Martial Arts

[FullAuto]

So, courtesy of a tax rebate, I am suddenly well-off for a short time. This has enabled me to pay for a year of aikido (

[Thorondor]

 

::

 

Street Aikido? Practical-looking (and gal-inclusive too apparently).

[FullAuto]

There's an amazing amount of stuff there that I recognise, I assume it's this? We may not carry swords any more, but wrist and arm locks obviously still have their place as we carry weapons and valuables in our hands. Nice to see my thinking about weapon disarms isn't unique.

[Sunflash]

Uh, does the guy with the club/knife have the faintest clue how to use that thing, or....

 

I mean, I realize that it's probably overexaggurated for demonstration purposes, but still...

[FullAuto]

Your average street attacker will not have a clue how to actually use a weapon (I found an article on PubMed which recorded 16 out of 58 knife-wielding attackers cut themselves when assaulting someone, it's 1: Forensic Sci Int. 2006 Jun 2;159(2-3):113-8. Epub 2005 Sep 2. Sharp force injuries in clinical forensic medicine--findings in victims and perpetrators. Schmidt U, Pollak S. Institute of Legal Medicine, University Hospital of Freiburg - if anyone is interested).

 

If someone wants to rob you, they want to show you the weapon, you capitulate, they rob you, they go away. The appearance of a weapon does all the work, which is a lot easier/quieter than thumping/stabbing/shooting you unconscious/dead and robbing you.

 

Plus, exactly, it's a demo video, it would ruin it if the attacker lamped the defender and took his wallet.

[Sunflash]

Wow, okay. So the majorty of people are just scared of the sight of a weapon. Okay, didn't quite grasp that. xD CARRY ON IGNORE ME. >.>

[Thorondor]

It's the weapon that represents the threat, though it's the scumbag gripping it that might or might not take your life due to your reluctance to part with your well-treated leather wallet.

 

Which hide would you really rather risk in a real situation?

 

Assuming you'd take the more life-threatening option of resisting, that probably means you are actually confident enough in your martial ability to disable, say, a crackhead assailant with a firearm.

 

How much will statistics actually matter if the gun accidentally discharges and you take a bullet to the gut, groin or spine?

 

::

 

There's a very thin line between being brave, and being foolish. So you better be very certain when you make that call.

[FullAuto]

You never know how you're going to react until you're put in that exact situation. Guns and knives are used because of the psychological impact primarily, but they also facilitate easier wounding. Having been faced with knives before, I noted that the attacker tends to display the knife first, showing it to you, often leaving it static on the end of an almost fully outstretched arm. This is really quite stupid. But I'd be more worried about a knife than a gun.

 

If I go for someone's knife hand/wrist/arm I'm sure I'll get cut. It might be bad, it might be a scratch, but the knife's 'danger area' is much, much bigger than a gun's. If I'm manipulating him near me at close range, trying to control his hand/wrist/arm, I'm fairly sure my hand/wrist/arm is going to get a little bloody. A knife cut can sever major blood vessels, muscles, tendons, and nerves. Bullets are very unlikely to do the same.

 

Guns are only dangerous if you're in front of the muzzle. If you're not, they can't hurt you. And, statistics do matter, because you can predict the probable outcome based on them (not perfectly, unless one's stats are perfectly accurate, but they are a far more reliable guide than anecdotes). Most gunshot wounds are not fatal (here, although the stats are American and guns are far more commonplace than in the UK) and they're not always instantly debilitating even if you get shot in the brainbox. The mortality from GSW is significantly higher, yes. All I can hope for in that situation is that I've trained hard enough, and that I am more decisive and committed than the chap pointing a weapon at me.

 

Handing over the initiative to a criminal and hoping they will act rationally is not something I'm ever going to be comfortable with.

[FullAuto]

Things seem to be working out lately for people defending themselves in the UK. Okay, the cases I'm thinking of (principally this) are very clear-cut indeed, but still.

 

Extremely brave chap.

[Space Voyager]

Extremely brave chap.

Very true. I also voted for "Whatever it takes". If someone breaks into my house I'm not going to wait for the police goddamnit.

 

I'm so glad to see some common sense.

[Thorondor]

Defending others and their property is noble and demands courage too. Here's an astonishingly effective example of Handbag-Fu for you!

 

 

::

 

Youngsters lack proper initiative!

[Pete]

Indeed - that was most amusing when it hit the headlines.

 

In all seriousness they could have easily incapacitated her, but I guess would-be robbers don't consider that they might be fought off by an elderly ninja with a handbag.

[FullAuto]

Another grading on Sunday, plus the girl trouble, equals more stress than I feel is reasonable.

 

My techniques don't seem to have improved as much as I'd like. Perhaps I'm just being too demanding, but I'm having trouble getting up to the level where I think I should be.

 

I know the techniques, I just need to focus, and right now I'm finding that very very difficult.

[FullAuto]

So I passed my grading, and with a pretty good evaluation overall, apart from one technique where I'm really not finishing it off right. Aside from that, I'm good.

 

The two hours of training beforehand were tiring but good, and really left me no excuses if I had messed up. Thankfully, I didn't, but that didn't stop the grading being a nightmare, with the overseeing black belt managing to mess up twice when calling out the techniques, one of my training partners was either macho or very clumsy, so I had to work with two people so no-one got hurt, and generally my adrenaline was spiking and making me clumsy.

 

I came away knowing I can do far, far better. My execution was sloppy, my footwork was all over the place, I muscled the techniques, and so on. Very little in the way of skill going on.

[Space Voyager]

Congrats, FA!!! If it is a consolation, I was always extremely nervous...

[Thorondor]

Way to go, FA!

 

Some rise in adrenaline levels is inevitable in such events. And, seeing as you managed not to break anyone in half like a twig during or afterwards for their unfortunate performances, they should consider themselves lucky.

