Rings and Kendo

[Lone Kitten]

Just wondering, but what do people generally do when it comes to rings and kendo? I've seen some people take them off, some leave them on. I mean, from a safety point of view I suppose taking them off would be better, same as earrings, but what if you can't get them off...
what do u guys do. let me know because i spend about ten minutes beforekeiko in pain trying to take mine off!

[KhawMengLee]

Kendo is a physical sport...its like wearing an earing on the rugby pitch...you're asking for trouble.

[Lone Kitten]

fair enough... maybe i should fork out and get them enlarged!

[Neil Gendzwill]

The normal rule is that you are to wear no jewelry. But if your rings are plain and very tight, then it's probably OK. Check with your sensei. I always take mine off due to risk of damage to my hands, kote and tsuka.

OTOH if it takes 10 minutes to get them off, I'd say getting them enlarged is a good plan in general. Usually jewelry stores do this for no charge.

[Morvran]

I remove my watch, and usually my wedding ring...though I paranoid about doing that and sometimes I don't take it off. It's on my left hand anyway and is tight, so I'm not so worried about injury with it.

[LNGUYEN]

Becareful when you enlarge your ring. Due to taking the ring off before kendo, I enlarge my ring to proper size for easily sliding off. The result was I lost my wedding ring during planting tree in my back yard. Now I have to live at that house for the rest of my life since my wedding ring was somewhere in the back yard.

[KhawMengLee]

Becareful when you enlarge your ring. Due to taking the ring off before kendo, I enlarge my ring to proper size for easily sliding off. The result was I lost my wedding ring during planting tree in my back yard. Now I have to live at that house for the rest of my life since my wedding ring was somewhere in the back yard.

Get a metal detector...:)


If ya lived in Adelaide I'd steal some equipment from our archaeology dept and help ya find it.

[hyuna]

I take my wedding ring off. I usually need to rinse my hands in some cold water before it comes off, though.

[JByrd]

Wearing a ring is a bad idea. If you get whacked on the knuckle your finger can swell very quickly to the point that you cannot get the ring off. In fact, the ring itself prevents venous return, and hastens the swelling. If the swelling gets bad enough it will cut off the blood supply to the finger, and the ring must be cut off.

It happened to a student of mine just a couple of months ago. Another student took the tsuru off a shinai and wrapped it slowly from the tip toward the base of the finger, pushing out enough blood to get the ring off. The student said it was a painful process. I'll bet his wife would not have been happy if he would have had to cut his wedding ring off.

[tattooedasshole]

Becareful when you enlarge your ring. Due to taking the ring off before kendo, I enlarge my ring to proper size for easily sliding off. The result was I lost my wedding ring during planting tree in my back yard. Now I have to live at that house for the rest of my life since my wedding ring was somewhere in the back yard.
Sounds like your ring was not properly sized. I wear five rings normaly, and they slide off really easy when i want them off, but won't move other wise.
You can have them done in half sizes to make sure your rings stays in
place.
The last time i had a ring sized, it cost 10$ for the enlargement.

[Galo]

I suggest to take it off, or if currently it takes long and pain to do so, enlarge it just a little, so that it still fits well in your finger but able to remove it promptly. :happy:

Any ring/earring on a potential contact spot could increase the danger of ripping the skin or increasing the power of the impact on the underlaying bones.

[Lone Kitten]

point taken... seeing as i will be paying over £1000 for my wedding ring i don't want to have it cut off!

I just got my engagement ring enlarged and i'm scared beyond belief that i'll lose it. i always take that one off because the stone stands up quite a way and i don't want to damage it.

good advice guys... i'll totally disregard the advice i had from a friend that i should be able to keep i on... what does he know... he does iai!!

[LNGUYEN]

Get a metal detector...:)


If ya lived in Adelaide I'd steal some equipment from our archaeology dept and help ya find it.

Arghh, getting a metal detector? then I have to wear the ring again and I wouldn't look Bachelor no more.

[Lone Kitten]

heh heh... but just think how your wife will react when you find it again!

