young n,
I am sorry to hear about your injury. You have already received some good responses.
For the record, I would not be comfortable in assuming that the acceleration, deceleration, jarring, and stresses that you will put your shoulder through training boxing/kickboxing are going to be easier to handle than those associated with grappling. This is especially true if the class/gym you train in has you holding pads for other students/training partners as well. It may prove to be more, less, or equally provocative. I would not even want to venture a guess without doing a full history and exam.
Of course the above comes witht the huge stipulation that I am not YOUR doctor. It sounds like your doctor is comfortable with you training, so I wouldn’t let a perceived issue prompt you to switch disciplines or not try something new. Instead, pick what you most want to do, because that will be what is worth the headache of training around injuries. If you want that to be boxing, give that a go. If you want to go back to Aikido, do so. Maybe take most of the four corners throws on the other side, but do so.
No matter which discipline you choose, be diligent with your pre-hab/re-hab. You mentioned that you have contracted a qualified coach for your lifting/training. That is excellent. If they are also handling/recommending what to do in this area, follow their advice. It is easy to brush off the pre-hab stuff because it isn’t as much fun as hard training. The issue is you can’t get better if you are in surgery.
If you are looking for a pre-hab/re-hab resource I will direct you to kmcnyc’s fantastic “Mobility for Old Farts” thread in the Over 35 section. Even if you don’t make the age cut it is well worth checking out. Don’t be one of those guys who decides they shouln’t read it/worry about it. Every instability maker you easier for the other guy to take your balance. Every injury/ache is one lest punch he has to land. Fuck all that. The whole idea is we want the other guy to be the injure one. IF he wants us hurt, THAN he needs to eat his wheaties and get it done himself. Don’t do his work for him by courting injuries.
kmcnyc’s thread:
FighinIrish’s Log(You might have already checked this out. He has a bunch of views)
http://tnation.T-Nation.com/free_online_forum/sports_boxing_fighting_mma_combat/log_o_the_irish_20
Regards,
Robert A