Budd

This thread has taken an interesting turn. I am fully supportive of the point that people should take charge of their fitness needs rather than assuming any martial art (or yoga, for that matter) will automatically provide everything they need. But I'm a believer of personal responsibility in terms of nutrition, rest, physical activity as part of overall health. Everyone's going to have different levels of goals, etc. but at least some basic education in how things work is pretty paramount to engaging in any kind of intense physical activity - ESPECIALLY - if you're dipping a toe into an aikido/yoga class as a means to begin a path towards better fitness and health.

I decided a number of years ago that my time in a martial arts class was going to be spent trying to train the teachings of that martial art - and that I'd take responsibility for my physical fitness outside of any given class. Which does not mean that a good training session doesn't challenge me mentally or physically, but it gave me greater awareness of my need to pursue internal strength training and conditioning outside of any single martial art. A year and a half ago, I got the running bug. A year ago I did my first half marathon. I then got interested in some of the principles of crossfit and other applications of fitness that were a bit different from the aeorobics and weight training activities that were more the "sell" when I was growing up. I did the Tough Mudder when it came to Buffalo in July. I'm doing the Zombie Mud Run on Saturday. These latter events are especially fun, challenging and different - but I'm still doing cardio and core fitness training of some kind most days a week.

I also still do a 15 minute stretch yoga set most nights. It opens up my back and hip flexors nicely. l think that any given activity will have a set of objectives it's designed to achieve as well as a built-in set of assumptions around participant capability. That seems to be the pressing issue - much like a college-level course that has some sort of prerequisite. Just make sure you're educated on what you're looking to get out of the course as well as understand any prerequisites. It doesn't hurt to "interview" the instructor as well as observe the class as you'll need to assess the credibility of the group to properly "educate" you.