DMA Check In

Discussion in 'Disabled Martial Artists' started by WhiteWizard, Dec 23, 2003.

  1. vicjudofreak

    vicjudofreak Valued Member

    ooh... i have good news!!!! i am listed on the first page of this thread, but now the docs might have diagnosed me wrong and maybe they can fix my wrist!!! im trying not to pin all my hopes on this... i wont get the results til xmas, but im so happy!!!
     
  2. Oldie

    Oldie New Member

    Hi, not sure if I can classify myself as a disabled martial artist. The condition that stopped me from combative martial arts is an old scar in the back of my left eye. When I scheduled for lasik surgery for both eyes, the doctor warned me about losing my left eye if the left side of my face was impacted by traumatic force. Well, I was lucky; I had just earned my 1st dan in WTF Tae Kwon Do. My wife,upon knowing that bad news, stopped me from taking/teaching any martial art classes. At the time, I had also been taking Modern Arnis and JKD, loving both of them dearly. It was a heart-sinking feeling.

    I however sneaked off for one full year of training in Combat Hapkido, during which my wife and I had had many talks about me quitting. Finally, I had to quit to take care of a newly widowed sister-in-law and her 4 young children. That happened in March this year (2004).

    The other diabling injuries I suffered were all from the 3 yrs and 8 months of TKD training; broken right wrist, left knee sprain, broken big left toe, jammed fingers, sore back, etc. Now arthritis is catching up with me, especially on my left knee. My right wrist has recovered completely and, thanks to some weight training exercises, is actually getting stronger.

    Oldie
     
  3. WhiteWizard

    WhiteWizard Arctic Assasain

    Hi oldie sorry to hear about your situation which has stopped you training. We are always interested in hearing from people no matter how big or small they think their problems are
     
  4. Laurra

    Laurra New Member

    Hello all,,...I am new to the forum and think it is impressive that there is a section for disabled MA. I do not really think of myself as disabled, however, I do struggle with anxiety. I have been training in MA for a little over a year and it has been challenging and fun :))

    Laura
     
  5. WhiteWizard

    WhiteWizard Arctic Assasain

    Welcome to MAP

    enjoy the madness within :D
     
  6. soctt03

    soctt03 New Member

    Hi to all of you on this section of the forum. Am new to forum discussions but if I basically intro myself - I'm a shotokan karate instructor based in Kent (England to u overseas folk) & I run a huge martial arts fest for disabled people. Am not totally sure how to get a reply from u as am conscious about possible advertising issues but basically if any of u are interested in attending - there's try it out sessions, a demo's section plus a first ever kata/forms comp for any of u that are interested. I underatand that somewhere on this site is a link to my own so will wish u all happy hunting (grin) & hope that u get in touch. Thanks!
     
  7. WhiteWizard

    WhiteWizard Arctic Assasain

    Hi,

    glad to have another contributer on board

    Welcome to MAP
     
  8. BackFistMonkey

    BackFistMonkey Valued Member

    just be patient I will be joining you guys/gals soon

    I was born with "club foot" and other birth defects which were "corrected " by modern medical science . Now both knees slip out of joint and have to be bent forcefully to get them to track back into place ( which occurs about 3-4 times a year usualy getting into or out of a car but the last two years it has been happening more and more frequently it , six times this year alone ) and you can problably guess this has worn done the cartillage in my knees so I am in constant pain. My right wrist and forearm were broken once and reset incorrectly twice leaving it a twisted wreck of arthritis and strange protrusions .

    And you cant forget my bleeding ulcer and my partialy blocked gall bladder which make morning BELT TESTS oh so much FUN !!!! Nothing like vomitting blood at 8:00 am after 25 laps around the dojo ( five laps front roll , five laps left judo roll , five laps right judo roll , five laps back roll pushing/springing feet to the ceiling landing standing up )

    I train on my legs more than my arms mainly to build strength to and balance . I have a surprising amount of flexibilty in my legs but I limit my kicks to the stomach and lower in order to facilitate their not being snatched up and broken .

    I use the hard bone protrusions on my wrist to strike and press pressure points while grappling and sparring . The raised calcium deposits on my knuckles and the wrist tend to cut my opponents on face shots and cause Deep bruising on muscles.

    and wo to the martial artists who share my problem of grinding their teeth and dont have dental insureance , broken molars and exposed nerves suck so much butt when you are break falling .

    so with confidence I say I will be joining some of you soon as being "disabled" untill then I wil suck it up , plod on , compensate , keep smiling , and collect enough stories and expirence so when I am forced to lean on my cane and can not press on any more , I can amuse others with wit , wisdom , and advice .

