i do muay thai mostly. i got this cheap gi from someone and thought of supplementing my muay thai training with some judo. takedowns etc. found a place. went for the class. i have done karate before so i thought it was going to be another hia!! hia!!! lesson. then i got thrown by the instructor. i was thinking to myself...wow that kind of hurts. a few more throws and i realised that okay this is a real combat sport like muay thai. any tips for saving my knees will be appreciated. when i breakfall i raise my knee too high and i think that the impact goes to it.
ALWAYS HAVE YOUR KNEES BENT. Be on the balls of your feet, never on the heels. That way you can maneuver when someone tries to hook your leg, and you don't end up with a torn ACL. When you breakfall make sure all parts are landing at the same time to spread the force.
Yeah its serious sport I previously boxed and thought it would be much easier but in many ways it not. As the others said make sure you learn to breakfall or you'll be in unecassary pain often.
Two things will happen. 1. You'll learn to fall. Pain is a good motivator. 2. Your body will become accustomed to the forces and impact. Just like conditioning your shins, but now its your whole body. Hang in there, gets easier.
Practice your ukemi (being able to fall right isn't glamorous or cool, but it is super important) and keep an eye on anything that hurts. If it just hurts when you fall and then is fine, that's a lot better than if it still hurts after class, or if you wake up the next morning and it hurts more. If you have any preexisting injuries, keep an eye on them, and ask your instructor if there's anything you shouldn't be doing. I'm not the most coordinated guy, but I've at least managed to stop breaking my falls with my elbows and/or kidneys. Someday I'll get the hang of this stuff. If you have any doubts with anything, ask your instructor. EDIT: I am not an expert in any way, only just started, but one thing I can say is that for the most part stuff hurts a lot less than it did a few months ago. Part of it is I've gotten a bit better, part of it is I've gotten used to it.
When I was a beginner, I was astonished when I accidentally heel kicked my instructor in the floating ribs, and it was like nothing happened.
Pain is the best teacher, but nobody wants to take his class. Falling is the best thing you will ever learn. Especially if you snowboard or ride motorcycles.
Breakfalls is something you have to learn as a technique. It isn't quite as simple as just falling. As well as getting the technique right, there are other pointers to work on, like not being too stiff and "going with" the throw when drilling. Just remember the first few sessions are the hardest and you will be less sore as time goes on. And yes - judo is a tough sport, just like muay-thai.
I am surprised you got thrown around on your first day. Oh and what others have said about break falling.
I got thrown around quite a bit onto crash mats in my first lesson. I only got thrown onto regular mats months later. How did you do it when starting out?
Bunch of solo breakfalling the first couple lessons. Front, side, back, rolling etc. And uchikomi of throws. Unfortunately we did not have crash mats. In fact I did not see crash mats and did not realize how much fun they are for a long time! Did not take a fall from another for the first lesson. And lots of newaza in the beginning.
yeah i learnt the ukemi stuff. which hurts my hands slapping them. i rolled forward like an car wheel for 30 minutes and i think it hurts the neck as well. i learnt only one throw, the one arm throw. but i was thrown around for 20 minutes by my partner and this 6th dan dude and it really hurts my knee when I land because I think the impact goes up the knee when you breakfall and I put my knee up too high. and the pulling and pushing gi stuff really killed my neck. i have a neck ache today and feel pain even when eating food. :icon_sad:
You got repeatedly thrown from full height onto the tatami by a black belt on your first lesson? That's harsh. Most beginners don't even know which side to fall and if you get that wrong you can get seriously hurt. The neck ache is just normal and you will get used to that in short order, same with any skin contusions from the gi rubbing and all that.
hell yeah i guess that's why it hurts so much...because of the height. i guess the only throw that is worse is the shoulder carry thing if he slams you down. technically the guy is a red belt - 6th dan. he threw me real hard like 4 times. then the rest were done by my partner, who is also doing his first day in judo, who threw me really hard. he seems like a newborn bunny hoping around without pain the entire lesson. 6th dan dude was nice enough to remind me to hold onto his lapel though so it helps with the breakfall. holy molly my neck really aches.
Have a word with the sensei. If it's remotely any good he'll understand that hurting brand new people is risky and likely to put them off for life. There is a skill to being thrown as well as throwing. You need to come off them the right way. Then there is the skill of landing correctly. You need to know this stuff or you will get hurt. Also the thrower needs to know to hold on to you properly and not let you go and fling you into the mat. One throws differently in practice than in competition unless into a crash mat. You don't learn these skills by being smashed in your first week!
Proper ukemi will fix it. Also, I was tossed a bit in my first days but having muscle due to working out helped a lot.
