 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: Vova Doob(UA)
Date: 2013-01-04 14:20
Hi!
I want to ask, if there are professional clarinetists, who have hobby like kickboxing or box, or something else kind of fighting arts where you use your arms.
Does this have influence to technical potential in clarinet performance?
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: knotty
Date: 2013-01-04 14:41
In my opinion, I would be very scared of damaging your arm(s) long or short term as in chronic that might make you unable to play the clarinet or another instrument altogether.
As a technical help, there are many great clarinetists who never did any fighting arts to achieve their status. Seems there are other exercises to help in dexterity etc. if that's what you desire.
~ Musical Progress: None ~
Post Edited (2013-01-04 14:45)
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Campana
Date: 2013-01-04 14:53
...Does this have influence to technical potential in clarinet performance?...
I shouldn't think so but it does have the potential to give you a split lip and put your progress with clarinet on hold for quite a while.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2013-01-04 15:01
If you play clarinet very badly, having proficiency in one or more of the martial arts may be advantageous in allowing you to defend yourself from attacks by enraged audience members during one of your performances.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Tony F
Date: 2013-01-04 15:23
I drive in on the freeway, and believe me, that is a martial art. I have a black belt in freeway driving.
Tony F.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2013-01-04 15:35
I ride a motorcycle (weather permitting). Some cage drivers consider driving a full contact sport :-(
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: sbrodt54
Date: 2013-01-04 16:43
I studied Karate (Shorin Ryu style) for 8 years, when I broke my second knuckle on my right hand it was time to quit. It has healed pretty well so I feel good about defending myself from the critics (whether they are right or not). I was always worried about my hands and fingers but I never had any damage until that one day years into the art.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Claire Annette
Date: 2013-01-04 18:14
I am LOL-ing at some of the funny comments, here.
My daughter is a martial arts instructor and although you probably already know this quite well, Vova Doob, never spar without a mouthguard. Not only will it help protect your teeth but it will protect the inside of your lips from being damaged by your teeth.
(I've heard altissimo notes that could be considered lethal weapons...)
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: MarlboroughMan
Date: 2013-01-04 18:32
Jackie Mclean and Miles Davis used to box, but they're the only windplayers I've known of who did.
I remember once being in a stairwell at the Hartt School of Music, when Mclean (then a professor) suddenly burst through the interior doors, shouting wildly, throwing kicks and punches at several of us students, then bursting outside on an unsuspecting world--leaving all of us shocked, slightly bruised, and doubled over laughing. That's the closest I ever came to kickboxing. It was also the best relief of late semester tension I ever saw from any professor.
Eric
******************************
The Jazz Clarinet
http://thejazzclarinet.blogspot.com/
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Vova Doob(UA)
Date: 2013-01-04 21:43
Thank you for your answers.
Maby I wrote my question not good enough (my native language not English)
For all the time a have few sport hobbies, I like health way of life. And I want to learn basics of defence and attack, to protect myself if it`ll be necesary.
Claire Annette, thank you for advice about mouthguard.
Main that I want to ask is: when I`ll practice with hand-strikes and my hands with time become more strong and will`not damage, will it make my clarinet technic more poor?
My friend is professional bodyguard, he trains a lot... and his hands with time become smaller and stronger and fingers moves not to fast as mine, so maby there are some sense in it?
(Hope, You`ll understand what I want to say:))))
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Tony F
Date: 2013-01-04 23:18
To revisit this in a more serious mode, if you plan to take up a martial art for defensive purposes, I'd suggest you look at Aikido. There are no hand strikes, although there's nothing to prevent you adding some if you feel the need. I practised Aikido for several years when younger and have found it to be a useful skill on several occasions since. As a defensive art I think it is as good as Karate, and superior in some circumstances.
Tony F.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: saxmad
Date: 2013-01-05 00:17
Boxing is good but ALWAYS use hand wraps when doing bag work or sparring.
Your hands are just bags of bones and you'll find your bones will shatter and your flesh tear unless you have hand wraps to hold your fingers together.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: MSK
Date: 2013-01-05 02:08
I'm an amateur rather than a professional so maybe I don't qualify to respond to this post, but I do hold a black belt in taekwondo. I never do sparring and or board breaking with hands because I don't want to chance an injury that would interfere with my hobby (clarinet) or my profession (physical therapy). I also do other cardio excercise I find that participation in some sort of cardio exercise helps tremendously with breath control. People are often amazed how long I can go before needing to take a breath. When I get lazy with work outs I notice a difference. It seems to me that actually practicing the instrument is the best way of improving the use of your hands for playing clarinet. In sports they call it "specificity of training".
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: SimonC
Date: 2013-01-05 02:39
I am a working pro clarinetist and a martial arts practitioner. I do Hapkido primarily but also train in other m arts with an emphasis on practical street skills, some in my club are cops , prison guards etc.. I train daily both clarinet and the body. The longer I train the more similarities I notice between the 2 disciplines in their physical expression and mental mind set ( awareness and responsiveness to others for instance).
