kenny weir Posted September 18, 2003 Report Share Posted September 18, 2003 I'm looking into taking up a martial art, but am totally confused after looking in the phone book. I'm wanting both a physical workout and a mental boost, and am not really interested in any contact aspects. I can't imagine taking it really seriously, and would be able to train once - or maybe twice - a week, plus whatever "homework" is appropriate. A colleague has told me I should look for an institution that teaches a "pure" form. A long, long time ago I practised tai chi for several years, and loved it. For that reason, I guess, the moves involved in an a tae kwondo intro class I went to last night seemed quite familiar, or some of it was a bit of a shock to my 47 years old joints. Karate, kung fu, ta kwando, hapkido, aikido and more - what's it all mean? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe G Posted September 18, 2003 Report Share Posted September 18, 2003 I'll say right off that I don't know much more than you, but I've heard it said that there are "hard" and "soft" forms of martial arts. Karate is hard, Akido is soft. There are also "internal" martial arts, like qigong. I practice chi-lel qigong almost everyday and get a lot out of it. The closest thing to it out of those forms you mentioned would be tai chi. If you're interested, type chilel into a search engine and it should take you to the official site, where they list teachers around the country. Sorry I can't be of more help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PFunkJazz Posted September 18, 2003 Report Share Posted September 18, 2003 I practice Shaolin Kung Fu, which is a full contact, karatelike discipline. I took it up fifteen years ago for exercise as much as anything. But I also find the concentration required, particularly when sparring, to be a great mind emptier, akin to meditation. You think of little else other than how to keep going/avoid getting hurt! Our club works out once a week for two hours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PFunkJazz Posted September 18, 2003 Report Share Posted September 18, 2003 Kenny, I've just noticed you say you are 47 years old. Age is no barrier to exercise or self-defence training, but obviously you do have to approach it in an appropriate way particularly if your body is not in good shape. The key here is for you to find a teacher who will be sympathetic and responsive to your particular needs. On which subject a good golden rule is, first, talk to your potential teacher and get a vibe and, second, never sign up for anything until you have observed an entire training session and like what you see. You may have to go through this process several times until you come across a teacher/method you feel comfortable with. I'm happy to answer any further specific questions you may have. I have found martial arts practice very beneficial and believe it can benefit everyone and anyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenny weir Posted September 18, 2003 Author Report Share Posted September 18, 2003 Pfunkjazz, thanks for the advice. Without even meaning to, really, I'm trying to be pretty saavy about this. And certainly I won't be signing up for anything without watching and talking first. The local guy I checked out yesterday didn't like my questions so I guess I'll look elsewhere. It's that meditational aspect you refer to that I'm interested in - the same feeling I used to get from tai chi. The wear and tear (and- yeah - joys) of family life are starting to tell, despite a fine diet and (almost) total sobriety. On the physical side, I realise that as a dad of a two year old, and a desk worker to boot, I've got to start looking after myself given my advanced years. (Just joking - geez pal you imply 47 years is all history. I think there's plenty of folks around here who would consider me a whippersnapper). Anyway, I need to start working out - the idea (let alone the tedium) of going to a gym gives me the heebie jeebies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PFunkJazz Posted September 18, 2003 Report Share Posted September 18, 2003 Kenny, I really didn't mean to imply you were past it! Compared to me you ARE a whippersnapper, by a few years anyway. One thing that does decline with the passage of time - even at your tender age! - is stretchability. Shaolin kung fu, and karate, requires a lot of stretching, in the legs and back, for the high kicks. Wing chung, a modern kung fu style, might be easier to take up as you get ready to approach the beginning stages of the pre-start period of very very early middle age. Most wing chung doesn't have any kicks aimed higher than your assailant's knees and is designed to be fought in a space not much bigger than a phone box. It is a hugely effective, close-up martial art which will get you fit and give you self defence ability. By the way, I got both my daughters to take up martial arts too. One does shaolin, the other aikido. And my wife did tai chi until osteo-arthritis in her knee stopped that (which is another, sad story. She loved tai chi and really misses doing it). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vibes Posted September 18, 2003 Report Share Posted September 18, 2003 Kenny, I don't practice it so I can't speak from personal experience, but as Pfunkjazz mentioned, there is a very meditational aspect to Shao Lin martial arts that I think would interest you. I visited the Shao Lin monastery in China where these martial arts originated, and the "fighting monks" were simply amazing. If you're looking for a way to increase strength and agility, based on what I saw, Shao Lin kung fu might be for you...but then, the monks at this monastery also use the martial arts as a way to purify their minds and focus on Buddhism, so you'd get the meditational aspect of the arts as well. It's a very interesting combination I've not heard of elsewhere. It's worth reading more about. I've attached a picture from a demonstration at the monastery. These monks have such strong stomach muscles that they can put a bowl on their stomach, then suck their stomach in and NO ONE can get the thing off. I've never seen anything like it anywhere else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vibes Posted September 18, 2003 Report Share Posted September 18, 2003 Pagodas built in memory of past great Shao Lin monks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vibes Posted September 18, 2003 Report Share Posted September 18, 2003 Overlooking the monastery/surrounding area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PFunkJazz Posted September 18, 2003 Report Share Posted September 18, 2003 Nice pix, Vibes! Got any more you could share? Must have been a fascinating trip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenny weir Posted December 15, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 15, 2005 Now, where was I? Oh