Martial Arts

munckee

munckee said:

FarleyUK said:

Quick update for anyone curious -

- Done two judo classes now, and while I enjoy it, the logic doesn't make sense to me so far; I'm used to not relying on my strength. Been told in doing amazingly well for two lessons though...
- Also, screwed my knee up last night at class..!
- Taijitsu was a non starter; the senior class was just a load of brown belt 16 year olds. Felt very weird and not confident in the way it was taught 
- Original Jiu Jitsu lesson was cancelled, going again on Monday (assuming knee is better!)

How did ju jitsu go?  I studied that for a few years, my brother is a 2nd dan instructor.  I think its a very good all round martial art, lots of focus on deflecting or avoiding the first punch which is one of the most useful things.

The other added benefit is while running this afternoon I fully tripped over something on the ground in a nature reserve and without having trained for 10 years I managed a break fall roll and carried on running without breaking my stride.  Even got polite applause from two old ladies walking their dogs : )

Quick update, hurt all over today : )

FarleyUK

snakemanStoo said:

There's around 60 or so recognised throws in judo, so you'll find a few that work for you.

I'm taller and heavier than most of the people I train with and I can't make a lot of throws work, but the ones I like I can make work pretty much all the time.

Stick at it and you'll find your throws/hold downs/ submissions.

Cheers - was getting pretty frustrated last night, as I just couln't nail any of them. I keep going to a wide stance for stability, as it seems odd to me to go into a stance for a throw that has your feet together and makes me feel unbalanced...!

On the plus side, when I locked in some holds, they were very effective - especially just by applying my weight and strength to the other person

grungebob

My jiu jitsu instructor is also a well seasoned judoka. We’ve focused a lot recently on takedowns and throws to secure control. Judo is tiring during the drills but not so much in randori (sp?) as you get so many breaks. I find the grind in jiu jitsu rolling for say a 10 minute match to be far more tiring, but then I’m not a large guy and have to work harder to reverse position over the bigger guys that come to class. 

Sounds like your your having fun though so that’s all that matters really. 

FarleyUK

grungebob said:

My jiu jitsu instructor is also a well seasoned judoka. We’ve focused a lot recently on takedowns and throws to secure control. Judo is tiring during the drills but not so much in randori (so?) as you get so many breaks. I find the grind in jiu jitsu rolling for say a 10 minute match to be far more tiring, but then I’m not a large guy and have to work harder to reverse position over the bigger guys that come to class. 

Sounds like your your having fun though so that’s all that matters really. 

Weirdly, I find the opposite true - much more tiring in randori (that might be adrenaline though, as I still don't really know WTF I'm meant to do).

Also, bust my knee last week by trying to do a Tai-Toshi throw on a bloke of my height, with a straight knee. That wasn't much fun.

Mark1960

Jimbro66 said:

Mark1960 said:

At 6'- 5" and 18 stone, you should be playing rugby, as much controlled aggression as you want, hot bath, good meal, few beers and a good laugh. What's not to like!

How about dislocated shoulders and sharing a bath with a bunch of guys? 

Yeah OK - Appart from dislocated shoulders, and sharing a bath, what's not to like!

Dominic

That's a healthy size.......not quite grand Yokozuna but how about Sumo
before you laugh...it's a big growing sport all over the world

merciful-evans

While I have only done karate exclusively (Shotokan 17 years) I think the most important thing is the quality of the instruction. Pretty much all styles are effective, and at advanced levels there is some crossover.

Experienced instructors that are dedicated to their own development as well as your is important. However they must be able to teach. Not all of them can. There are many extremely capable senior karateka in my organisation, but some just frustrate and confuse the junior grades. Even a novice (well, a month or two anyway) can spot an effective martial artist and will know quickly if the teaching is working or not.

I would advocate finding a great teacher over and above the style practiced.

beed84

merciful-evans said:

While I have only done karate exclusively (Shotokan 17 years) I think the most important thing is the quality of the instruction. Pretty much all styles are effective, and at advanced levels there is some crossover.

Experienced instructors that are dedicated to their own development as well as your is important. However they must be able to teach. Not all of them can. There are many extremely capable senior karateka in my organisation, but some just frustrate and confuse the junior grades. Even a novice (well, a month or two anyway) can spot an effective martial artist and will know quickly if the teaching is working or not.

I would advocate finding a great teacher over and above the style practiced.

I would also add to that make sure they have decent ethics. A lot of practitioners believe that martial arts is about fighting. It's not. It's about the art of fighting. In other words, you develop fighting skils and gain a deeper understanding of what's involved that will help you to understand how to hopefully stop a fight without hurting anyone. That's should be the whole point of any martial art, i.e. not to fight.

Myranda

I would agree on needing a good instructor. I've been lucky to know a fair few instructors, some better than others.

I've known some who talk a lot about chi (which I firmly feel is bullshit, but hey why not have punch-jesus-juice?) , others about biomechanics and muscle memory... I've known instructors who have never been in a genuine fight, and bouncers who have been in hundreds of scuffles and a few proper fights, as well as a couple who have worked in front line policing (one who taught some martial arts to met officers).

Find an instructor who you get on with, who has passion and who you can learn from. You could spend a lot of time with an instructor possibly years (at a few hours a week) and you will be paying for the privilege of spending that time probably being yelled at, criticised, told off, or hit several times by that person, so if you don't get on it could be less-than-fun.

Martial art classes should be fun (no matter what you're motivation for learning. You should enjoy yourself) 

FarleyUK

So it's been a few weeks now, and I've done 3 lessons each of Ju Jitsu and Judo; personally, I'm more comfortable in Ju Jitsu (probably only as we've done more throws in Judo which I find difficult). That being said, we've been practising a lot of the simpler stuff, so my Tai -o-Toshi throw is much improved now as one it in both classes!

Got my gi's as well, although I realised I did a faux-pas in Ju Jitsu; they start red belt and THEN white belt; I've been wearing a white belt the last 2 lessons. Oops.

We've been doing quite a few strikes and kicks in Ju Jitsu, as the sensei has been doing MMA for a while and she wanted to mix things in a bit (she owns and runs the Jitsu school). That was quite cool to try!

Interestingly, my girlfriend came along to jitsu last Friday, as she wanted to see how it compares to the new Taekwondo lessons she's doing; she came away very impressed at how they teach Ju Jitsu and actually walk you through each step of a throw / lock. Sounds like in her Taekwondo class they show you once, and expect you to get it right.

(Ordered some knee braces as well, as 3 classes a week is really buggering up my knees!!).

Thanks everyone for your input.