Depending on how and what you do and how often, you can damage your hands. I have on occasion broken fingers( they healed- in my case yrmv) had many bone bruises etc. My hands have always healed ( as I keep the fingers moving) and it has not impeded my playing , my mobility or my speed( do your scales every day). though I do have some pain at the moment in my right hand knuckles.
I love being fit( 52 years old with abs) it helps me play better , deal with stress better( street or stage it's the same adrenalin surge) and when my orchestra (or the world) finally folds I can always get work:) it has also saved my life on more than one occasion.
It will force you not to do just MA drills but to keep up your cardio, strength and flexibility, learn about nutrition and your body and if you are serious do some real reflection on the nature and psychology of violence and the legal implications, which can be even worse. Like the clarinet the most important part is between your ears. If you are mentally unprepared your black belt won't help you on the street.
You have to be smart about it and do a lot of study, it's a true art like music .. Avoid push ups on the backs of your hands for instance( Aikido style), when you spar don't do it open handed( wrap would be a good thing). Use a mouth guard. Don't punch the head use your fist on softer targets etc..maximum damage to your enemy not yourself. Perhaps pick a soft Ma instead of a hard one. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_and_soft_(martial_arts)
Old school warriors would train until their fists were like clubs, they died young so they didn't have to worry about old crippled joints or being able to type.
We train smarter now so look for a club that is more realistic in its outlook. If your club does reality based stuff or full contact sparring make sure they use safety equipment and observe how the club is run( do they pay attention to safety/respect or are they just beating on each other) also you may get hurt depending on your style, club and personality, overall I think it's worth it , sure beats chronic disease (but try and avoid repeated blows to your head in training or anytime ! unless you want brain damage)
Still way, way easier than some of the concerts I have played:) Soloist in Chatmans Prairie dawn concerto this month and I have to play principal for the rest of the( loud) show as well. No problem as I have the endurance from staying fit.
Principal clarinet in Canada's #1 most dangerous city orchestra
Simon C
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: SteveG_CT
Date: 2013-01-05 04:01
saxmad wrote:
> Boxing is good but ALWAYS use hand wraps when doing bag work or
> sparring.
>
> Your hands are just bags of bones and you'll find your bones
> will shatter and your flesh tear unless you have hand wraps to
> hold your fingers together.
I agree 100%. In fact I would suggest going a step further and integrating a padded knuckle guard into your hand wraps. These knuckle guards aren't legal to use in competition but are great for preventing injuries while training.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Buster
Date: 2013-01-05 04:24
Mind your wrists on the heavy bag if you don't know how to throw a punch.
-Jason
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Wes
Date: 2013-01-05 05:32
Yes, in college I often played clarinet duets with a very good boxer and clarinet player. He also seemed personally quite aggressive and seemed to want to punch people.
A clarinet player in his early 60s near where I live has been so positive about his motorcycle riding. However, about two months ago, he took a spill and broke his left arm. To him, it was merely an inconvenience and he is somewhat back trying to play. He carries various instruments on his bike, including a baritone saxophone.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Alex Williams
Date: 2013-01-05 05:36
Vova..
I knew the name of your town, Rivne, sounded familiar to me!
I've been pretty close to Rivne, and I may have been through your town on the bus or train. I've been to Ukraine and have been to both L'viv and Почаївська Лавра (Pochayiv Lavra.)
Sasha
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: JerryForsyth
Date: 2013-01-05 13:49
There are many types of martial arts. I took up Pai Lum Kung Fu as a youngster to help heal the affects of polio. And it helped a great deal. I do think it gave me an ability to focus that certainly helps me memorize my music. I never like playing from sheets and the joy of just sitting back and playing what you know is hard to beat.
My advice: First, don't go into the martial arts concentrating on learning to fight. They have a lot more than that to offer. And since there are both 'straight' and 'circular' styles pick one that is not damaging to your hands. A strong style like Tae Kwon Do might find students tempted to pound their hands into hard sand and maybe create a tool created for a job other than music. But the circular styles like most Kung Fu's, Akido and such are aimed more at redirecting force than meeting force with force.
Frankly, if you take martial arts so seriously that you feel the need to harden your hands then you are going to be spending so much time practicing katas that you will have no time for clarinet anyway.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Rafi
Date: 2013-01-05 15:09
Hi Vova,
This is a serious question which deserves a serious answer, unfortunately like most things in life it depends. It depends on the way you train, if you do full contact training then injuries are a majore concern!
If not then the risk of injury is drastically lower.
I am not a proffesional clarinet player but I do play and perform a lot.
I hold a black belt in Karate and served in the Israeli army special forces got 10 years.
I was fortunate not to be seriously injured but the risk is high. I can tell you that martial arts helped me with my playing, it gave me a lot of finger dexterity and self confidence in performing and in approaching and playing very challenging technical pieces.
So for short it is great just as long as you don't get injured, do the risk math yourself.
Stay healthy and play as much as you can.
Rafi
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
