want to schedule a test please contact me at lee@leewedlake.com.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Feedback

Those of you who have read one or all of my books, I am solicitng your comments. I have two more in the works and would like to have some testimonials to put on a cover. So if you want to write one and don't mind it going on covers of thousands of books if it's suitable, please send it to me at lee@leewedlake.com.
Thanks.

The doctor is in

More on brains. This is submitted by Dr. Rowe and is of interest to you, especially if you have a birthday.

Losing your mind? It's your white matter, stupid
By Dov Michaeli MD, Ph.D

Who hasn't complained about loss of memory? With increasing frequency, I
forget where I left my glasses, what's her name? Where did I meet him? And
for the hundredth time, what's the name of this bird?

No, it is not incipient Alzheimer's. I still write blogs, although that's no
proof of a sound mind. I manage a large drug development project, read the
newspapers daily and am up on the latest political twist. So what's going
on?

Beware received wisdom

When I went to medical school (UCSF) I was struck by a paper I read claiming
that 50% of what we were taught would be either obsolete, or plain wrong,
within 5 years; amazing, but true, and not very reassuring to both physician
and patient. One of the things I was taught with great certitude was that
with age we progressively lose neurons, which make up the gray matter in the
brain. True enough even today. It was then a no brainer to conclude that
this loss of neurons is responsible for the creeping loss of cognitive
function in the elderly. This tidbit of "information" turns out to be part
of the 50% that is obsolete, and maybe even wrong.

The nerve cell



A neuron, like any other cell, has a "body", enclosed by a membrane. It
contains a nucleus, where DNA resides, mitochondria, the power plants that
provide energy for the functions a neuron performs, and cytoplasm, where
proteins are shuttled about and enzymes perform what they are supposed to.
But then there is something unique to neurons: they have long projections,
some of them inches long (which is enormous in the context of
microscopically small cells). These long projections, called axons, serve
two purposes: they serve as conduits for a traffic of neurotransmitters and
other substances on their way out of the neuron. And, through tiny
projections coming off their surface, called dendrites (small branches, in
Latin), they make contact with other neurons around them. This is how
information, in the form of electrical impulses, is passed around the brain
along precisely demarcated circuits and over very long distances. The
neuronal cell bodies, where the nucleus and the DNA reside, are the "brain"
of the cell; they have a gray hue under the microscope-hence "gray matter".
The axons, on the other hand, are considered conduits only, very much like
water or sewer pipes-no "brain" at all. They have a white hue, and are
called the "white matter".

Organization of the brain

The human brain can be divided into major functional regions, each
responsible for different kinds of "applications," such as memory, sensory
input and processing, executive function or even one's own internal musing.
The functional regions of the brain are linked by a network of white matter
conduits. These communication channels help the brain coordinate and share
information from the brain's different regions. White matter is the tissue
through which messages pass from different regions of the brain.

Scientists have known that white matter degrades with age, but they did not
understand how that decline contributes to the degradation of the
large-scale systems that govern cognition.

So what's new?

New research, published December 6, 2007, in the journal Neuron, begins to
reveal how simply growing old can affect the higher-level brain systems that
govern cognition. The research was conducted by Randy buckner's group at the
Harvard Medical School and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. As Jessica
Andrews-Hanna, a graduate student in Buckner's lab and the lead author of
the study stated:
"The crosstalk between the different parts of the brain is like a conference
call; we were eavesdropping on this crosstalk and we looked at how activity
in one region of the brain correlates with another."
Buckner, Andrews-Hanna, and their colleagues looked at crosstalk in the
brains of 93 people aged 18 to 93, divided roughly into a young adult group
(18-34 years old) and an old adult group (60-93 years old). The older
participants were given a battery of tests to measure their cognitive
abilities-including memory, executive function and processing speed. Each
person was studied using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) exams
to measure activity in different parts of the brain. fMRI can precisely map
enhanced blood flow in specific regions of the brain. Increased blood flow
reflects greater activity in regions of the brain that are utilized during
mental tasks.
For the task used in the Neuron study, subjects were presented words and
were asked to decide whether each word represented a living (e.g., dog) or
nonliving (e.g., house) object. Such a task requires the participants to
meaningfully process the words.
Buckner's group explored whether aging in the older group caused a loss of
correlation between the regions of the brain that - at least in young
adults - engage in robust neural crosstalk.
They focused on the links within two critical networks, one responsible for
processing information from the outside world and one, known as the default
network, which is more internal and kicks in when we muse to ourselves. For
example, the default network is presumed to depend on two regions of the
brain linked by long-range white matter pathways. The new study revealed a
dramatic difference in these regions between young and old subjects. "We
found that in young adults, the front of the brain was pretty well in sync
with the back of the brain," said Andrews-Hanna. "In older adults this was
not the case. The regions became out of sync and they were less correlated
with each other." Interestingly, the older adults with normal, high
correlations performed better on cognitive tests.
According to the authors, it is inferred that in a young, healthy brain,
signals are readily transmitted by white-matter conduits. As we age, those
conduits are compromised. Depending on the networks at play, the result may
be impaired memory, reasoning or other important cognitive functions.
Buckner and Andrews-Hanna emphasized that other changes in the aging brain
may contribute to cognitive decline. For example, cells' ability to express
chemical neurotransmitters may also be compromised.

