Beginning Martial Arts

This section is for those who are about to start off down the 'long and winding road' that is Martial Arts. Feel free to ask any question, no matter how daft (within reason) you may think it is.

We are all here to learn, and even the seemingly amazing rank of black belt is just another step on the journey.

Some basic advice :

There is no 'best martial art'. Everyone is different and has different needs.

If you want to find out if a martial art suits you, then go along and try it. Most arts encourage beginners and will let you have a lesson for free (or at least not require you to pay a 'membership fee')

Welcome to the site, and to the world of Martial Arts.

HKF.

 

nice idea HKF

 

A good plan! But, should we not begin by spelling "beginners" correctly?

HKF, your face (avatar) looks vaguely familiar... hmm, no, don't tell me, I'll have it in a minute...

Rgds,
David

 

David - thanks - now fixed.

 

I have a question

How is it possible to injure yourself through breathing?

thanks

David

 

hehe k_girl

Incorrect breathing can cause various problems.

Apart from hyperventilation and such, breathing with tension can allow you to sample heart attack, hernia, heomorrhaging blood vessels, ruptured and degraded (torn) organs.

How about poor digestion and and perhaps halitosis.

Your rate of breathing has a bearing on your nervous state eg fast breathing can eventually turn you into a nervous wreck.

Breathing in through the mouth can admit harmful foreign bodies and exhaling through the mouth loses your body moisture and heat. That maybe a factor, dependent on situation.

Breathing damp air will chill your bones.

I heard of a man who practiced breathing methods solidly for a couple of days and, upon finishing, realised to his horror that his unconscious breathing mechanism had switched off. He had an interesting two or three days kick-starting the autonomous process.

Rgds,
David

 

I've heard some (mostly Chnese internal arts) people say that you can injure yourself if you do the breathing wrong... is this what they mean, David?

 

Well, there's more than that about messing up your chi flow but what I said is all I can say on the subject.

I was actually thinking about karate with regards busting the heart because of someting I heard a few years ago but I can't remember who or what.

Rgds,
David

 

The Iron Wire set of the kung fu style Hung Gar(Kuen), is the most advanced of the system, its an internal form using lots of specialised breating patterns. If the form is pracitised wrong, it can and has caused some serious damage to the practioner. Thats why its the most advanced form so that practioners can work there way up to it.

A lot of chinese styles contain some form of Qi Gong(Chi Gung), In fact it has styles all of it own, and if this is practised wrongly all sorts of serious complications can occur to both mind and body.

Before commencing any form of internal training make sure that your teacher is qualified, it may save you from some sort of damage in the future.

 

yes i heard about this indian art (cant remember what its called) that is based on using the voice as a weapon to cause disruptive vibrations in internal orgarns due to us being 70% or something near it water .... is this possible

 

In theory, yes. In practice the human voice isn't capable of such things and someone's been watching the original Dune movie too much.

 

Lol no ckd no Dune but the voice can cause harmonic vibrations that can shatter glass so why couldnt it work on a water logged vessel such as the human body... And are you quoting facts you have tested or trying to tell us that because you think that its not true it isnt ... as per previous discussions with regard to the need for proof unless you have visited these classes how can you say the human voice cant do that...

 

Tai-gip we have no way of focusing the sound of our voice.
You need to match a very specific frequency for a number of seconds.
I like your questioning nature but please dont just keep telling people that if they haven't proved something they cannot comment.
Blind accecptance is just as bad as determined ignorance.
My body gives off heat Tai-gip, could I boil water in my hand?
Go on tell me it is possible because no one has proved to you that it cant be done.

 

Actualy some people think its possible to boil water with the hand...

and thats kind of my point have you actualy seen god ..many people beleive in him though.....

what im saying is that i accept an opinion but you cant claim as if its a fact

you cant do it unless you have actully seen everyone on the earth who says they can do it and have seen that actualy they cant.....

Otherwise you would have to say that in your opinion you think its not possible hell logicaly it may seem ridiculous but you cant say "no you cant do it" because you dont actualy know that for a fact

Plus im talking about a school ive heard about i didnt state an opinion
Hope im not coming across as firery its just that there is a very big differance between opinion and fact and generally what we are doing on these forums is discussing our opinions

 

Sound can have a very dramatic effect on the human body.

I'm no Physics teacher or Student, but I deal with sound every day.

Sound can make you sick, frightened, depressed, disorientated irritable and many other things.

The human vocal chords are unable to focus sound in the same way as a signal generator, yet sounds including harmonics can be far more influential than a sig gen producing 4khz sine wave. The human vocal chords can create complex waveforms, yet it's not just about physics. Racial memory comes into play when you consider adrenal triggers as well.

the human body cannot be explained away by the physics of the world we currently live in.

 

What sort of serious complications, and how do they come about?

 

This is my understanding of what could happen

Qi flows along set paths, the pratice of QiGong is taking the Qi and puting it through a set path (whatever it may be).

Most of the danger comes from here. It could be as simple as having a headache, feeling cold, or shaking. Most of this comes from a concentration on one spot for too long, or a loss of concentration. One of the most dangerous situations is to have a stong qi build up while you are moving it. In this situation if you have lost concentration your chi can move where it wants go to organs and cause illness and deterioration of organs.

Again that is my understanding of what can happen if someone is hurt practicing QiGong

 

Chaz what is Qi Gong(Chi Gung)?

 

im not a beginner yet because im afraid im too old for it because they say you should start young to become very excelent... im 15 and i want to study kung fu or ninjutsu... am i still ok to study or am i too old to start... does age count? also i have some taekwando and arnis lessons but never really did finish it... no offence but i think i wasnt really meant for those kinds...