Too flexible for Aikido?

[Shizentai]

Being a graduate student, this semester I unfortunately have to take classes at night when I would normally train karate. However, for several years now, I have wanted to improve my ukemi so I thought I would try joining the Aikido club, which luckily meets on days when I don't have class. My first day was pretty good. The instructor is a kind woman who seems very comfortable with the techniques and appears quite knowledgeable about human anatomy. She conducts a somewhat informal class that has a nice atmosphere for entering beginners.

At one point my partner was executing a wrist technique in which I was told to tap out as soon as it felt uncomfortable. Unable to put me in such a state, he called the instructor over, who proceeded to execute the technique with a bit more success. However, even though I was immobilized, I felt no pain at all. Intrigued, the instructor proceeded to check the full range of motion of my arm, and informed me that I was in fact dislocating several joints as she twisted, which may make it dangerous to be the receiver of certain locks and wrist throws. I am kind-of bummed, as one of the main reasons I was interested in Aikido was to learn how to fall better in various situations.

I've known about my hypermobility for a while. When I was a kid, I used to be so overly flexible that I had trouble walking down stairs without spraining my ankles, or bowling without dislocating my wrist, or swimming without dislocating toes. I used to wear braces on my wrists and ankles and sometimes my knee.... but when I started training karate more than a decade ago, all of that went away! Increased muscle stabilized my joints and I learned to put my body in positions where it was least susceptible to joint injury. As my body became stronger I began to think of my natural flexibility as a good thing for a change, and used it to my advantage in many situations. I really didn't expect that being super flexible would be such a strike against me in aikido, but then again, I've never done Aikido before either. My question for you all is: Is this a problem you've ever encountered? If so, what compensations should I make in training to protect myself?

[bushido_man96]

First off, I think you could continue with Aikido. What is important is that you work with your instructor on cases like you've mentioned, so you can get used to knowing when you should tap, since in your special situation you can't really rely on pain as feedback. You will have to be more self-conscious about your body.

[Lupin1]

I'm not hyper-flexible, but I don't get the "ah pain!" response as quickly as others. My instructor calls me a "non-reactor". He usually relies on the pain face or grunts or whines or whatever to know when to stop when doing techniques and with me it has to almost be to the point of injury before I'll react and then it's usually a laugh...

[ps1]

I agree that you should be able to continue the art. Hyperflexibility isn't dangerous to you in regard to receiving techniques. It just makes it difficult for the tori to perform them. That is to say, some moves won't work on you. I run across this in Jiu-Jitsu all the time. I see it alot with shoulder locks, armbars, and wrist locks. The key is to vary the angle of attack. However, because of the flowing and free moving nature of Aikido, that may not be as easy as it is in jiu-jitsu, where you have the opponent pinned/immobilized.

Regardless, as skilled practitioner shouldn't require you to say it hurts. Over time, you can feel the point where the joints start to seize up. That's inevitably where it is beginning to have the ability to cause damage. In we tend to call this the "invisible jiu-jitsu." The ability to feel slight changes in body tension and movement that leads a practitioner to change direction or know when to stop a move.

[Tempest]

I have the same problem with a number of my joints. And in the long run it is a good thing, however when learning the technique you MUST ensure that it is performed on you correctly as an incorrectly performed technique will result in you not learning to roll with it as you wont feel the pain the way others will.

[Shizentai]

Thank you all for the words of encouragement. I will definitely continue with aikido. No worries there. Judo, however, may not be in my future I think lol.

Last night after my aikido class had finished, a friend of mine who came to observe talked me into trying judo training as well right after (not my original plan, but what can I say? It sounded interesting). In judo while attempting my very first newaza, I managed to dislocate my shoulder. I can't help but laugh now because the Aikido instructor last week specifically predicted that shoulders might be a problem for me. Having never dislocated a shoulder before, I was doubtful and dismissed it, ...and yet here I am today. Ha!

My friend was kind enough to help me put it back into place, which helped. Today is sore and stiff, but I think it could have been worse. I can only imagine what it must feel like to someone with tighter ligaments. It must be awful!

[MasterPain]

My friend Spaceman Craig has the same problem, I think he called it lax joints. He trains still, but quit fighting after throwing his shoulder out by throwing a punch too hard. Just be careful and have fun.

[lit-arate]

You seem quite nonchalant about your condition, but I just want to express my sympathies if it inconveniences or hurts you in any way.

I would say that sticking with Aikido specifically will be helpful in ways you wouldn't initially guess. I claim no expertise in Aikido (I'm probably an "intermediate" student, if black belt is "advanced"), but I am willing to say that I have really, really good ukemi. Eventually, you and nage will flow together to the point where nage doesn't actually have to immobilize you, or cause pain; ukemi becomes an almost pre-sponse (like a response, but before). This should help you recognize when you're going to injure yourself before it actually happens, both on the mat and on the stairs.

(This does depend a bit on which branch of which federation you're practicing. If you're under someone like Chiba-Sensei or Tissier-Sensei, then you'll learn to flow with nage's insane force, and it will probably hurt you. Not that I disagree with their styles; it's just different.)

[kensei]

Hypermobility is actually a very common issue with young girls and young men, and in some people it does not go away completely as they grow older. In my clinic I once saw a gymnist that was hypermobile and she had hip and back issues but was able to do the splits and weird flexibility stuff like throwing her legs over her head from behind like a Chinese gymnast. Sounded great till you realized she often dislocated her hip and her joints were so loose that she would often twist out of a joint.

The only answer we had was tape and strength to remind her of her posture and to strengthen up her body. I recal it finally went to the surgions and they had to tighten up some joints.

[Drew]

http://www.cfids.org/pdf/joint-hypermobility-guide.pdf

You might find that link interesting. It explains alot of my problems, though it didn't really give me personally any viable solutions. You seem to have a far more advanced case of joint hypermobility syndrome than I, my sympathy goes out to you.

Even with my far more tame case of JHS the pains in my wrists, back, and feet make working for long periods on my feet a nightmare. Combined with the neck tension common with this syndrome and the resulting headaches I have to lay off of training completly periodically.

Do you have any of the chronic pains described in the link? Just curious.