# Dizzy from flips & sommersalts?



## dan.h (Nov 13, 2008)

I've never practiced self-defense/martial arts before but am considering either Wing Chun for Krav Maga. I imagine that flips and rolling upside down is required for some training?  I have an inherited issue where I get very dizzy when upside down. My sister even passes out, I have yet to but it still makes me very nervous and that's my one reason for not trying martial arts/self-defense so far.  Is it all in my head or what?  I'm also 6'7", 230lb, 14% bf. I'm not overweight but not exactly toned either so I'm not sure how well I can actually do a flip or sommersalt if required. lol  Do you experience many flips, upside down rolling, etc.. in your martial arts?


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## jks9199 (Nov 13, 2008)

dan.h said:


> I've never practiced self-defense/martial arts before but am considering either Wing Chun for Krav Maga. I imagine that flips and rolling upside down is required for some training?  I have an inherited issue where I get very dizzy when upside down. My sister even passes out, I have yet to but it still makes me very nervous and that's my one reason for not trying martial arts/self-defense so far.  Is it all in my head or what?  I'm also 6'7", 230lb, 14% bf. I'm not overweight but not exactly toned either so I'm not sure how well I can actually do a flip or sommersalt if required. lol  Do you experience many flips, upside down rolling, etc.. in your martial arts?


It all depends on the style.  Most Wing Chun won't include a lot of ground work, as far as I know.  Krav Maga will almost certainly include falls and rolls.

There are things you can do to resist and fight the dizziness, like looking "through" the roll, but the truth is that if you're very susceptable to motion sickness or otherwise vulnerable, you're going to feel it.  Arts like aikido, many styles of jujitsu, judo, and so on where there is a lot of falling and rolling are probably not for you.


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## dan.h (Nov 13, 2008)

Thanks for letting me know.  Maybe Krav Maga is not for me then as I know it uses Judo and a couple other martial arts.


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## jks9199 (Nov 13, 2008)

dan.h said:


> Thanks for letting me know.  Maybe Krav Maga is not for me then as I know it uses Judo and a couple other martial arts.


Discuss it with the instructors.  Some will be able to work with you, others may tell you that they're program's not for you.  And there are folks out there, unfortunately, will lie to to you and dismiss your concerns; run away from those instructors, if you realize that's the sort you're dealing with.


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## dan.h (Nov 13, 2008)

it sounds like it would be hard to tell if they're lying to me, unless I attend a few classes and feel it's not right... but by then I probably would have already paid for a month or two.


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## girlbug2 (Nov 13, 2008)

Hi, Krav Maga student here, level 2.

In Level One training we don't do anything that could be considered a flip. In the warmup/cardio portion of the classes there are sometimes rolls included in the drills that make it more fun. However, at least in my school, rolling is not part of training per se (as in, none of the techniques involve rolling), and if a student has a physical limitation that prevents them from doing some of the warmup exercises the instructors are very understanding.

Because KM incorporates things from various arts, yes there is jiu jitsu and Judo moves that involve groundwork and in one technique we learn how to knock an attacker off of a mount by pushing them off over our shoulder and rolling on top. Is that what you mean by rolling? Some of the standing techniques involve performing takedowns on the opponent. Only one of the takedowns that I have learned so far at Level 2 could be considered a flip as I understand the term. Unless by flip you mean gymnastics, in which case there is none.

As to the higher levels, I haven't gotten there yet. I am only 8 months into this, and it looks like I will probably spend about a year at level 2.

Does that help?


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