I registered here a while back to research martial arts for my son. He been taking Tae Kwon Do for about 3 years now and Ju Jitsu for about one year. He's 13 now and plans on sticking with it. Now that he seems entrenched in martial arts, I'm thinking about doing it myself. The problem is I have a bad back. The disk between my 4th and 5th lumbar has deteriorated and results, at times, in severe sciatic pain. I get the pain after sitting for long periods, and feel better when I'm more active. Though, one wrong move and I'm off my feet for a few days. I do other activities, such as weight train, bike ride, and hunt (climbing tree stand). All of these involve fairly controlled movements and I've been able to avoid aggravating my back. Is there a style of martial art that would be better suited for someone with a back problem? I'm interested in a style of kung fu, preferably a southern style with fewer kicks. Any suggestions? Also, I'm 42 years old. Is this too old to start in martial arts? I know most of you will say no, but I guess what I'm really asking is how far can I expect to advance in any art, starting so late? Thanks in advance for and advice you can give me.
Tai Chi is good for spinal rehabilitation, specifically Wu style, though Yang style is good too. Hard to find a good teacher though, one that teaches the full spectrum, not just the form like most. Maybe check on here www.energyarts.com for Wu style instructors. Good luck..
I'm 42 and I've suffered from lower back pain since I was 20 - although not as seriously as yours by the sound of it. Like you, I find that sitting for a long time aggravates the condition. I also find that standing still is even worse! Being active is definately the best thing. I do Shaolin Kung Fu, and I find it essential to warm my back up really well before training or doing any practise at all. I then have no problems, although I do need to take it easy with things like sit-ups, crunches, leg-raises etc. I'm afraid. EDIT: if you do an art which requires you to do stretching, then I strongly recommend you to give your back a really good warm up before doing any hamstring stretches. I hope you find something which suits you. EDIT: thirty-eight isn't too old to start doing MA. No age is 'too old' so long as you get some benefit from it!
I just gotta chime in on this one... I'm with Johnno, I am 38, I have had back pain since a bizarre Wallyball accident in my early 20's where I landed hard on my heal, hurting my right knee, right side of my hip and my lower back. Doctors wanted to cut me open, Chiropractors wanted to see me twice a week for the rest of my damn life...buncha quacks... I started training and ya know what, my back never felt better...every now and then I will turn funny and tweak it out, but on the whole I have been virtually pain free for a long time. There are times I leave JiuJitsu class wanting to give my trainer $50 for an office visit, JiuJitsu is the best back adjustment sessions I have ever had.
Thanks for the feedback everyone. It's very encouraging. Not I just have to find a good school near my home. It seems to be mostly McDojos in my area.
I agree with inthespirit. There is neither a softer, nor more effective MA (IMO) than Tai Chi. IF you can find an instructer who knows how to teach proper structure, movement, energy and APPLICATION, you would be well served. Just try to stay away from this new wave of teachers who see it as no more than standing pilates. It is much more!
Wah Lum, northern mantis. Lots of low stances and throws and locks, wrestling style. Noah Mandell, Esq. Nashua, NH (603) 883-0037 ba gua, circular style. One of the three internals. May be a forms factory, but they might have good stuff. Contact Name: Francis Hriadil Business Name: Ba Gua Zhang Instruction in New England Phone Number: 603-595-8257 Center's Major Interest: Bagua http://www.kungfutaichi.com/schedule.html Looks like crap-ola to me, but might be worth checking out. Doesn't list a style, so I don't know what they are doing. ok, so here is the list of styles http://www.kungfutaichi.com/main.html It still looks like drek though.
Thanks. That helps a lot. I found a site on Kung Fu that list questions a prospective student should ask to see it the school is worth the effort. http://www.shaolin.com/schools_kungfu.aspx
All I can say is try it out and see what works for you and your back. I have suffered severe sciatica for christ knows how long but still do TKD. I had a L3 to S1 laminectomy in October last year and am back in the Dojo already. I found the increased flexibility required for TKD was also great for my back.
I had similar problems. A few years ago I smashed the disc between L4 and L5 lodging a 2.5 cm chunk of it against the nerve root to my left leg, a laminectomy took care of that. Twelve months latter I had a cycling accident and crushed L1, this resulted in much more time in hospital, and recuperating than the first injury. I found that once I had become fit enough to start training again I improved even better and faster. I would expect that any decent martial art would be fine, although possibly some Judo throws my cause some problems. If you haven’t done so I would also recommend seeing a good sports physio, or maybe taking some pilates classes to work on your spinal stability. I do Shorinji Kempo and have found that the training has been good for me, I don’t have any concerns with any of the techniques, I can still punch, kick, breakfall on hard surfaces, and throw. My back does get sore from extended training like weekend training camps, but everyone gets sore at these.
Thanks everyone. I came here for martial arts advice a got a little more. I was unaware of the laminectomy procedure. I'm going to consult my doctor about it.
A laminectomy is where they cut the back of your spine and decompress the nerve roots. I suggest that if you are going to consider the proceedure you start working on your core stabiliser muscles now as that will speed your recovery time. Here is an animation of the proceedure
From MY experience, I would say a stand up striking art (like Kung Fu), as with these you are relatively in control of your body for the whole time. When you get into grappling, you're suddenly giving someone else control of how your body twists, and if they do something too hard/wrong, it only takes a fraction of a second to go back to recovery stage 1.
Capoeira is meant to be good Only kidding... My friend swears by Tai Chi, he had a bad motorcycle accident and has said that it has helped him gain some more movement again as he was laid up for a while. Good luck with the training, hope you find something
Ouch My Back HI, I suffered a career ending injury back in 1997. I was doing ninjutsu at the time and overtrained with everything I was doing. I really busted myself up good while doing bent over rows at the gym. too much weight. I could barely walk for about a week or so and surgery was a realistic option. Instead I found some acupuncturists, did some energy work (Reiki) workshops and found a massage therapist who was also a Chen style taichi instructor. He healed me up pretty good. He also does qigong which I also did religiously for about a year and a half. Im currently training in Filipino arts and have learned to fall to accomodate my back issues. The whole point for me is to keep moving. If I just sit and dont do anything, i seize up and its a long road back. Recovery is also a great concept to research. I recommend the Core Fitness book by mark verstegen for this issue, as a starting point. As well, find a good yoga school. Ashtanga is good once your fixed up a bit, otherwise Hatha Yoga is a good form. Regards, Gord
I only started Karate a few months ago, but my back feels about 80% better now than it did. We do a lot of stretching and warm-ups, and I think that plus the muscle conditioning has really paid off. I have a nasty curvature of the spine, but I'm not aware of any major disc damage.
Too often, people equate age with disability. Or not having the physical ability to do things True, as one ages, they will have difficulty in certain movement. But this isn't a limitation of development. Movement, method, technique has to adjust to the individual A 70 year old man without a major back injury could develop skill sets better or easier than a 40 year old man with a terribly bad back