 

::

 

Was a certain person in attendance at your grading?

[FullAuto]

Thank you, all down to the quality of the instruction and training with my fellow aikidoka.

 

She was indeed in attendance, trained earlier so we weren't on the mat at the same time, but she stayed to watch our preparatory training and the gradings. Didn't help my nerves much, I can tell you. Didn't get the chance to talk really, as I finished, she was leaving.

 

The lady I did my grading with was rather fine, though. Still, never seen her before and probably won't see her for months, so I can forget that.

 

Had a weird moment when I was performing a technique on someone, and my wrist popped, and I got tingly fingers. That means nerves, I believe. It didn't hurt, and is fine now, but gave me a shock.

[FullAuto]

So, a bit of backstory. It is 1992 or thereabouts, and ten-year-old me is having a kickabout in the playground. Nothing exceptional, a school day like any other.

 

A particularly energetic rebound comes to me off the wall, and I take a massive, whopping kick at it. With all the grace of a clumsy child, I miss, my other foot comes down on the ball, which spurts out from under me, and my ankle twists sharply to the side in a way it's not meant to, and it breaks.

 

Unfortunately, such is my fall, my knee does much the same thing, and I end up on the floor, with one broken ankle and one dislocated kneecap. The kneecap is basically on the outside of my knee (feel the side, behind the kneecap, for the bone ends where the whole hinge arrangement is. That's where it was). It slips back on after an eternal 5-10 minutes of pain.

 

Despite physio, knee supports, rest, ice, warmth, the lot, this happens to me a lot over the next...six years? With both knees. I found it deeply upsetting because I felt my body betrayed me. The pain was bad, the worst I had felt up 'til that time (e.g. it was not forgotten about after I had finished crying), but it was absolutely nothing compared to feeling that I could no longer rely on my body to do anything. I would rather have been hit by a car and have had my leg broken.

 

It came and went throughout the years, last happening about ten years ago. Since then, I've had moments where I thought it was going to happen, where it has started to happen, but it never happened again.

 

Until tonight. At aikido.

 

I am utterly sickened. I thought I had escaped this problem, I thought I had exercised hard and carefully enough, I had hoped aikido would expose the problem immediately if it remained and I could give it up and forget about physical pursuits full stop.

 

I love aikido, but the reocurrence of this flaw had me walking with my head down, after training, thinking "I am going to have to give up aikido." I don't know if I can bear to go once a week, thinking "Is today the day I do my knee again?", never mind four times a week. I don't know if I can stand it.

 

And it's not the pain. It dislocated tonight and immediately slipped back, it was in place as I hit the floor, and I could get up and limp about. It's not the pain. It's the uncertainty and fear and knowledge that I will always be weak there and nothing will ever change that.

[Sunflash]

Wish I knew what to advise you with FA. For what little it's worth(and I know it's worth near zero), I DO understand what you're talking about. I'm in a smilar boat myself, only in the case of collapsed lungs instead of bad knees(long story, will save your time). I'd offer my advice on how to handle it, but it comes down to me being a stubborn fool who just powers through everything. Not very helpful, huh?

 

Here, have a hug. <3

[FullAuto]

Thanks, appreciated. I will take all the hugs I can get right now.

 

I think it stopped happening because I basically stopped playing sports almost altogether. If I stick with aikido I have to face up to the fact that it is very likely to happen again.

 

There is training tomorrow night, I've said I'll go. We'll see if I have the guts to actually go.

[Sunflash]

You'll do it, no question. You just need to put the thought out of your mind and carry on. Be ready for it to happen, but dont' antcipate it. It'll throw you off, which will lead to missed moves and thereby making you more upset/angry which will lead to more, etc etc etc.

[Zombie]

What I would recommend is making an appointment with your doctor. Tell him your problem and ask if he can refer you to a joint specialist/orthopedic surgeon or maybe even a sports medicine doctor or therapist. Letting a condition like that rule how you live is no fun. Get it checked out, maybe there is a simple fix, who knows. I wish you the best.

 

- Zombie

[Space Voyager]

I think Zombie is absolutely correct. This is not something to be toyed about, it is best to think it over with an expert. NOT a martial arts expert, those will always tell you to train as hard as you can - "it is the only thing that can help you no matter what", while you can end up crippled.

 

There are also a lot of martial arts that are far less taxiing on joints than aikido. Karate being one, for instance.

 

I too wish you all the best, FA.

[Thorondor]

Blimey, FA. Lousy 'prank' for your own body to play on you.

 

It's evident for anyone following your Aikido exploits how much you enjoy practicing it and mastering techniques, feeling you're evolving, etc.

 

All I can say is that you shouldn't allow the possibility of another such incident happening undermine you.

 

You shouldn't disregard this - that's not what I'm saying - as Zombie says, go see a specialist and get your facts straight about the status and severity of your current condition, if there's anything that might be done to fix it, etc, so you don't have to keep this thing gnawing at you at the back of your mind.

 

Ask for a second opinion too, don't settle for what the first doctor tells you.

 

If it can be fixed you can at least consider seeing to it. If you're told there's no helping it, learn from the doctors to what degree you might safely tax it and engage in some physical activity you like.

 

For now, if you said you'd go tonight, then go.

 

The worse that can happen is another occurrence; you'll deal with it, as you have before, and you'll know you should stop momentarily without any doctor having to tell you so.

 

::

 

If it comes to the worst and you learn you can't continue with Aikido there are still surely other things out there you can do that you can derive enjoyment from.

 

Heck, there's always the firing range if all else fails.

[FullAuto]

Off to aikido.

 

Edit: No dislocations tonight. And I did some fast, energetic stuff. Just wonderful aikido.

 

Thank you, gentlemen, for your kind words and advice.