    Shaolin Kempo , Shaolin Kung Fu , and I am now studing Hapkido .
     
    Last edited: Sep 11, 2004
  9. Pog

    Pog New Member

    About me

    Name Andy Heaver

    Style Tae Kwon Do

    Grade 4th Dan

    About me - Been doing the sport for some 25 years. Along the way, I lost my right leg and crushed three of my vertebrae (fused now). Funny that I practice a kicking style. I run my own clubs in Warrington, and still find it a buzz
     
  10. Ceicei

    Ceicei Knowledge Seeker

    Hello....

    It's been a while since I last popped in. Things have changed here... and looks better! :)

    I'm Caralee Crye, aka Ceicei aka CC

    I'm a brown belt in American Kenpo and a while belt in Judo.

    I'm deaf. My balance is also not too great (related to deafness), but neither of them interfere with my training.

    - Ceicei
     
  11. Pog

    Pog New Member

    I don't understand what you are looking for - are you looking for a way forward; or are you looking for sympathy
     
  12. E-Rocker

    E-Rocker Valued Member

    Welcome, CC.
     
  13. [webguru]

    [webguru] Valued Member

    profoundly deaf 17 yr old MA in Auckland NZ

    Name:
    Nathan Barlow

    Style:
    C.M.A (Combined Martial Arts) - based mainly on Taekwondo, jujitsu and some other stuff (i think) more info here . Been doing it for about 3-4 months now and enjoying it! i am currently a White belt (the first belt in CMA)

    About me:
    I am profoundly deaf. No hearing in my left ear, and v. little in my right. Caused by bacterial meningitus and H.I.B when i was 1.5 yrs old. Without my hearing aid in my right ear, i can just manage to hear a pneumatic drill about 10 metres off. Lol - pretty s*** hearing huh? I am not a signer and can speak normally, so lead a pretty regular life. However i have balance problems since both my cochleas are damaged. Also have slight curvature of the spine (scholeosis-spelt wrong i know) which we think was caused by having 3 lumbar punctures. anyways enough about my sob story :p

    My friend started me off with CMA, claiming that it would help my fitness and strength (usefull coz i play rugby). It not only improved my fitness and strength, but my balance and co-ordination as well. just three months of training and i can balance on one foot, regain my balance easily if pushed while on one foot and even do a pretty pathetic spinning kick (pathetic due to lack of skill, not balance :p).

    Anyways great idea u guys had to set up this forum, some of the posts i've read are simply amazing, and i have huge amounts of respect for those Martial Artists who achieve so much despite the problems they face.

    well thats kinda it. . . .

    anyone wants to contact me, my email is in my profile. Feel free to drop me a line (or message in this case :p)

    [webguru]
     
  14. E-Rocker

    E-Rocker Valued Member

    Welcome, [webguru].
     
  15. soctt03

    soctt03 New Member

    Intro

    Hi to you all! I'm Terry, shotokan karateka (nidan) based in mid-Kent, UK. I have been involved with karate for over 20 years, coaching for about 75% of this time. I remain as passionate about karate/MA as when I first started. I personally don't have a disability but for those of you who have read my previous postings - last were late last year - I am passionate about coaching people with disabilities in, in my case, karate. To this end I set up what has now just become The UK Martial Arts Festival for People with Disabilities. Best if you look up my website for further information.: www.twt.org.uk

    Last year's Festival was a truly huge success. I had planned to make a formal announcement about the next event in a few weeks' time but as I keep getting a daily e-mail to give a bio about myself thought I'd use this opportunity to make a kind of informal announcement: the Festival Programme's 10th anniversary - now a national/international event.

    Date: as yet to be confirmed but will be late 2006!! Yes, I do realise it's a while away.

