Need help picking a style?

[Sensei Rick]

find and old beat up insttructor that has bad knees himself and maybe millitary training and let him know. He will have insight on training. my TKD instructor didn't warn us enough about joint problems and now i have many. I train my studen't with the knowledge i have now ande go to great lengths to protect thier joints so they can enjoy karate for a lifetime. good luck to you.

[h2whoa]

Aikido..it doesnt take alot of strength and it wont aggrevate old injuries as much as like shotokan.....it is also one of the most effective styles in the world if you take the time to master it!!

[glockmeister]

. I have studdied some martial arts since then. I did Tai chi (maybe barther me a little when I did push hands), Jeet Ku Do, and Karate. It seemed ok. Still I think its just not the same.

Thanks.

Out of Curiosity, what did you find find wrong with these styles? JKD, Karate and Tai Chi seems like an overall good mix. Why did you stop taking them? The type of martial art you are looking for sounds alot like JKD.

[Mtal]

. I have studdied some martial arts since then. I did Tai chi (maybe barther me a little when I did push hands), Jeet Ku Do, and Karate. It seemed ok. Still I think its just not the same.

Thanks.

Out of Curiosity, what did you find find wrong with these styles? JKD, Karate and Tai Chi seems like an overall good mix. Why did you stop taking them? The type of martial art you are looking for sounds alot like JKD.

Well Karate I took when I was going to College, I had an awsome teacher. The workouts were great, but when I graduated, that was that. Tai Chi, I liked my teacher also, but it did not seem like he would ever really get into the martial aspect of it. I did learn alot surprisingly from the forms, but wanted more. I could not find a Tai Chi School that would give me what I wanted (there was one or two but they cost an arm and a leg and for some reason looked like they just wanted to take my money). JKD was cool too, that was very recent. I liked it, I really felt I could defend myself, but insome weird way something was missing from the class. Maybe I like the traditional aspects of the other arts I taken. Then time of the class was an issue.

[Mtal]

yeh aikido is the most versatile art to fitting people requirements i once saw a person in a wheel chair doing it and with his wrist locks he actually won the wrist lock tournament pretty good hey.

Im only 16 and the shotokan stances are natural to me now but for a person learning them who is injured it would be difficult and your kness do hurt even after training and i have been doing it a long time

I actually recommend wing chun the stances are high and it focuses on hand techniques the back is generally uprite so i think that could be good for you.

Well, don't want to sound like a crotchety old timer, but here's my take. I'm 54, and tried aikido--didn't work because I'm a more natural striker than grappler (injury background: have two bad knees, herniated disc in lower back from 20 years ago, have broken somewhere around 18 bones--all after age of 35, arthritis in neck, hands, and feet). Hapkido worked for me, but with the knees, I couldn't work it. Watched my daughter do Shotokan during her years in college, and what I saw definitely wears on the body, especially over time.

Haven't done the speicfic type of kung fu called wing chun, but have done two other types (basically stand-up, striking arts), and for the long haul, that's what I'd recommend. Has great self-defense applications, and don't believe it will break down the body as karate might. I don't know about tournaments, but then I don't care about them either. That's something you'd have to check on.

Best of luck, and hope to hear a followup post on what you chose and how it's going.

HarmoniousWarrior

What is the style of kung fu you are talking about?

Oh I did try Wing Chung way back, it was just not for me.

Also, I checked out an Xing-yi Class today. I actually liked it. I saw some simularities to tai chi, but more powerful. It looked like stuff I can handle. There is another school in that style I want to check out before I make my decision, but I am leaning toward that and if I can fit in something like Kali, I think I have a nice mix.

[unknownstyle]

or if your in to weapons you could try the kali or even kendo or kubudo

[CTTKDKing]

You could really get into any style if you really want to. Just make sure you give your instructor all the info on your physicall disabilities. I study TKD and we have a 46 year old deputy black belt that has bad knee's and a slip disc in his back. He does everything in class, but when the workouts involve alot of jumping he's placed with one of the assistants to practive his poomse or self defense techniques instead. Other than the jumping factor you'd never know of these ailments unless he told you.