[Omnis]

Isn't wearing a tight ring around your finger in the same spot forever kind of unhealthy?

[bullet08]

it's either keep my wedding ring on and go to kendo practice.. or take it off, let mrs. find out and not making it to next practice.

i keep my wedding ring on.

pete

[DarQik]

It's a minor risk to wear it, so depending on the day I may or may not leave it on. Whichever makes me feel more uncomfortable.

Other sports do require it come off, so I at least got used to removing it before doing things (like gardening :shocked:). Earring or rings with stone settings are more likely to snag than a plain band.

[crabbi]

I have one ring on each hand...

On the left hand is my wedding ring which I have been wearing for 20 years and on the right is my Father's signet ring which I have worn since he died 35 years ago... Neither ring will come off and nor do I intend to try...

If you are wearing a decorative engagement ring with a stone then common sense would suggest that you either take it off or tape it up...

[pgsmith]

i'll totally disregard the advice i had from a friend that i should be able to keep i on... what does he know... he does iai!!
Your friend should not be wearing rings in iai either. Jewelry of any kind is frowned upon in all of the Japanese sword arts with which I am even a little familiar. As far as I know, there are no laws stating that you cannot wear rings, earrings, necklaces etc ... I know a number of people that do, and will continue to. However, I have seen many a senior Japanese sensei frowning at earrings before. I have also seen at least one person lose a round at a battodo Tai Kai because she was wearing an engagement ring (nice rock it was too!). I also overheard one of the judges telling a gentleman between rounds that he would have scored higher if he wasn't wearing his signet ring. I can even make slightly better scores if I take off my glasses. :)

There are no real rules against it as far as I know, but there are many good reasons to take all the jewelry off when you practice.

[MSPaintClock]

The dojo isn't primarily concerned with just your own risk by wearing jewelry but your peers. As long as you don't have a razor blade for a ring or Mr.T jewelry you should be fine.

[Mr. Donigan]

My wedding stays on. It's a simple band, and isn't noticable to me at all wearing it. I don't remove it really ever. My earrings however, come out.

[ratdeau]

I keep my wedding ring on and never had problem with.

[Lone Kitten]

have to say i do take my earrings out and my engagement ring off (that could break my finger if someone hit me there, because of the protrusion of the setting), but it's not like a plain simple wedding band would do that.

suppose the ring could damage your kote tho (same reasoning as me not being able to have long nails *sniff, but they're SO pretty*!!

[akumalkenshi]

I used to remove it, but being a very discreet band, it makes no difference in my performance.

Wore once, and performed great, so now its like a charm as well, so undersandably, it stays.

by the way , Im not supersticious, because it brings bad luck.






Daaaa!:rolleyes:

[Lone Kitten]

heh heh! I used to have a lucky tenugui, until i sucked while i was wearing it...so now it's not !

[Galo]

@Lone Kitten:
Mmm... for what I know, you should also take EVERY ACCESORY OFF when training Iaido, incluiding rings and necklaces. o.o

EDIT:
Ooops.... a very very late reply. Sorry >_<

[Lone Kitten]

fair enough...

[Kitsune]

The normal rule is that you are to wear no jewelry. But if your rings are plain and very tight, then it's probably OK. Check with your sensei. I always take mine off due to risk of damage to my hands, kote and tsuka.

OTOH if it takes 10 minutes to get them off, I'd say getting them enlarged is a good plan in general. Usually jewelry stores do this for no charge.

I got that kind of ring, but when you grab the shinai it hurts anyway,it's better not to wear.:wink:

[Maro]

Don't get married! :silly:

I don't wear rings at all - don't like having anything on my fingers.

[Lone Kitten]

i never use to but i got used to it. When i first got it i spent about six weeks petrified that it would fall off!

[kenshi07]

um how bout getting a simple chain necklace, before practice, slip the ring on the chain, silp the chain in between, your gi and undershirt, or even under the undershirt, and go. No risk of injury, no risk of having a pissed wife, when the ring is lost. Just a logical suggestion

[Lone Kitten]

i wouldn't do the chain thing. i left one on by mistake and nearly got throttled by an off target tsuki... it cut my neck all round and couldn't talk... i needed beer to get back on track.. heh heh!

