Martial Arts For A Bad Back?

[Benevolentbob]

So I periodically get nasty muscle spasms along my left shoulder blade that often travel down to my lower back and sometimes up to my neck as well. Today was the first day that it happened to me directly during training. I was working on my heavy bag, threw out a hard jab and bam. I immediately felt my whole left side seize up in pain. I've been trying to get back into martial arts for a while now but I'm wondering if I should narrow my search. What are some martial arts that are known to be beneficial for back pain, or at least some that work with it and don't inflame it? What are some arts that I should absolutely stay away from?

 

[Touch Of Death]

All the martial arts need good posture and relaxation to perform them well. Posture is just a little more important for you.
Sean

 

[Ironcrane]

It's hard to say. But as someone who has had back problems I found Brazilian Jujitsu to actually help relieve a lot of the pain, and loosen my back up again.

 

[Cyriacus]

Hm.
Theres no easy answer.

Youd need to actually go look around and find somewere active, but *slightly* laid back. Or at least, accepting of Your Limitations.
Id stay away from Grappling Arts like Judo, since even on a mat, the torque to the Joints from Throws could aggravate Your Condition due to the Torsion.
Perhaps a Stand-Up form of Ju Jutsu (Or however its spelt)?

 

[oftheherd1]

I have only studied TKD briefly many years ago, and much more Hapkido. The real problem, besides not knowing all martial arts, is that I don't know what causes you condition. I know that the stretching of Hapkido helps me with a back problem of a muscle (or muscles?) in my lower left back. In the Hapkido I studied, stretching was emphasized and included some workout as well as kicks, and break falls.

I don't have any idea if that would be helpful to you or not. I have heard for years that the slow moving movements in Tai Chi are beneficial. But apparently not all Tai Chi is taught that way.

Good luck in your quest for health.

 

[Benevolentbob]

Thanks for all the helpful replies guys. Cyriacus, I've done some Judo and I agree it's definitely not good for your back (or your knees for that matter). Oftheherd1, I've given some thought to trying out tai chi, there seems to be a decent place for that about 30 mins south of where I live so i may look into it. Does have an opinion on Choy Lay Fut as pertaining to the subject at hand? I have a coworker who has been studying under Tat Wong his entire life and is about to open up a studio in February. He says that as long as I let the different instructors know about my problem that I should be fine but I'd obviously like to hear other people's opinions.

 

[Babook]

A good martial arts for bad back is called "MASSAGE" lol