Choosing a fitness hobby

burntheladle

I've decided that this year, I'm going to take advantage of my universities sport and rec program. I'm not particularly fit, but I have been getting a lot more regular exercise in the last few months (walking 4-5km almost every day), and have really enjoyed the resulting improvement in how I look and how I feel.

I've decided I want to push that a little further, and take up a class in something. Or possibly two classes.

I've done one yoga class before (crashed my brothers course when i was visiting), and really enjoyed it, so I would like to do something similar. My uni offers:

Tiagalates - "With concepts and principles borrowed from Yoga, Tai Chi and Pilates, Body Art will help to improve your overall wellbeing. Focus on your breathing, posture, balance, coordination, flexibility, strength and awareness. A fun and uplifting class suitable for all."

Body Balance – "A class that reinforces flexibility and strength, combining the best Yoga, Tai Chi and Pilates. Truly a fitness class fot he 21st Century. BODYBALANCE brings mind and body into perfect harmony. Try this revolutionary, holistic approach to fitness."

Pilates
Hatha Yoga
Tai Chi

I get that these are all different things, but I'm not sure what the differences are and which one would be best for me. The Tai Chi classes are definately the easiest to fit into my timetable, but I could get to any of them with a little bit of effort.



I think I might also like to take up a martial art. Not particularly for fighting, but just as a way to stretch myself and get to know my body a little better. It's a bit outside my comfort zone, but 2009 is my year of doing things outside my comfort zone, so...

Again, the uni offers:
Brazillian Jujutisu - this one requires a list of equipment that is a little intimidating to me: mouthgaurds, kneepads...
Judo
Jujutisu
Krav Maga

It also offers Aikido and Kendo, but I'm not so interested in the sword thing.



Can ayone give me a bit of a rundown, so I can work out which woulc be the most appriopriate for me? Cheers.

chromdom

I would suggest going with something you have an ongoing interest in (sports?), or you may get through once and just quit. Do something fun that you think you will continue to enjoy

Doc

Judo is typically pretty great. BJJ can be really good or horrible, depending on the instruction. Krav has become saturated with bullshit, I'd avoid it.

I'd go with the Judo if I were in that spot.

Also I made fun of my friend when she was doing pilates. Then I tried it for five minutes and almost died. It's actually a good workout, though it's not a replacement for weights or anything like that.

kaliyama

All of these things sound like fun, and you should show up to a class for each one that piques your interest and see which is best for you. However, if you're interested in fitness, you should start a dedicated cardio routine - walking/jogging/running, and some weight-lifting as well.

leaf

Honestly I find tai chi to be the most beneficial. Every group is different, and I'd try a few different types (I already have, I'm assuming you haven't though). Also to see which group of people you get along best with. Honestly I find the martial arts groups at schools to be filled with the anime weeaboo crowd.

Tai chi is much more laid back and relaxing, and does yield results if you stick with it, but each has their own benefits depending what you're into or wanting to get out of it.

Buddies

Male or Female?


In either case, a martial art would be beneficial to you. Anything to teach you to remain calm while under pressure/in a fight will go a long way in everything you do. You will view all situations differently after a year of learning how your body/muscles work and how much damage you can take/deal. The confidence it builds is worth every bruise and sore muscle 300x over.

Do the yoga thing a 3-5 times a week since you know you like that. Go to each of the martial art classes for a trial with a day or 2 of rest inbetween each one. After you have tried them all, pick which one you liked the best. Your decision should not be based on what you did in class(Over time you will generally learn the same things) but how you liked the teacher and other students. If you don't enjoy any of it, then don't force yourself to take something.

After you figure out what you like the most you can do yoga stuff 3-5 times a week and the martial art 2-3 times a week. This will give you great training and adequate rest and you will see huge changes in body composition and strength/endurance in 6 months.

Another sport that you might not have thought of and will compliment the martial art training is Rock Climbing. Your school should have a club for that. It is a lot of fun, and will train your grip for the martial art stuff if you do partake in that. Doing this 1-2 times a month could add a lot to your achieving your goal.

Hypatia

My understanding, which may be flawed, is that a lot of yoga involves standing still or getting into a position and holding it, Pilates tends to involve doing repetitive holds/exercises to build muscle, and Tai Chi is more movement based and involves learning a string of movements that you do from beginning to end.

Which one you pick depends on your personal style. I'm an impatient person so I'd rather do Tai Chi.

Another thing to consider is that Tai Chi is going to tie in directly to any martial art you're learning because it is one, so the stuff you learn in it will be more transferable.

Thanatos

Tai Chi is, in fact, a martial art. Depending on what style they're teaching, there will be anywhere from a lot to very little focus on the martial aspects of it. Tai Chi is fantastic for building balance and coordination. Yoga is more about flexibility, and Pilates is about flexibility and core body strength.

What martial art you should pick really depends on what you're hoping to get out of it. From the sounds of it, you're mostly looking for the health and psychological benefits without worrying so much about the "being able to hit things" stuff. If that's the case, I'd recommend Tai Chi.

mts

that first one actually sounded interesting to me. is there a way to go to a class and see if you like it? at my school you would just buy a pass to take classes rather than for a specific class. that way you can try something out and see if its your style.

i took a tai chi class as an undergrad and really liked it

Faffel

I'm a bit biased, but I think judo is your absolute best bet. I've been taking judo for a few months now and I might have an exceptional dojo and sensei, but I've never truly felt discomfort aside from a few things that were mutual stupid decisions. The art has taught me a lot about myself and showed me that maybe I'm not as physically soft as I thought.

