A request for advice

[Introspector]

I am a young man seriously considering learning a mrtial art. I have previously dabbled in both Karate and Aikido, for about two months of each. I discontinued Karate as I was far to young and immature to enjoy and appreciate it (I was six at the time). I found Aikido impractical as I have extremely poor flexibility and balance (from a hearing impairment), kneeling on the floor in a basic "relaxed stance" was painful after about one minute, and after two months of practising for almost an hour a day I still couldn't take it (and I'd like to think i have a reasonable pain tolerance level). I am looking for a martial art that, mainly, offers practical combat techniques and frequent enjoyable sparring, under sensible safety restrictions. From what I've read, Karate seems to be an art that would offer this, and I still have my old handbook, which may help me do some extra learning. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

 

[YODA]

I would recommend a combination of Muay Thai and BJJ. Or maybe a club that crosstrains in both.

 

Where are you located?

 

 

[three60roundhouse]

Kickboxing sounds good for you, as does Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu - most BJJ schools spar a lot during every class.

[Ai Hate]

On 2002-05-05 04:40, Introspector wrote:

 

I am looking for a martial art that, mainly, offers practical combat techniques and frequent enjoyable sparring, under sensible safety restrictions. From what I've read, Karate seems to be an art that would offer this,

depends on the dojo you train in, i suppose. sports karate is quite safe (with the headguard and gloves).

 

but if you want to focus mainly on sparring, muaythai or some kind of kickboxing is probably the way to go, i've heard. why, a dojo around here wouldn't even let you join if you're not planning to be a professional boxer!

 

anyway, would you prefer striking or grappling?

[SaiFightsMS]

Why not find a local school and take a trial class and see how you feel afterwards? You will see things a lot differently now than you did at 6.

 

 

[Introspector]

Thanks for the advice guys.

 

I have considered Muay Thai, but from my understanding of it you can't walk into a muay thai bout and ask "no head blows please"... whereas sparring and competing in Karate, from my understanding, is much safer.

 

BJJ hadn't really featured in my mind however. I might need to do some further research and attend a few classes. Liklihood of a club being near me isn't too high, but I travel 1 1/2 hours each way to and from school each day; I don't mind travelling

 

Thanks again everyone

 

[ This Message was edited by: Introspector on 2002-05-06 01:02 ]

[Ai Hate]

On 2002-05-06 00:47, Introspector wrote:

 

Thanks for the advice guys.

 

I have considered Muay Thai, but from my understanding of it you can't walk into a muay thai bout and ask "no head blows please"... whereas sparring and competing in Karate, from my understanding, is much safer.

 

no, you can't do that in MT. except you don't do any sparring at all.

 

as in karate, i believe that it depends on the school. if the school goes full contact, then it won't be any safer. make sure you find a school that uses headguards (the ones that covers the whole head). good luck.

[Bon]

I have a hearing impairment in my left ear and a profound hearing loss in my right ear. The Doctors told my parents I'd never be able to catch a ball, but I can.. they also basically said I was gonna die, and if I did live I'd be blind and deaf..

 

It doesn't really seem to effect my sense of balance and I haven't really noticed it affecting too many other deaf/hearing impaired people.. Can you explain why it affects you ?

 

I think akido is impractical for self defense, it takes far too long to be able to apply it. I have dabbled in akido, but the only thing it did for me was make me realise how poor my grappling was and to get a REAL grappling art.

 

I would say any art you're interested in would be good.. I'd personally go with muay thai or some form of freestyle kickboxing.

 

I think most karate is based towards kata, with the emphasis being a lot heavier on kata than sparring. The training isn't really suited to self defense like other arts such as muay thai or kickboxing.

 

I think it comes down to more what you have available in your area, and the way they train.. Check out a few schools and see what you like the look of, talk to the instructors..

 

When you first start sparring, I doubt it's very likely you'll go full contact, let alone have head shots. You'll probably start off with light contact and gradually progress to medium, and then to full in the heat of the moment.

 

I'd reccomend learning a striking art and getting proficient in that first before looking for a grappling art.. I think the stand up skills really compliment the take downs in grappling arts such as BJJ (brazilian jiu jitsu), which I think you NEED before you can effectively take someone down on the streets. A lot of guys can grapple real well on the ground, but their take downs aren't too good, they look like a fish out of water, which they are really, since they have no stand up skills.

 

Do you mind if I ask how old you are ?

 

Why you want to learn martial arts ?

 

And, how you got your hearing loss ?

 

 

[Introspector]

BON;

 

I am 16 years old. I have been hearing impaired my entire life, from being born three months premature. Not unlike you, a range of disabilities were rpedicted: brain damage, blindness, hearing impairment, and probably a premature death to match my premature birth. I only assume that my lack of balance is from my hearing impairment, as balance IS linked tot he ear (I am not aware of the specifics however) it could be natural or otherwise the result of my birth; maybe not at all. All I can say is that my balance is below par, I get dizzy very easily (eg from spinning around), fall heavily into the door/wall of the train where others only stumble etc. It';s not major, but it is something I need to bear in mind, and potentially I may need to work towards improving.

 

kickboxing, of anything which really resembles kickboxing in a major fashion, my mother will not allow me to take up. I can see it now: "You're an extremely intelligent person, why would you risk losing that?". I am currently enrolled in a select entry school in which the avergae student is in the top 5% of the state academically; my mother is probably right when she says I would not be doing myself any favours that way.

 

Why do I wish to take up martial arts? I can't answer this question. I honestly am not sure. But probably if it was just some flighty whim of mine the desire would have worn off by now, so all I can really say is that I am putting alot of thought into it lately.

 

Perhaps when I mentioned sparring in my previous post my expression was not entirely accurate; I do not wish for solely sparring, though I would like a reasonable degree of sparring and competition, not that I will be allowed to spar for a few months until I am reasonably proficient I would predict. I found aikido a beautiful art, I agree somewhat impractical in a real situation and difficult for me (I am not exactly designed for agility ).

 

AI Hate;

 

Thanks, that's what I thought... thanks for the well wishes.

 

Thanks all for the feedback, I hope my inane ramble made some sort of sense

 

[ This Message was edited by: Introspector on 2002-05-07 05:20 ]

[Bon]

Cool, man =)

 

Good luck.. let us know how you get on.

 

Good to see you're not letting your disability interfere with your learning like a lot of other hearing impaired/deaf people do.

 

I don't think you risk your hearing with MA unless you go full contact with head shots. I've never sparred full contact head shots in the dojo, and you probably wouldn't have to participate in it if you didn't want to..

 

I don't think twice about my hearing, but I probably should be more considerate of it.