(no subject)

[em_h]

So ... if I were going to try to pursue doing some sort of martial arts class, anyone got ideas about which specific kind might work best for me?

And, Toronto people specifically (I know there aren't many on here), any ideas of good places? Ideally near the university, but near Bathurst and Queen might also work.

Comments

[boubabe.livejournal.com]

That is a complicated question. It's not just the martial art that you want to try to choose, but it is the gym/school/dojo as well.

In what are you interested? Self-defense? Fitness? Meditation/stress relief? I've had exposure to tai chi, karate and a self defense course that was taught by instructors who had studied a variety of martial arts (judo, kung fu and karate). Even within those martial arts, though, are a variety of styles and philosophies.

Maybe these links will help you:
http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/Moore41.html
http://martialarts.about.com/od/styles/a/martialartstype.htm

The biggest thing, though, is finding a dojo where you feel comfortable and where you like the instructors. Even if you like the style of martial art, you will not want to go if you don't like the school.

I hope that helps!

[(Anonymous)]

Really, what it's about is physical/liturgical presence. I need to develop more of an ability to move, use my body, and occupy space expansively, confidently and gracefully. And martial arts training is one of the suggestions that keeps coming up as a strategy.

I tend to have a very tight presence. Sometimes it's very self-effacing and self-diminishing, other times (especially in liturgy) it's what's been described to me as "hyperfocussed guided missile on a trajectory." Neither of these is the ideal self-presentation for the priest-role.

Don't know if this sheds any further light. And honestly, my schedule is so complicated that it may not be a very realistic possibility anyway. But it's a thought.

Thanks for the links ...

[em-h.livejournal.com]

Oh, that was me of course. I didn't realize I wasn't logged in.

[boubabe.livejournal.com]

No worries. Based on what you said, I think I'd recommend trying out tai chi. It's about grace and body awareness, but it also has a meditative aspect that may be nice to have in your otherwise whirlwind of a life.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tai_chi_chuan

Tai Chi Links - Toronto

[boubabe.livejournal.com]

Keep in mind I know nothing about any of these places (when I did my tai chi course, it was through the university here):

http://toronto.taoist-tai-chi.org/content/standard_ca_to.asp
http://www.torontotaichimeditationcentre.com/
http://taichi.sa.utoronto.ca/UTTCC.html
http://www.taichitoronto.ca/

[tedesson.livejournal.com]

You may want to ask futabachan. She's local to TO and does martial arts with naginata.
therealjae knows her also.

[misslynx.livejournal.com]

I would recommend visiting a few different dojos teaching different martial arts, and watching a class (most will let you do that) to see if it looks like something you'd feel comfortable with.

If you're looking for something fairly gentle, you might want to check out Tai Chi (as someone else recommended) or Aikido. If you're looking for something a little more hard-edged, maybe Karate, Ju-Jitsu or Kung Fu (Wing Chun style is supposed to be particularly good for women).

Personally, I found I got more benefit from the hard styles than the soft ones (Ju-Jitsu is what I stuck with for the longest) - they required me to push myself more and ended up giving me a lot more strength and confidence. If you're trying to break out of your usual habits and expand your boundaries, sometimes something that pushes you further out of your comfort zone is best. But everyone is different, and checking out several different things is the best way to get a sense of what might work for you.

[em-h.livejournal.com]

Yeah, part of my problem is that I have so little open time in my schedule, I want to just FIND A THING and not think about it further. But this is not necessarily the best way to proceed.

After consulting with A, who was concerned that some things might just reinforce my slightly scary guided missile energy, I'm wondering whether yoga or something is the better thing to try. The great advantage of yoga aside from anything else is that Downward Dog is two blocks from my house. I feel rather more interested in karate than yoga, right now, but may not be either practical or the most useful ...

In fact, it'll be a small miracle if I manage to get it together to do any of these things, but you never know.