2013-10-19 19:37:00
Good news about my sports injury: I went to see a physio therapist and he agrees with the previous assessment that nothing's actually damaged in my knee. The theory remains as before: I twisted my knee "in a bad way" during kendo and something got pinched. That something is probably my meniscus, a cartilege-like layer that's in between the knee joint.
In knee injuries you'll often see tearing of the meniscus, which will result in permanent pain and will need to be operated on. That's not the case with me and the doctors think it merely got pinched or hurt. Now, whenever I get pains, that's because the meniscus is being stressed in that same spot. Doc says the pain could go away completely with a few months, or that it could be permanent. It's not dangerous, just annoying. The best way to avoid the pains is to take a good, hard look at my technique in kendo.
kilala.nl tags: kendo, sports, body, health,
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2012-01-06 21:10:00
*sigh* I'm feeling very, very awkward. I'm conflicted, I'm annoyed, I'm pissed off and I just don't know what to do.
My eyesight is awful, that's no secret. I am also a complete pansy, that's no secret either. I cannot force myself to wear contacts, so it's just glasses for me. Sadly, the kendo glasses I ordered recently just don't seem to be working with the standard helmets I've encoutered so far. Meaning that for the first time in my life my eyesight is going to prevent me from doing something I love: without good eyesight and without proper protection I'll never be able to take part in kendo.
This has made me rethink churgery. (EDIT: "churgery"?! Really! I must've been out of it yesterday!)
Laser correction however is not performed under general anasthesia meaning that it's not going to happen. If I can't put contacts in or even touch my own eyeball, then no way in hell is anybody going to put clamps on my eyeball and prod my eyes. No. I need to be out cold. Which leaves us with lens implants. Sounds good to me.
Only, it'll cost roughly 2000 euros per eyeball. And it requires that my eyes are stable, which they aren't. So I'm probably not a viable patient and it'll cost us quite some money out of our own pockets.
So many unanswered questions. So few options. But I do know this: I really, really want better eyes. And I really, really want to do kendo. I'll need to have a chat with my GP so she can refer me to an optometrist or eye doctor for a good talk.
Honestly. If there ever was anything I could magically change about my body, it'd be my eyesight. Muscles I can take care of myself and I don't care about the stereotypical male "Oooh, I wish I could change that!". My eyes. Come on, magic genie! Come on, Celestia!
In the mean time I'll just keep on looking for a way to fit glasses inside my kendo helmet. That's gonna cost a penny too :|
EDIT:
It might be "wrong" thinking, a broken thought process perhaps, but I feel it's ironic, despiriting and humbling that I'm letting me stop myself from practicing a martial art that is as much about spirit and mental force as it's about physical strength simply because "I can't do something". To the point that I feel unworthy even trying to be part of it. If I can't overcome my own fears and reflexes over touching my eyeballs, how the heck am I going to overcome my adversaries?!
Plenty of people have assured me that "it's easy to learn" and "you'll definitely get used to it". But then the frustrated voice in me yells, "Really?! Really? How are you going to teach an adult to overcome a reflex that's been burned into his mind twenty years ago? The same adult who gets violent to anybody going near his eyes?". It's not about getting me to physically touch my eye, it's about overcoming childhood traumas that have become deeply ingrained.
Maybe I have it the wrong way around. Maybe years of kendo will help me overcome this crap. Maybe I'll be able to try contacts in a few years -because- of kendo. And to think that I was this --> <-- close to saying "I'm not worthy of studying kendo".
kilala.nl tags: health, body, meh, sports, kendo,
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2011-12-24 11:26:00
This morning I walked into the local SpecSavers to get measured for new glasses. My current glasses have never really worked out properly for me, so now it's within two years instead of three. I have to say that today's measurement was worrisome for me. I'll soon make an appointment with an optometrist, because I wonder if there's something rather wrong with my eyes. Time to get over my fear of eye doctors :(
Left: Sp = -10.25, was -9.50 in december 2009 and -9.00 in december 2006.
Right: Sp = -10.25, was -9.75 in december 2009 and -9.50 in december 2006.
Today I ordered lenses for my kendo glasses, which have priority as my first tournament is up in february. In January I'll go back to the shop with Marli, so we can pick out frames for new day-to-day pairs. At least the price is right at SpecSavers! I'm getting lenses with an RI of 1.6 and they come at 95 euro for the pair. Not a-piece, but for the pair! The SpecSavers will charge me 50 bob to cut them and install them in my frame. That's -still- half of what we used to pay at Pearl!
Kris, if you're reading this: with some luck you'll get to really knock me around, come January! ^_^
kilala.nl tags: health, body, glasses, kendo,
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2011-02-05 20:13:00
Last week's training at was great and I enjoyed it a lot. The day after I realized that I might have enjoyed it just a little bit too much, because apparently I'd pulled a muscle in my left leg. Something running from my loin down the inside of my thigh. Either way, dumb me disregarded the problems and proceeded to attempt jogging to and from the office every day. Dumb :) Today it was still bothering me, to the point that I had to bow out twice, after sharp pains during practice. So, mental note to self: take it easy next week!
Both sensei Loyer and sempai Chris pointed out a few structural flaws in my technique, which I really need to work on. One has been obvious from the start, one was noticed only now.
Another important point is that, when landing a point, I should properly stamp my right foot. However, today I avoided doing that because of my pulled muscle.
So! Practice, practice! Renshuu, renshuu!
Today I also asked the teacher if I could enroll as a student. I was originally told that everyone could have five free introductory weeks, after which one'd join the dojo. Instead I was told that he would, for now, not accept my enrollment and that I should simply proceed as we are right now. Sensei wanted to impress upon me that "kendo is not something you do for a year", so first he'd like to see me get through the first few months. Based on our short discussion I assume this is to our mutual benefit: for me so I am not forced to make social and monetary commitments and for the dojo so they first get to know me better before truly accepting me. It's certainly not what I expected, but I can agree with all the benefits involved with this approach.
Finally, as I remarked last week: I really like the people in the group. At least one of them lives very close to me, so I gave him and his friend a ride back to Almere Buiten station. Given our proximity I see some definite opportunities for backyard training in spring and summer :)
kilala.nl tags: body, sports, kendo,
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All content, with exception of "borrowed" blogpost images, or unless otherwise indicated, is copyright of Tess Sluijter. The character Kilala the cat-demon is copyright of Rumiko Takahashi and used here without permission.