Kata and Joints

[BadgerFu57]

Is kata good for the joints or bad for them? My knees are incredibly beat up from high school football, but I am very interested in martial arts. I was wondering if karate and katas will help or hurt my knees. Anyone have any experience or information about this?

[Hardball]

Korean and Japanese katas have very low stances that will hurt your knees in the long run especially if you have a preexisting condition. The wing chun katas don't have those low stances thus not as much stress on your knees.

Are you in a program or just self studying? The wing chun katas are sil lum tao, chum kil and bil jee. For a total of 3. I'm sure there are other katas you can do but these are the ones I know of. If you are being self taught then you can do the particular karate katas that don't have kicks. Just modify the stance so that you aren't so deep.

[HtTKar]

Thats hard to say, depending on what your individual problem is. If you have lost cartiledge in your knees or have bone spurs then nothing will ever make it better. The best thing that you can do for these kinds of injuries is to stay healthy, and at a healthy weight. Being overweight puts too much strain on your knees.

A lot of the Katas strengthen your leg muscles, and this might help you out, as the muscles can take some of the strain off your joints. Full-contact sparring might not be a good idea though. Basically a kata takes only about 60 seconds, and I think that could be of no harm. It would be what you did with the rest of your day. Stay healthy and stay lightweight is the best thing you could do...so sure karate could help you with these goals.

[BadgerFu57]

basically, what I am wondering to simplify this....

Will katas strengthen my body over the years or tear it down?

Also, I've heard that karate makes you "tense" and because of that karate punches are weak (compared to a boxer who would only contract his muscles for the punch at the last second).

[HtTKar]

I do not think that kata will do either. If your legs are weak right now, they will strengthen them and they will keep you in well enough shape to be able to support your own body mass. If you can already do that you will see little physical growth from doing kata alone. I can not imagine that they would ever be detrimental to your health.

You will hear a lot about different styles. One being better than another. This is to make a style marketable. They are basically all the same. Yes a boxer has a mean punch, but that doesnt mean that a karateka cannot punch like a boxer. It also doesnt mean that in a real fight a boxer wont kick or grapple. Learning karate or boxing is learning principles of fighting. When to attack, how to read your opponents intentions, how to be offensive, etc. Instructors should tell you the difference between the style you practice and how to fight. Stances and forms are for when no opponent is present. The basic principles are taught in every style. As a martial artist you should study all the different styles, and use what is best.