    Venue: not finally confirmed but likely to be in Swanley

    What's on offer:

    Day One (it will be a Thursday): Festival Day: (1) aimed at recruiting people with disabilities in to martial arts so, a range of taster sessions - see my appeal below - with so far, karate, tai chi, kung fu, judo, tae kwon do - aim is to be running a total of 10 arenas so other styles as yet to be decided on
    (2) a series of demo's from those of you who are already practising MA
    (3) a competitive all styles kata/forms/patterns segment which made its inauguration as part of the Festival last year. Thus far, I would estimate I already have 60 people looking at entering from physical to learning difficulties despite the fact that the event has not as yet had a formal announcement

    Day Two (a Saturday): A Conference looking at ways of setting down a proper development policy for disability MA. Why? I don't know what profile MA has in other countries but here in the UK with a couple of exceptions there is no formal development policy in place so apart from the odd bits being done here and there in local clubs there is literally nothing in place so the idea is to provide instructors, governing bodies etc. with the tools to take back to their clubs to be much more proactive in this area.

    Appeal: Although it might seem ages away to Festival there is a huge amount to organise, not least is an army of around 60 instructors & 30 or so assistants plus other volunteers for the intended 500 or so invitees from across the UK and from overseas. How MAP can help is:

    (a) We need, as you can see from what I have just said, an army of instructors and assistants from as many styles as possible so if you are keen to volunteer your time, yes, please contact me via the website regardless of whether you are UK or overseas-based (already representation from USA and Israel thus far). In 2006 I am keen that even more of the instructors than we have had before have some kind of disability so please do get in touch.

    (b) Previous Festivals have always proved to be a huge success - not me saying this but those of you attending who have kindly fed this back to me - and so the opportunity to compete and/or demonstrate your skills is also up for grabs - the more of you the merrier, again, from across the UK as well as overseas. The hope is to turn the competitive element in to a totally separate annual event specifically for people with disabilities so, again, the more of you who take part the increased likelihood of this happening is going to be made possible through your interest.

    I could probably write a further 10 pages but this will do for now. Hope to hear from as many of you as are interested in Festival 2006.

    Yours in budo - Terry Taylor
     
  16. Shizukanaarashi

    Shizukanaarashi New Member

    Hey guys this is interesting.

    I work in Occupational Therapy at a college sited outside Cheltenham. All the students are 16 to 25 ish and as such really interested in MA. My style is Ninjutsu and whilst I've been asked to instruct at college, I've been hesitant to. Most of the guys interested have conditions like Cerebral Palsy or Spina Bifida, lots of shunts and other obvious concerns, Wheelchair users etc.

    I'd really like some advice and until now have been unable to find anything that fit the bill. Any ideas. I'd like information about existing MA styles which might be more suitable, or suggestions about how I might apply my style, it's not something I'd like to experiment with!!

    on Easter hols at present. :)
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 26, 2005
  17. myki

    myki New Member

    Hi folks!

    Name:
    Mike

    MA:
    ****o-ryu karate, aikido, tai chi and what I learned in the army (basically dirty fighting-not MA but verrrryyy effective!)

    Me:
    I've had ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) for 11 years. Affects my voice, legs, arms but not my spirit!

    I'm always looking for new defence methods and ideas.

    Cheers!
     
  18. E-Rocker

    E-Rocker Valued Member

    Welcome, myki.
     
  19. kathyjo

    kathyjo New Member

    How great to find this forum. I am impressed and inspired by all of you who dedicate yourselves to your training with and despite your challenges, and feel privileged to see something of your respective stories.

    I am a Wing Chun Kuen practitioner. I "enjoy" several muskuloskeletal related issues, though the single biggest challenge in my practice is due to severe osteoarthritis in both knees. I'll look forward to checking in on the forum from time to time.

    Regards & Best Wishes to All,
    - Kathy Jo
     
  20. Battle Sword

    Battle Sword Valued Member

    DMA Register

    I have a bionic arm, which causes me to be in a lot of pain. I have to
    wear a brace, which puts a lot of people off, if they are not used to me.
    They will ask, when does it get better, I tell them, it is better. I have
    some limited movement in the arm area, but I have my arm, so it is
    better, from my standpoint. This is what dealing with a disability is
    about: coping, rehab. time, modifying moves, rest, strengthening
    exercises. Its part of life for me, and having a good attitude is very
    important.
    I study the 7 animal chinese style. I go to a lot of pt/ot to overcome
    any mobility problems associated with the arm and shoulder area.
    I may have to take more time off for the ot/pt than others, but this
    is a life long goal, and when I perservere I do just fine in reaching
    my goals. Sometimes, moves have to be modified for me.
     

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