[ratdeau]

um how bout getting a simple chain necklace, before practice, slip the ring on the chain, silp the chain in between, your gi and undershirt, or even under the undershirt, and go. No risk of injury, no risk of having a pissed wife, when the ring is lost. Just a logical suggestion
For Iaido it's perhaps ok but for Kendo, beware of missed tsuki. You'll have a nice chain design engraved in your skin.

[Lone Kitten]

or worse... definitely not! I suppose you could always put them in a little pouch and put them in my zekken. I keep finding things in mine... mainly tsuba that i've taken off my shinai after practice

[kenshi07]

huh..never thought of that..ya i can see how that would be bad, you could slip it on to one of the strings that tie the gi together on the inside

[Lone Kitten]

could do, but then it would get all manky and sweaty. I hace, on one occasion, tied it into my plait, but i spent the whole time worrying if it would stay there

[egtirello]

if you can sew, you can make a little bag in your hakama or gi, and add a piece of velcro or a button to close it, no worries for it will fall and I think that it will cause no injuries ( make it so it will be under the tare o do )

[hunnysan]

I take mine off, because when i use to wear it it kept pinching my skin (probably from improper shinai grip) cuz I'm new...but I figured it be better then my finger swelling up from seomthing and then I'd have to cut it

[Neil Gendzwill]

I just put my rings in my pocket, they get locked up with everything else in the locker room. Or if I remember I'll take them off before leaving home and leave them on the dresser.

[Michiyo Akimoto]

I take my wedding ring off. I usually need to rinse my hands in some cold water before it comes off, though.

Mine is fused to my hand.....
Or so my wife keeps telling me...

:shocked:

[pgsmith]

I just put my rings in my pocket, they get locked up with everything else in the locker room. Or if I remember I'll take them off before leaving home and leave them on the dresser.
Same thing I do. I let others keep their wedding rings on if they wish though (no engagement rings). I figure if their marriage is insecure enough that removing their ring for class is an issue, I don't want to cause them any additional problems.

[ScottUK]

I agree with others - ALL jewellery should be removed for safety reasons unless it is physically impossible. On a personal note, my tenouchi is so awe-inspiring, if I left my wedding ring on during iai keiko, it would cut through my finger... :D

[Lone Kitten]

heh heh, my main problem is that i'm just forgetful. I'm useless. If my head wasn't screwed on, i'd lose that!

Think i might go for a little pouch and sew it into my zekken at the back... now i just need to remember to take everything elso out of my zekken now... found my BKA book in there the other day!

[Mokujin77]

I tend to take my wedding ring off when training. I tried taping it up when training at my jujitsu dojo (on the reccomendation of a friend) and nearly busted my finger with every breakfall. As for kendo, I found that it pinches when I grip my shinai. So it comes down to personal choice; swollen knuckle from injury or swollen knuckle from getting the damn thing off!:D

[ScottUK]

...so it comes down to personal choice......or getting a kicking when the Mrs sees you without it...!

[Mokujin77]

...or getting a kicking when the Mrs sees you without it...!

This is why I train a safe distance from the homestead!:laugh:

[mark]

Everytime I have worn my weding band during practice I ended up with blisters and welts on the finger:( That said , I just learned that I am probably holding my fingers a little to tight. You might not have that type of issue with your ring.
mark

[Hai_hai]

It is my experience to remove all jewelry if possible.
There was one dufus, i.e. beginner, who came in with a bracelet made of chain. He was told to remove it, but told the sensei it was not removable. Basically, you needed tools to break a link. He had this cocky bravado that he was 'too cool for school'. He wasn't around that long.

[Paburo]

my sempai had her finger broken at the last nationals. if she had a ring on... i think that would had only worsened things.

i don't wear rings but i'd def take them off before attempting keiko...

[h2o]

I always remove my engagement ring before practice. That goes for both iaido and kendo. But my ring is large enough to easily slide off the finger, but not so large that I worry that it shall fall off.