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Other/Mixed Can you comfortably sit in "seiza?"

Other strength modalities (e.g., Clubs), mixed strength modalities (e.g., combined kettlebell and barbell), other goals (flexibility)
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Steve Freides

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"Seiza" as this - can you get into this and sit this way for a little while.

Seiza_01.gif
 
I've had a patella tendon graft ACL repair which used to give me a lot of trouble in the kneeling position. Now that knee is almost numb so that's not a problem anymore.

I answered yes but not comfortably or for long. I can hold that position for a long time fairly comfortably but my legs don't work properly for about a minute after I get back up if I'd been in that position for more than about 3 or 4 minutes.
 
I do this every day. I feel it very strongly in my shins and across the tops of my feet as they move into the ankle joint.
 
I sit like that often. If I don't do it for a while I feel a stretch in my knees when I try. When I mentioned that to the doctor she suggested I don't sit like that so I laughed.

Years ago I was told that kind of sitting is supposed to be good for your Muay Thai shin kick. Has anyone else heard that?
 
Would you say that to have comfortable full knee flexion, as this position shows, is a prerequisite for a full pistol?
 
This is often my position of choice when listening to a lecture in a fitness environment.
I did some years of Japanese martial arts, judo and karate, it may have had an influence.
 
Would you say that to have comfortable full knee flexion, as this position shows, is a prerequisite for a full pistol?
I think knee flexion requirement for the pistol can be less; it will depend on how deep you squat for your pistols.

For me, knee flexion was never the issue, just ankles - I hadn't even considered that knee flexion would be an issue, and I don't think it would be for knees that are healthy, haven't had surgery, and the like.

-S-
 
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THanks @Steve Freides, I could do a pistol a couple of years back but don't have adequate flexion now. I'm working on getting that back before going into pistol territory again. My previously injured knee is fine, it's the good knee that's the problem. No pain, just tight, in deep positions. Probably due to ankles aswell, hips, lower back, thoracic, shoulders too come to think of it!!
 
Pardon my ignorance, but is there something special about this pose? I've never heard of it, though the list of things I've never heard of is probably longer than the Great Wall. That said, I'm by no means a mobile, per se, person at all, but I've never really had problems sitting like that. It's one of my regular poses when on the floor.
 
Pardon my ignorance, but is there something special about this pose?
It's got a history in martial arts, as you can tell by some of the other responses, and it's great for working on your ankle mobility.

-S-
 
I've had a patella tendon graft ACL repair which used to give me a lot of trouble in the kneeling position. Now that knee is almost numb so that's not a problem anymore.

I answered yes but not comfortably or for long. I can hold that position for a long time fairly comfortably but my legs don't work properly for about a minute after I get back up if I'd been in that position for more than about 3 or 4 minutes.

How long did it take before your patellar tendon graft spot went numb? I had that about 8 years ago (acl tear for the win!), and it still is tender. I am working on toughening it up, but I use a pillow for TGUs, etc.
 
How long did it take before your patellar tendon graft spot went numb?
It took me over 10 years before I could put much weight on that knee in the kneeling position. I tore my ACL and pretty much everything else in there a few years after the ACL repair , so I don't know if that made any difference.

I had to kneel a lot for some jobs I did at work too, so I think I just desensitised it mostly.

Now I have a universal joint instead of the normal hinge joint most people have in their knees.
 
I started sitting this way when my children were young as its an ideal position to sit and do jigsaw puzzles, change nappies etc! Always felt difficult at the start but soon became easier.

Interesting to know it's got a name and has mobility benefits!
 
Don't the Japanese sit like that all the time? Someone I knew talked about people in their 80s in Japan who would sit in seiza and then just stand up without any problem.
 
One otherwise enjoyable night at a bath house resort near Fuji, I was chagrined to discover at dinner that I was unable to hold this position for very long at all without extreme discomfort (nor was plan B, "Indian style" much better). Butt-to-deck heavy pistols for reps at a go, fully capable of slow and controlled stand-to-stand bridging, and hardly what the staff would consider a typical corn-fed Occidental, yet for the life of me trying to follow suit with the Japanese (and the Thais I was touring with) just wasn't happening this time.

I don't blame anyone other than myself whatever this deficiency was/is, but I can say with no hesitation that I've been in stress positions in SERE training that were more comfortable to me than Seiza.
 
@J Petersen, I'm pretty sure you could get used to it with a little practice if you wanted to - not saying you need to, just saying.

I don't know if I mentioned this in my original post, but I only investigate this to improve my ankle flexibility for swimming, and when I first tried it, I also found it quite uncomfortable. I just took it in small doses and built up from there.

-S-
 
I picked "Yes but not comfortably or for long". I sit in this position every time for a few minutes after my session for the day, but can't say that it's comfortable. A really good stretch for the quads though.
 
That is my default sitting position for assembling Ikea and other prefabricated furniture, so the answer is a definitive "yes for a way too long time" :D
legs working funny after it too like others have posted
 
I voted yes, but with the caveat that my max is 10 min and I do have to shake my legs a bit after getting up. I remember in Iaido, there are several katas that start from seiza, where you start unsheathing and cutting from there, never got comfortable with that. I have no idea how many asian cultures can make this a default resting position (same with prolonged a#@ to grass squatting), and how they can just get up and do get stuff done right away.
 
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