Athletic backgrounds?

[Aodhan]

How? You're just sitting there. Isn't it the horse that's getting a workout?

No, there is a lot of work in keeping a seat where you use your legs extensively.

Aodhan

[CapitalKarate]

I don't mean to ask so many questions, I just like to know how things work, or why something is. How are your legs used to keep a seat?

[Aodhan]

I don't mean to ask so many questions, I just like to know how things work, or why something is. How are your legs used to keep a seat?

I don't know specifically, but you use your legs in the stirrups to "post", I believe it's called, where you kind of use your legs as shock absorbers to keep a smooth seat. If you see someone riding and they are bouncing up and down, they aren't very good. If you see someone who can stay at the same level, they are a much better rider.

Aodhan

[aefibird]

yes, that's true. It's a good leg muscle work out as you have to use your legs, bottom and back to help you keep your postition on the horse without pitching forwards, sliding back or going sideways. Plus you have to be relaxed but tense at the same time (in a wierd way). Also, the faster the horse is going, the harder it is to stay balanced and to sit correctly. The reason that saddles, bridles and reins (tack) are used is not so much to steer the horse with but more for the comfort and security of the rider. The less equipment a horse is wearing when you ride it, the harder it is on your legs.

That's why many novie riders use the reins to cling onto and to hold themselves on with, when an experienced rider should be able to ride correctly with just their legs and without holding reins at all.

[Muaythaiboxer]

i run track and cross contry, wrestle,

i think that if i hadent done this i would be half the martial artist i am today

[Thruhiker]

I played all kinds of sports growing up.

It's been my observation that athletic people seem to have a little more difficulty starting out in martial arts.

A person that isn't athletic seems to be able to pick up things a little easier. For instance when punching,the arm that isn't punching comes to rest by your side. Many athletic people have difficulty getting this move down.

I also found that athletic people seem to have difficulty with getting their feet to move at the beginning.

Now this doesn't mean that ALL athletic people have these issues.

Having an athletic background is great because your body should be conditioned to handle the workouts.

[kusojiji]

I played all kinds of sports growing up.

It's been my observation that athletic people seem to have a little more difficulty starting out in martial arts.

A person that isn't athletic seems to be able to pick up things a little easier. For instance when punching,the arm that isn't punching comes to rest by your side. Many athletic people have difficulty getting this move down.

I also found that athletic people seem to have difficulty with getting their feet to move at the beginning.

Now this doesn't mean that ALL athletic people have these issues.

Having an athletic background is great because your body should be conditioned to handle the workouts.

I fail to see any logic in the assumption that athletic people would have more trouble learning something athletic.

[Muaythaiboxer]

in my experience the non athletic people never train as hard and dont do well in compitition, i believe that to be a good martial artist you have to push yourself and the non athletic types dont do that and usually quit early cause they cant handle the workouts.

[Aodhan]

I played all kinds of sports growing up.

It's been my observation that athletic people seem to have a little more difficulty starting out in martial arts.

A person that isn't athletic seems to be able to pick up things a little easier. For instance when punching,the arm that isn't punching comes to rest by your side. Many athletic people have difficulty getting this move down.

I also found that athletic people seem to have difficulty with getting their feet to move at the beginning.

Now this doesn't mean that ALL athletic people have these issues.

Having an athletic background is great because your body should be conditioned to handle the workouts.

I fail to see any logic in the assumption that athletic people would have more trouble learning something athletic.

It depends on the level of the athlete, and how adaptable they are. If you have someone that spends 15 years learning a specific sport, and then they try to learn a completely different sport, they may have trouble getting their old patterns and muscle memory retrained.

I participate in an Irish dance group, and we had a girl join that had done ballet for many years. No matter how much she worked at it, she still had that ballet "style" that came through in her movements.

On a personal note, I think that one of the reasons martial arts comes easy is because I did such a variety of sports, and never got completely entrenched into a single sport with a single specific set of movements.

Aodhan

[Ryokeen]

Just wondering how many people had athletic backgrounds before they started in martial arts, and how it affected their learning process?

I've been a competitive athlete since I was 4 (Starting in swimming, did that for 17 years, along with cycling, cross country, water polo, triathlons, track, soccer, golf and wrestling, various others), and as such, I have a really good ability to learn physical elements quickly, and excellent body control (Balance, etc.)

I've tended to find that people that started athletics early in life (Even if they quit for a long time) will pick up the physical aspects a lot more readily than someone that hasn't really been an athlete.

Anyone else have similar backgrounds, or observations on same?

Aodhan

Unless sitting infront of the computer all hours of the day is uh athletic then no I had none. Yet I am the fastest learner and progressor in class^^. I push my self further then I should and as a result of my hard efforts I get better quicker. It has nothing to do with yourbackground in my oppinion^^. It's how hard you're willing to work.