DisgruntledGirl

Thanks. Well.. you are not 100% correct in that. Yes, a good bit of my reason for going is indeed to get fit etc. But to do so with something that actually grabbed my interest enough to keep going. I have joined gyms befor and stopped going within like a month and I didnt even go the full 3 times I week I had initially intened. I just dont know of anything that gives me the same secondary goal that karate does with the advancements of belts etc. My sensei is also a pretty good guy as well so I think that also keeps me interested. He always tells me to "watch my knees" now but really once I'm warmed up they and my hip dont cause much trouble... its more during the day when I dont have class when they bother me the most and I feel like a lil old lady. See thats what I figure I'd do if I quit... do nothing. So I really dont want to and I really do enjoy going. and as far as doing something less impact... one class the sensei had to go out so he had a tia chi (sp?) sensei lead us in a class of it... and quite frankly... something like that just bore me to tears. I kinda like the impact of the style of karate that I do and would feel silly lowering my impact for this just as a preventative means when I am not currently hurting bad enough to not be able to do everything. Thanks again for letting me ramble. I appreciate all of your oppinions and I suppose I might see a doc about it... eventually What I have always said though was "My first dislocated shoulder, and I'm OUT!!!" Though I think I only agree with that statement if I get one before greenbelt or something cus thats a lot of time to waste if you never intend on goin back cus of one injury.

Very New to Karate, started January 17th 07 (will be taking my first promotion test soon though to yellow belt (9th kyu). Am 28 years old... not "fat" though not tiny (5'-3" - and about 145-150lbs) so I dont think that should be part of the problem in case you were wondering. Well I think I have rather loose joints in general. Dislocated one shoulder when I was 16 and the other when I was 23... not doing anything athletic though (I'm also Diabetic (type 1)... both situation were during very bad insulin reactions). Anyway, during class one day in my first two weeks my knee kinda hyperextended just doin g a stretch... and a couple weeks ago the other one just slightly slipped out of place while at home (not doing anything all that athletic). Also my right hip joint feels quite funny recently since a couple weeks ago after (I think) trying a little too hard with my kata and turning badly... to describe it, it will often feel like my inner thigh (hamstring?) muscle is pulling and in pain and also when I do a jodan mae geri I will hear (though I dont think others can hear it so maybe I just "feel" it) a popping sound/feeling af the joint... sometimes this is also accompanied by a mild pulling sensation in one of my lower abdomenal muscles. Though the first knee "injury" was the worst, it did not stop me from doing most things during that same class though my stances could only really be done with the one side as the other knee couldnt support some movements/pressure. The other more mild injuries also havent stopped me from being able to do anything either really (though I'm sure I am not as good as I coulda bin were they not there) or stop me from going although I do wear knee braces on both knees now during class to protect them from moving around too much. Ooops, I seem to be rambling. I guess my real question is this: If I am only a white belt now and just the couple of little movements I am doing is making my body crumble to this degree... what would be yalls oppinion on whether or not I should quit while I'm ahead? Sad part is, this is the only "exercise" that I purposely do that has managed to keep my interest for a full 3 months and that I actually look forward to going to I just keep waivering back and forth to exactly how much more my body can take? Oh and as a side note... my sister has been diagnosed with "Hypermobility" though I have not... but that might be something that I might have that might be potentially causeing a lot of my problems? BTW my style is called "Shindo Jinen Ryu" though not a lot have heard of it... I'd say its probably very similar to Shotokan though if you need something to go by. Thanks for any oppinions and sorry for being so long winded in my first post.