By Song Sang-ho
We are getting close to the Lunar New Year’s holiday, when people will gather for large family reunions to share good wishes and traditional food.
Although it is a time for the family and relatives to gather from all over the country, many of us do not know how to make our time together enjoyable. For instance, adults often watch TV and children spend hours playing games on computers or their mobile phones. In the end, these long family gatherings can sometimes grow tiresome.
If you would like something different to do this time, I would suggest you play some “traditional” games. This will remind many adults of their childhood, and children can learn about traditions. Above all, playing many of the folk games is one great way to check your joints.
Let me explain.
Let’s start with Yut Nori, one of the most popular folk games. Yut Nori is helpful in keeping your back (spine) healthy. When you cast the four yuts (sticks) or move your mal (tokens) on the board, you need to sit up straight or stand up; this activity will prevent a stiff back. Moreover, if you get lucky either to cast “yut” or “mo,” which gives the biggest points, or to catch the opponent’s mal on the board, players and audience cheer with screams and clapping; this will relieve stress on our shoulders, knees and wrists. Besides these positive aspects, however, keep in mind that sitting or kneeling for hours playing Yut Nori may strain your knee or back. Therefore stretching exercises during the game are advised.
Next, we will take a look at “jegichagi.” In this traditional outdoor game, you kick the jegi, which looks like a badminton shuttlecock, continuously without dropping it on the ground. This game is good for the knee joints and leg muscles. It works great especially for inner and outer muscle strength on your legs. Since it requires using a lot of movement of the knee and hip joints in order to kick the jegi, you need to take care of them. If there is any pain around your buttocks, or in the knee or hip joints while kicking the jegi, it may be a sign of a joint disease. If you are a middle-aged person and feel consistent pain during or after playing jegichagi, I advise you to visit a nearby clinic for a check-up.
Playing “Tuho,” you can check if you have frozen shoulder or rotator cuff tear. You may have a frozen shoulder if you are too uncomfortable to lift your arm, or feel pain while throwing the stick. And it might be a rotator cuff tear if you have trouble lifting or rotating your arm. Both frozen shoulder and rotator cuff tears seem similar but they are different in terms of the range of movement. In short, it is a frozen shoulder if you are unable to lift your arm even with somebody’s help. Otherwise, it is probably a rotator cuff tear. In any case, it is highly recommended you visit a clinic for your shoulder pain, because you can get great results with simple therapy.
Lastly, it is “neol-twigi,” another outdoor game for women. You can check your knee joints playing this game. Moreover you can enhance muscles around your knees as you continuously bend and straighten the knees to jump. This jumping game also helps blood circulation and metabolism. However, you need to be careful with your knees and hips if you have weak bones. The sudden weight may place stress on your joints as you come back down.
I hope this coming Lunar New Year’s holiday is a pleasant time for family bonding. Instead of playing computer games alone or watching TV all day, I encourage you to take your family and relatives outside and play traditional outdoor games together. It will be a fun and healthy family activity. But if you have joint disease, you need to check your condition before joining the activity. Why don’t we all try to bond with our family and relatives in this holiday season with healthy traditional games?
The writer is the president of Wellton Bone & Joint Hospital.
