Robben Ford Discussion

[kirk95]

Hey Daved,

While I was standing in line waiting for the Soiled Dove show, this dude (I don't think a very reliable source BTW) mentioned that Robben suffers from tendonitis. He making it sound like it was a major problem....

I have never heard anything like this before?

Is this true?

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[Aeolian]

He as said that this was a problem on the Lesh tour where he had to solo for days. It seems to come and go for him.

Here's an interesting tidbit, Jing Chi is a form of excersize that he credits with helping overcome the tendonitis.
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[iamthewalrus]

I remember Robben making a passing reference to tendonitis at one of the clinics. This really surprised me since Robben has never been one of these guitar down around the knees kind of players. I would have thought with his fairly high guitar position he would have been spared.
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[Aeolian]

At the same clinic where he mentioned Jing Chi, he said that he played really hard and that doing 20 minute solos with Phil Lesh really took it out of him. This was surprising as watching him, it doesn't look like he's beating on the guitar, and his tone is more like a lighter touch, especially on the left hand. People who squeeze the neck really hard usually tend to choke off the tone.
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[jconstant]

A short piece on Robben in Guitar Player magazine many years ago talked about this a little. I couldn't tell you when it was with any certainty but I'm guessing the article came out around the Mystic Mile time period, but that could be wrong. Anyway, if I remember correctly, it seemed like it was a pretty serious problem at the time and Robben tried several remedies including some kind of therapy with magnets. I think that he was referring to it as a problem that was behind him at that point but regardless, I'm sure glad its not a problem for him today. (as far as I know, of course)

[juspasinby2003]

I understand that he still receives treatment regularly at a clinic in Santa Monica from a Chinese trained physician. I have the name of the clinic in my computer, somewhere. The clinic specializes in a holistic, Oriental approach to helping patients achieve physical and spiritual balance. I understand Robben's wife turned him on to the clinic.

[StratCat]

When Robben toured out here with David Sanbourn about 10 years ago, he was apparently suffering a monster case of tendonitis and was strapping magnets to his wrists each night (or so I heard). Obviously has had this problem for a while.

FWIW, was interesting to hear about the real meaning of Jing Chi! As someone that's suffered from tendonitis on and off for the last 10 years or so I'd be interested to hear more, so if anybody has any links let me know. I don't play with pain anymore (even playing 5 nights a week this time of year), but it's something that always seems to be lingering there in some way, so I'm still interested in remedies.

Chris
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[frank0936]

I remember that piece in Guitar Player, too. Robben said he was using magnets and icing his wrist down after every show. I was at a clinic a couple of years ago and he talked about using Jing Chi and how much it had helped. It seems to be a fairly obscure form of yoga. I have never heard of it anywhere else. I'd be interested in finding out more about it, too.
Frank

[juspasinby2003]

Here is a quote of Robben's answer to a tendonitis question posed to him a couple of years ago:

[Bluelobster]

Hello , as far as i can help , i can add my 2cents, but i have to check more seriously. So : Chi Kung is a form of Yoga comin' from the wide steppes
of Mongolia (Ulan Bator). It is mainly based (like others form of yoga, BtWay Yoga means nothing more than aerobic in India , so you have to put another word in front : hata yoga, tantra yoga) toward BREATHING and how to canalize . I will check more seriously.
Jing Chi is not a Yoga , it is just 2 words , one is Chi = breath.Jing =?
I don't think it is such in a tantra way (sex).
But once you start to practice Chi kung, you can visualize and work all the energy of the breathing in a lot of ways. You can try to visualize vortex, or realize that life is a big vortex like the music of Robben.

