in the practise of naginata, how common are knee injuries?

[Nazo]

I do kendo, but I have this growing interest in naginata, and have a couple of questions,Since there is the sune-ate target in naginata(unlike in kendo), I was wondering, on whenever one misses the sune-ate and hits the knees...

- How frequent do you get hit in your knees when at sparring practise in naginata?

- How common are serious injuries to the knees in the practise of naginata?

[Beckmeisterrr]

I do kendo, but I have this growing interest in naginata, and have a couple of questions,Since there is the sune-ate target in naginata(unlike in kendo), I was wondering, on whenever one misses the sune-ate and hits the knees...

- How frequent do you get hit in your knees when at sparring practise in naginata?

- How common are serious injuries to the knees in the practise of naginata?

I've not been hit in the knees yet. Although I have been hit on the ankles a couple of times. But that was more because my blocks were too far off the ground and I got caught on the ankles by the very tip of the naginata.

bec

[fighting mochi]

when i took naginata, i was never hit on the knee. the ankle is where you will most likely to be hit if you were not fast with your block. it was a lot of fun and very challenging, just like kendo.

[baka gaijin]

Of course you're not supposed to hit the knees and if you have good suneates they somewhat protect the knee. But in shiai anything could happen especially in the beginning when your strikes aren't that perfect.

If facing a person in shiai who have you have seen do very bad aimed sune-strikes, very powerfull strikes or if you simply don't wish to worry about your knees, wear knee pads under the suneate.

This I've only used in competision. During regular training I have never recived a hit on the knee.

In general naginata isn't worse for your knees then other martial arts only if you do it wrong. Maybe you should rethink it a couple of times if you allready have knee problems like meniscal injuries.

[Phil]

you can get hurt of cours vs beginners when you are training the opening most of the time (uchikomi kaiko, kakari kaiko...)
but the most painfull hit in shiai is the E-sune (sune with the ebu) on the knees ...



++

Phil

[baka gaijin]

ah sweet pain ^_^

A bad tsuki that goes under the helmet is quite nice too..

[Jakob Ryngen]

I wouldn't worry about the sune strikes. A bad one hurts but nothing more. Some people unfortunately seem to get bad knees from naginata, though, mainly people who are a bit heavy build. One can't emphasize keeping correct knee posture enough.

[Bruce Mitchell]

I came to the study of Naginata with bad knees in 1995. What do I mean by bad knees? 50% removal of the medial meniscus in my right knee, and patella re-alignement on my left knee (technically a Fulcerson shift w/lateral release). In the beginning, I would sometimes get some inflamation if my form was off and my knees strayed out of place (i.e. past my toes when bent to cut Sune). But once my form improved I stopped having problems.

Now, knowing that I have bad knees, I have also actively invested in supplementary training to strengthen my body, where as most people who I have met over the years who have "bad knees" don't ever do anything to strengthen their knees nor any other part of their body (including their minds in my opinion ).

Also, if you have an existing problem get it treated by a good orthopedic doctor, and follow up with a good physical therapist. Also read up on your condition in medical journals. What you will find is that for most joint injuries, proper exercise is the best preventative/cure out there. For instance, as a result of my earlier knee trauma, I have osteoarthritis in both knees. Guess what the best long term treatment is for osteoarthritis? Exercise.

Of course studying naginata has some physical risk, just like playing tennis, or any other physical activity. But those risk can be mitigated by proper attention to good from, taking care of you body, and a good dose of common sense.