Judo is a gentle art that, given the proper training environment, will teach you to push yourself FAR beyond what you imagined were your limits and make you overcome some pretty major fears. I've never regretted a judo session, even when I'm hobbling around for the next two days and can barely flex some major muscles. From what I've heard you have a much better chance of finding a good judo dojo than in almost any martial art, especially BJJ as it's very MMA-focused. Not to mention that BJJ was taken directly from Judo - the "Kimura" was named after one of the greatest Judoka to live, after he broke Helio Gracie's arm with an armlock named ude garami. Which is the BJJ Kimura.

I'd never done anything really physical before judo and was horrifically out of shape but I kept at it and within weeks I was able to keep pace with the rest of the dojo. I would try at least one session and watch and listen and maybe get some breakfall practice/simple uchi-komi in. Sorry to sound like I'm preaching but joining up for judo was the greatest decision I've ever made for my mental and physical well-being. I was away from judo for 2 months and as soon as I got back onto the mat it felt more like home to me than home. If I'm 240 pounds and can take throw after throw after throw with no pain, then I bet you can screw up your courage and slap your hands on the mat for an hour to try out some breakfalls. I'm quite a coward, too.

burntheladle

Thanatos wrote: »

Tai Chi is, in fact, a martial art. Depending on what style they're teaching, there will be anywhere from a lot to very little focus on the martial aspects of it. Tai Chi is fantastic for building balance and coordination. Yoga is more about flexibility, and Pilates is about flexibility and core body strength.

What martial art you should pick really depends on what you're hoping to get out of it. From the sounds of it, you're mostly looking for the health and psychological benefits without worrying so much about the "being able to hit things" stuff. If that's the case, I'd recommend Tai Chi.

I did not know this, and it does sound pretty much like what I want. The only "problem" is that the group only runs once a week, so I'm still looking for an additional activity.


Judo would be good, but it's starting to look like that's the one thing that absolutely will not fit into my timetable. Is there a large difference between Judo and Jujitsu? Not BJJ, just JJ?

My brother does capoeria, which I'm sort of interested in, but I think I need to improve my general fitness level before I go there...

Faffel

burntheladle wrote: »

Thanatos wrote: »

Tai Chi is, in fact, a martial art. Depending on what style they're teaching, there will be anywhere from a lot to very little focus on the martial aspects of it. Tai Chi is fantastic for building balance and coordination. Yoga is more about flexibility, and Pilates is about flexibility and core body strength.

What martial art you should pick really depends on what you're hoping to get out of it. From the sounds of it, you're mostly looking for the health and psychological benefits without worrying so much about the "being able to hit things" stuff. If that's the case, I'd recommend Tai Chi.

Judo would be good, but it's starting to look like that's the one thing that absolutely will not fit into my timetable. Is there a large difference between Judo and Jujitsu? Not BJJ, just JJ?

Jiu-jitsu has more types of locks (spine, wrist, leg and maybe finger locks?) and was a killing art in its prime. You'll probably find a much different attitude as well. Judo is almost academic - its founder was a teacher and decided to create Judo off jiu-jitsu to create a safe form of self-defense, sport and recreation. Judo really values respect and sportsmanship and if you don't have those you probably won't last long at any decent dojo.

Judo is probably the safest martial art you can do and it's more hands-on than most of them, as well. Striking arts (from what I've seen) are more empty air practice, where judo is almost always working with a partner and being thrown/throwing or sparring. If you want to practice without a partner, do it in your own time is what the attitude seems to be. Safety is a pretty large part of judo and if you can't control yourself you'll be taught to quickly.

Judo, which is translated as the "gentle way", teaches the principle of flexibility in the application of technique. This is the flexible or efficient use of balance, leverage, and movement in the performance of Judo throws and other skills. Skill, technique and timing, rather than the use of brute strength, are the essential ingredients for success in Judo. For example, in Judo classes you may learn how to give way, rather than use force, to overcome a stronger opponent.

The principles of Judo, such as "Maximum Efficiency" and "Mutual Welfare and Benefit", can also be used in our dealings with others in life. The ultimate goal in Judo is to develop oneself to the maximum extent possible, always striving for perfection, so that you can contribute something of value to the world.

Courtsey of judoinfo.com

This is an essay of sorts by the great man who created judo - Jigoro Kano.

Duffel

Unless you really want to do a martial art, I always recommend swimming. It's fun, it's useful, it's something you can do outside the gym, you get to be in the water, it works pretty much every muscle in your body, and it also just might save your life someday. Also, as far as cardio goes it's a hell of a lot more enjoyable than running on a treadmill.

burntheladle

Duffel wrote: »

Unless you really want to do a martial art, I always recommend swimming. It's fun, it's useful, it's something you can do outside the gym, you get to be in the water, it works pretty much every muscle in your body, and it also just might save your life someday. Also, as far as cardio goes it's a hell of a lot more enjoyable than running on a treadmill.

I think this might be the perfect second activity for me. One of my main issues is working out how to fit these activities into my day in a way that won't demotivate me (if I go to school, have a half day of classes, and then come home, I know I'm not going to want to go back to school to go to a yoga class), and I really think excerising in the mornings before school would be the best fit for me. The Tai Chi classes run tuesday mornings, and I think if I swam Monday and Thursday morning, it would all fit in very nicely and be a fairly easy routine to get into.

Hypatia

burntheladle wrote: »

I did not know this, and it does sound pretty much like what I want. The only "problem" is that the group only runs once a week, so I'm still looking for an additional activity.

Once you learn the movements of Tai Chi, you really don't need the class to do it, it's actually a very individualized thing and a lot of people just do it by themselves in the morning.