My take

1. Extremely important work. The dogma that "dropped neurons" is solely
responsible for the cognitive deficits of normal aging simply did not make
sense. First, the billions of neurons in the brain have plenty of capacity
to make up for losses; we have a tremendous reserve. Second, the brain has
the capacity to reroute specific information through alternative circuits if
the original ones are compromised in any way. This is what underlies the
phenomenon called "brain plasticity", which is the basis for rehabilitation
of stroke victims, or the educational strategies for dyslectic children.

2. This finding, like any in science, raises new questions. What is the
nature of the disruption in the default network? Is it reduced number of
axons due to neuronal death? Is it a functional defect in the conductive
properties of the axons? Is the dysfunction generalized or restricted to
specific pathways? What is the root cause of the changes? How can they be
avoided?

What can we do about it now?

No doubt you have encountered claims of "brain rejuvenation". Just work on
your daily crossword puzzle, learn a new language, solve sudoku puzzles,
stand on your head. The trouble with all these is that they work-but very
specifically. If you do your daily crossword puzzles or sudoku you'd be good
at them, but you will still forget names and misplace your car keys.

So far, the most convincing global change in the aging brain is reduced
blood supply. Blood vessels either get occluded (atherosclerosis) or
degenerate because of death of tissue they had supplied. Not surprisingly,
the only strategy that proved effective in maintaining the overall integrity
of cognitive function is, you guessed it, increase blood supply through
aerobic exercise.

So throw away your sudoku puzzle or crossword puzzle and go out for a brisk
walk or run. And don't forget the keys to the house.

Dov Michaeli MD, Ph.D is in the biotech industry.

Sunday, December 9, 2007

This is too cool

In my years in the martial arts I have met some really interesting people. "Interesting" includes the good and the bad. The majority are good people, with interesting life experiences, personalities, abilities, and goals. My friend, Bruce Meyer, in Columbia, SC is one of those people.
Bruce has had many in interesting story to tell me over the years I have known him. A few years back he told of a rather strange coincidence he experienced on a trip to Florida on his honeymoon. That moment changed his life. Thinking about it, Bruce has had many a life-changing moments in the years I've known him and this wasn't really a surprise. But the events following that day are worth reading about and will inspire you.
Challenges have been raised and Bruce has met and dealt with them head-on. If you have a few minutes, go to the following link and read the story. Keep in mind that if you think you have obstacles you might take a hint from Bruce.
http://www.erbzine.com/mag20/2090.html

Thursday, December 6, 2007

Parker art


One of my Florida black belts is Brad Congress. Brad is a jeweler, and a good one. The photo here is not very good and doesn't do justice to the piece.The colors are off and it's blurry. It's platinum color and the sword hilts are black. He made for Ed Parker Jr and you'll recognize Ed's Five Swords artwork, taken from his Kenpo Kards.
Brad came in a week or so ago and gave this to me, telling me it was the first one made. That's an honor, and one that's appreciated very much. These will soon be available for sale through Ed's website at www.kenpokards.com. I don't know the cost.
Brad's place in here in Ft. Myers, FL on US 41 and is called Bradley's Fine Jewelers. He makes all types of jewelry and has done other kenpo pieces for us in the past. 239-337-2723, he wants to talk to you.

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Chicago seminars

Just in time for the first winter storm of the season, we had two seminars at the Japanese Cultural Center on Saturday, Dec. 1st. Each session had 20 people laying hands on each other. The first seminar was on technique extensions and the second on contact manipulation.
We had friends from other systems in the second one and they were "blown away". I enjoyed working with the group and there were a bunch of smiling faces there after we finished off.
I got a lot of flak about not bringing some Florida weather with me but hey, when you live in a place that gets colder than Anchorage, Alaska, you have to put up with some bad weather.
We all had a chance to hang out on Saturday at a local sports bar, where the guys and girls played pool and ripped on each other. I saw two of my primary flight instructors, too, one of which I hadn't seen in almost 20 years.
Kurt and Barb Barnhart were my hosts and they saw to it that I enjoyed every minute of my visit, which is always too short. I grabbed the opportunity to take Sensei Bob Garza's Iaido workout on Sunday. He's a great guy and I really enjoy talking with him.
Man, I miss those Chicago people, but not the weather.