Intro - My Hips

I am 40 years old and have been actively training in shotokan karate for about 18years as well as jiu jitsu and some judo. Shotokan Karate is very demanding and requires you to articulate your limbs through their full range of motion, often beyond... As I've always tried to kick faster, further and harder while remaining in a low stance my hip joint has developed a condition called FAI where the hip joint binds leading to osteoarthritis and tearing of the labrum.

I have both abnormal Cam and Pincer

My left hip developed severe pain approx 2 years ago. the pain developed the night after a training session where I had tried a stretching technique called P-N-F stretching. Also, I had just gotten back to training after my shoulder surgery which was approx. two months beforehand. In addition, I had always had clicking, popping,catching, etc... in my left hip which is an indicator of hip abnormality.


The pain was acute and near my groin as well as my glute. The sports med doctor told me to stay off it and recommended NSAIDS. After several months, I decided to get an MRI. The sports med docs and Palo Alto Medical didn't see anything wrong with my hips but said if you continue to have pain I should see a hip specialist.  Dr. Marc Safran M.D. of Stanford Sports Medicine  and Dr. Thomas Sampson M.D. were recommended. 

Dr. Safran examined the MRI and said I had Femoroacetabular Impingement (FAI) and that he could fix my hip. For a second opinion, I also saw Dr. Sampson who said the same. Dr. Safran said that if I wanted to be certain that the pain was coming from inside the joint I could get an injection inside the joint that would numb the joint; thus, if the pain goes away after the injection this would confirm the need for surgery.

Approx 1 year after the onset of the hip pain I opted for the injection (which included cortisone). The injection was inconclusive as I didn't have much pain in the joint when I went in and I walked out with a limp? However, in the following weeks and months I had less discomfort and was able to train fairly rigorously. In addition, I had a great training program including heat before every workout as I would soak in my hot tub. Afterwards, I would warm-up with about an hour of physical therapy / functional training type exercises to support my hip imbalance. I modified my karate / jiu jitsu training so that I could listen to my body and do drills / techniques that my body would allow. While I could not participate in traditional dojo class type training structure, I have training partners that would follow my lead. Finally, after each and every workout I would jump in an ice bath which I made out of a horse trough (rubbermaid 100 gallon). The ice bath is great in that it reduces inflammation in the whole body; as a result, I could go about the rest of my day pain-free.

The cortisone shot lasted over 1 year and then I was back in pain again. While the pain was minimal and intermittent it was present and I knew I needed to get this fixed as I could not train the way I wanted and I knew I was just doing more damage than good. I got another shot which did remove the pain, therefore, I knew it was inside the joint. This gave me a green light for the surgery.

I scheduled the surgery with Dr Safran at Stanford Hospital in Redwood City on October 19, 2012.

Casual Bag Training 2 weeks before Surgery

Informal Kata 3 weeks before Surgery

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