I just posted this on the silat thread, but it also is more general, and I wanted to also post it here: ------------------------------------- I was wondering if any of you guys have had any knee problems while doing silat (or other martial arts in which you do kneeling forms) ? I am just wondering, because we do this thing in silat-serak, in which you basically sit down, with your legs crossed sort of under you. It occurred to me that maybe that might not be the best thing for the knees, cartiledge, etc, especially if you are like me, 39 years old and a *bit* overweight. Can anyone help me on that ? Positive or negative experiences ?
in our class (ninjutsu) we make alowences for people who have knee problems (which pretty much covers all the black belts ) such as when moving from one bent knee position to another if you have an problem you can sacrifice the transition and just do it how ever you can i used to find it hard and un comfortable to sit bend knee style so i just practise and it gets alittle easier (thou still if i do it for too long my knees seize up) just explain to your teacher and he/she will be able to help you umm.. BTW if you post on the silat tread we still all see it on the new/today's post thing i'm pretty sure it's frowned on, but maybe if you want different opinions thats ok
I see no major problems from sempok/depok (Which is what you mean-right?) I actually found it helped my flexability. However, I know a few of our guys have bad knees and it doesnt help them any, but it also doesnt do any further harm, just discomfort. How much is a *bit*? That might have a direct effect on your knees.
knees What I am worried about is not pain, but for example, damage to the cartilage and/or miniscus, because I have heard doctors say not to for example kneel down all that way, because you can hurt them. But maybe I am getting a bit too "neurotic" about this topic. Not sure, really. I do think that strengthening the leg muscles and flexibility goes a LONG way, though, in not getting knee injuries. For example, I was just over at www.webmd.com, and they have a good, long article on the knee, and they put a lot of emphasis on strengthening the front and back leg muscles around the knee to protect the knee itself. Sounds like "The Plan".
Building the muscle round any joint will help protect it from damage. So thats a good starting point. And if its too sore to fully complete the move, dont do it, just go as far as you can....
Another important thing to remember is that you don't want to relax those muscles that support the knee as you reach the most crouched position. If you do this you are putting almost all of the strain on the joint and the muscles that should be supporting it are just slack. --Mike
true I think that is a good point. My legs were sore from doing sempok for the first time, and I couldn't really do it properly. They told me at my silat school that it would be much better the next time I do it. I hope so.
It will be. I can bounce into and out of Sempok now quicker than I ever imagined. Going from sempok to Horse takes a while longer tho'!
Dan Inosanto told a story at a seminar once. He said while training with Pak Herman Suwanda, he asked Pak, "Some of this stuff is rough on the knees and hips. How do you guys keep from having problems?" Pak Herman said, "In Indonesia, people usually only have problems with knees and hips if they've had some sort of injury." Guru Dan said he thinks it's because of the way they sit and, to get technical, defecate (at least in the villages). They squat down with their feet flat on the ground and their butts almost touching the ground. For many, that's a comfortable position and they sit like that a lot. Consequently, their knees and hips are kept supple from youth because they actually use those muscles/tendons/ligaments/joints in that way on a regular basis. As Scott Sonnon is fond of saying about range of motion and mobility - "If you don't use it, you'll lose it." I think the reason westerners often have so much problem with it is that we sit in chairs and use toilets so we end up not using those parts so much and they atrophy. Mike