[elizabeth]

I have always believed that Yoga means "union," as in the union of mind and body with the Universe.
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[tonemaster2_11]

Hi everyone! I'm the guy that Robben was responding to in the text from the OLD Message boards above. (formerly Ronstar2k) My original post had asked about Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and in it I referred to the Guitar Player article that has been mentioned here and suggested that that is why I thought to ask Robben what he did to combat the problem. The article was from an issue around the time of the release of "Robben Ford and the Blue Line" and I remember that it had Eric Johnson on the cover. Must have been around 1991??
I was pretty flattered to have such a direct personal response from my hero. I never got around to doing much with the Chi Kung because within 24hrs of my original post another message board member e-mailed me an article which totally saved me. The stretching excersises mentioned in the article are still a part of my routine and since I must have had a pretty mild case and have since changed day jobs I haven't had any more problems.
I deleted the authors name since I don't know him but here's the article in hopes it might help anyone else who is suffering.
As far as Jing Chi is concerned (based on the definition which was posted by Justpasinby2003) I think I'd like to have a little MORE of that going on.
Here's the article...

Hi gang,

CTS is a bitch, I had to quit playing for 18 months because it hurt so
much. Regular MD's were not of much help, I went through hell with
physical therapy, electric shock to get steriod gels to soak through my
skin, Yes it sucked.

Here is what I have learned over the years and as a result I can play for
3 hrs a day now with little or no problem, your experience may vary.

#1

CTS is caused by an inbalance between the muscles in your forearm (inside
of your elbow to heel of your hand) and the muscles in the back of your
arm. The inside muscles become strong, thick and short. The backside
muscles become weak, and stretched out.

#2

You must restore the balance.
You must work at it every day
If you are like me it will never be cured but it can be managed.

Here are the steps.

A. Get a Wahl deep muscle vibrator, about $30, 815-625-6525. It is model
4196-003. Now if you think this baby will do double duty forget it unless
you like a jackhammer applied to sensitive parts. This vibrator comes
with a cup type attatchment, use it on the inside of your arm to relax the
muscles. I do it twice a day. Works wonders, expecially before practice.

B. You must stretch the muscles to get back the flexibility in your arm
and wrist.

The first stretch is with your arm (I am assuming right handed players who
fret with their left hand) bent 90 degrees at the left elbow with
your forearm across your body with the palm up to your face as you look
down. Use the heel of your right hand to contact the tips of the fingers
of your left and and GENTLY bend the entire hand down as if you were going
to position your fingers to point directly at the ground.

Do not bend beyond a discomfort level. You need to work into this slowly.
You should feel very tight and inflexible muscles in the inside of your
forearm. Hold for 10 seconds and repeat. DO NOT OVER DO IT!!!

The second stretch is with your left arm extended in front of you at
shoulder level. Your palm is facing down. Lock the elbow. Use the
finger tips of your right and to grasp the fingers of your left hand and
bend the fingers up. Keep the elbow locked. Hold for 10 seonds and
release.

The third stretch is with the arm in the same position except the palm is
now facing up. Again grasp the fingers of your left hand with the fingers
of your right and and bend down. Hold for 10 seconds and release.

I do three sets of 10 second holds as a warm up and again DURING THE
PRACTICE SESSION. Take breaks often, every 10 or 15 minutes. If you feel
discomfort in your CTS, get out the vibrator and use it. It works better
than anything to relax the muscles. It is probably the most important
element in the treatment program.

C. Building strength in the back of your forearm.

Get a 5 lbs dumbell. Find a flat surface, like a table top. Lay your arm
on it with your hand hanging over the edge holding the dumbell. Do
"reverse curls" by extending your hand all the way down then raise it. Up
and down 10 times. Here is the trick. The up part, or using the muscles
in the back of the forearm should be done at 1/2 the speed as the down
part. All of it should be slow. Hold the weight at the top of the
reverse curl for 1 sec. Increase the weight as you feel your self getting
stronger. I use about 15 lbs now. More is not necessarily better here.
Building back muscle strength is the key.

Again I do 3 sets of 10.

Follow this routine and the pain will go, you will be able to play longer
and maybe better. But, and this is a big but, your must keep up with the
program. CTS, in my experience, never goes away, but you can manage the
process and win in the end.

[juspasinby2003]

I found a more definitive statement of "Jing Chi" as follows:

[Aeolian]

[tonemaster2_11]

I'm glad that helped!! Consider it DIVINE INTERVENTION!! I only started visiting this message board a couple of weeks ago for the first time since that OLD post!! - Ron