Knee Pain from Ukemi

Hi All,

As you can probably tell from the subject of my post, I am a MA newbie. I just started Aikido, and I've noticed some knee pain when performing Ukemi and related "roll" excersises and warmups.

I feel the pain in the side of my knee when rolling from my back to the kneeling position. (the pain seems to come from the torqueing motion)...

Is this something I should be worried about? Or is this normal for someone new to the art? (lack of stretch, or poor mechanical execution?)

Any suggestions are warmly welcomed!

Thanks!

Erik

PS If it makes any different, I'm a big guy (6'2", 200lbs, pretty long legs - maybe to much torque/leverage?)

[QUOTE]Originally posted by erikcw:
Hi All,

As you can probably tell from the subject of my post, I am a MA newbie. I just started Aikido, and I've noticed some knee pain when performing Ukemi and related "roll" excersises and warmups.

I feel the pain in the side of my knee when rolling from my back to the kneeling position. (the pain seems to come from the torqueing motion)...

Is this something I should be worried about? Or is this normal for someone new to the art? (lack of stretch, or poor mechanical execution?)

Any suggestions are warmly welcomed!
[/QUOTE]

This is generally normal for a beginner. I've been practising for 1.5 years now and still sometimes get a pain in my knee. I haven't perfected the roll still but I know where I'm going wrong. You may need to increase the momentum of your roll or get lower to the ground.

The only remedy for this is to keep practising. Some days will be better than others. Maybe if you try getting onto the mat before class starts and practise your breakfalls if you feel self conscious.

Good luck!

[IMG]http://www.fightingarts.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif[/IMG] Chanters

That's my prob too! I usually use a wearable magnet at nite to sleep with and shark cartilege/msm at daytime in a supplement. Without these supplements the next training day would be impossible!