Help. advice needed

M1cky

hi, i'm new to this forum but i have a few questions about MA in general and was hoping some of you guys might be able to advise me.
i'm a 22 year old intercounty footballer who has been suffering with injuries for the past 6 months. i've seen a specialist who has pointed out to me that i have numerous bio mechanical problems that are preventing me from regaining full fitness. among the things he told me to do was increase my core strength and stability. someone suggested to me that by doing martial arts i could do both this and increase overall strength, aswell as learning other stuff such as self discipline. i've been told to write off the 2006 season already so i'm very interested in taking up some sort of martial arts instead to keep me sane. i suppose what i'm really asking is what type of MA should i aim for that are particularily good for core strength and for leg strength. (if i do ever make it back onto a football pitch it would nice to have increased leg strength for speed). also where in dublin could i practice that discipline, and finally how long would it be before i would be able to compete, even at any level (because i was never that good at the training for the sake of training thing). all help would be greatly appreciated. :cool:

judomick

Its hard not be biased but, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Judo or Wrestling (greco-roman) are probably the best example of sports that use core strength, alot of our drills especially in warm up focus on core strength aside from these mentioned there are plenty of exercises you can do to increase your core strength, google it im sure theres plenty on the net about it, also look for exercises that retrain your movement.

If your interested in any of the above sports go to www.sbgireland.com or check out your local judo club, judo might not be for you if your trying to get rid of injuries though

john kavanagh

my advice would be to do pilates or yoga for a couple of months before considering taking up a martial art. this will increase your core strength and help u with your bio mechanical problems

PJG

john kavanagh wrote:

my advice would be to do pilates or yoga for a couple of months before considering taking up a martial art. this will increase your core strength and help u with your bio mechanical problems

Exactly,

Before I took up martial arts I played rugby from a young age and had a lot of alignment problems resulting in reoccurring injuries to groin, hamstrings and middle back. I seen phyiso’s, chiropractors and osteopaths who will all gladly take my money and only treat the symptoms and not the cause.

The route I took the was this -
I hooked up with a Qi-Gong practitioner who gave me a series of stretch’s to do and a lot of horse stance work. This was to realign ankles, knees and hips.
I took an 8 week course in Pilates to strengthen my core. In the same gym I did some body ball sessions again to strengthen core. I have built the Pilates and body ball work into my gym routine and sine this I have not had any injures in 3 years (touch wood).

This plus the stretching during kickboxing sessions keeps everything in check.

Core strength is probably the most essential factor for any sports person. All our movements and strength comes for our core. Investing time here will result in gains in other areas.

Anyone who tells you that Pilates and body ball work is for the ladies just hasn’t a clue what the are talking about.

Best of luck

Colm_OReilly

An MA isn't going to help you develop core strength as much as working exclusively on your core strength will do.

Sports Pilates would be a good place to start. As for resistance training stay away from machines and focus on free weights and composite exercises (e.g. Deadlift, Clean & Press) or do weights on the gym ball.

If you want some sort of aerobic work get Total Immersion, not only will it teach you to swim better but it shows how to generate power through trunk rotation so you'll be working your whole body in the water.

Hope this helps,
Colm

M1cky

thanks guys, i already started a yoga course 2 weeks ago. i'll look into pilates aswell. i know i could get info on the net about core strength but its mentally hard doing some of those exercises because you cant see the improvement the way you can with strength work in other parts of your body. thats why i thought if could combine the exercises with a sport it would keep me focussed, if you know what i mean.