yeah, before my marriage was blown asunder by the mortgage from hell and numerous ugly incidents, I was thinking of taking up a martial art! A year after separating, and having seeminly reached some sort of equilibrium with my ex, especially regarding our son, I'm back at it. After much internet browsing, reading and shopping around, I have committed to a particular Melbourne aikido dojo, and have been to four classes. For someone in my age group and lifestyle, aikido seems just about right. The instructors I have had so far are all, no surprise, much younger than me, but the welcome has been generous. I have explained my lack of fitness and being slightly overweight, fear of long-term injury etc etc and all that has been taken on booard. There is ample warmup for each class, and I have no qualms whatsoever about making a complete ass of myself. Last night I wasn't in the mood and just about called in to cancel, but I persevered - and felt great afterwards. Watching the senior students, I'm a little in awe - there's a world of learning and practising there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nessa Posted December 16, 2005 Report Share Posted December 16, 2005 I keep confusing martial arts and marital aids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kalo Posted December 16, 2005 Report Share Posted December 16, 2005 I keep confusing martial arts and marital aids. When I first read the headline I thought it said MARITAL ARTS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenny weir Posted February 7, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2008 Ahhhh ... still looking, but I may have found a martial arts home at last. The aikido place didn't work out at all. In the end - which came quite quickly - the place and the people didn't suit me. There was a bit of macho about the place and very little by way of explanation or detail about the path on which I was supposed to be embarking. Another factor that I didn't take seriously enough was travel time. The aikido joint was in an inner city suburb, but driving time was more than an hour each way from my home. Longer if using public transport after work. A tiring, unsustainable logistical nightmare in other words. A rather costly mistake! A few weeks back I saw a notice in a 2nd hand book shop for a wing chun school in the CBD. After a free introductory lesson I went to a few casual $18-a-pop classes. Then, feeling very comfortable with the place and the people, I went on a monthly direct debit plan. Needing to go at least 3 times a week, and preferably 4-5, paying the casual rate was killing. This week I've been to 3 classes in 4 days. It's a trip. Some of the classes - lunch times, Saturday mornings - are 1 1/2 hours, with the first 1/2 hour an intense, sweaty workout. Man, it feels weird/great to be doing some serious exercise after about 2 decades of couch potatodom. (Not that I'm about to cancel my cable sub mind you). After that there's a lot of sparring exercises with revolving partners. The concentration required during such is fabulous - this is a real meditation trip. Very cleansing. The school has a pretty wide range of ages, sizes, genders. No macho BS, very friendly. Better, it's quite a new place - only been going a couple of years, there's no grading or belts as yet, although the teacher is very experienced and part of a long lineage. The school is unafiliated in any formal sense, which I suspect is no bad thing, as I've heard that wing chun is notorious for its political feuds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porcy62 Posted February 7, 2008 Report Share Posted February 7, 2008 After practicing Karate for several years in my youth, I just start to practicing Aikido from January. Not bad, but pretty difficult at starting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenny weir Posted December 14, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 14, 2008 I was plugging away there when my back went - badly. That put me out of training for six weeks, and the rest of winter slipped by in a haze of lethargy. However, I stepped it up again quite a few months ago. And in accepting a golden handshake from my toxic job, I knew full well that wing chun training would become crucial in adding some structure to the challenges of (hopefully short-term) unemployment. And so it has proven. Oddly enough, even though I have no particular reason to arise early in the morning, I continue to get up twice a week at 5.30am for early morning classes on Wednesdays and Fridays, and even made the early Monday class and a Saturday session with my son, Bennie, this week. Four classes in a week! It's very cool to walk out into the new day after training, enjoy a simple CBD breakfast then get back on the same train from which the commuters have just disembarked! Anyway, today was out Christmas yum cha - much food etc etc. Our teacher presented four certificates - and yours truly scored the one for "most improved student 2008". Quite a surprise, even if - I'm sure - more of a cause for encouragement than any back-slapping or smugness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quasimado Posted December 14, 2008 Report Share Posted December 14, 2008 I was plugging away there when my back went - badly. That put me out of training for six weeks, and the rest of winter slipped by in a haze of lethargy. However, I stepped it up again quite a few months ago. And in accepting a golden handshake from my toxic job, I knew full well that wing chun training would become crucial in adding some structure to the challenges of (hopefully short-term) unemployment. And so it has proven. Oddly enough, even though I have no particular reason to arise early in the morning, I continue to get up twice a week at 5.30am for early morning classes on Wednesdays and Fridays, and even made the early Monday class and a Saturday session with my son, Bennie, this week. Four classes in a week! It's very cool to walk out into the new day after training, enjoy a simple CBD breakfast then get back on the same train from which the commuters have just disembarked! Anyway, today was out Christmas yum cha - much food etc etc. Our teacher presented four certificates - and yours truly scored the one for "most improved student 2008". Quite a surprise, even if - I'm sure - more of a cause for encouragement than any back-slapping or smugness. With a little less meditation and more drinking you'll soon be ready for AFL! Q Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenny weir Posted December 14, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 14, 2008 With a little less meditation and more drinking you'll soon be ready for AFL! Q Kenny and Bennie are proud to support Melbourne Victory (A-League - soccer) and Melbourne Storm (NRL - rugby league). AFL? Yech! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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