Should we be able to wear feet protective gear all the time?

[KENSHIN]

I was just reading the thread about someone wanting to buy heal protectors, and it got me thinkng about some things about the use of such aids. Basically, my question is that are we actually allowed to wear such aids forever? I only ask because I have been explained by some of my senior dojo members that wearing such aids is frowned upon. For example I wear one of those sole protectors to stop me from getting blisters. However, I have been told that it is best not to wear it because you need to get your feet used to the floor or only wear it until your blister is healed, okie dokie that I can understand, but the problem I feel is that when my blister has been healed I know that as soon as I take of the sole protector I will get the blister again, and when I have the blisters it can really have an effect on my kendo. So really I am in a vicious circle. I think that the federation needs to begin to re-think what kendokans are allowed to wear. It seems that there is a growning understanding to what kinds of injuries can be caused through doing this sport. Therefore, through this understanding I think it is important that we are able to draw up what is needed for the safe practice of kendo. My impression so far is that there is no real guidelines to what kendo aids one is able to wear. It seems that these kinds of things are left at the discression of the federation you are part of. I know that there are some really hardcore/old-school type kendokans that think thery are in the 15th centuary and some kind of warrior samurai monk, and their answer to it is that wearing such aids is wrong because it detracts away from the old practice kendo, i.e. the hard way/original way (whatever that is supposed to mean). However, my argument is that I am in the 21st centuary and we are not living in an age where there are samurai's roaming around, Ninja's flying through the moonlit sky. Most of us that do kendo do it because it is a sport, something that we can do to keep fit (a way of life?questionable). Either way, I think that safety is something very important, and if there is a growing number of people that are getting injured heals and stuff like that, and if there is a way to prevent such a thing then I think it should be made so that people are allowed to wear it if they feel more comfortable in doing this sport. Also, I think that for some people it will help with their continuation of the sport. I remember when there was a time when I would always get problems with my feet because of the blisters, and I got to a stage where I was seriously considering giving up the sport because of the blitsters that I was getting from this sport. However, because I really love the sport so much I reconsidered my option to quit and just stick it out. Especially when I could overcome this problem with the sole protectors that I could buy, however, I was always instructed that yes you can wear them until your feet get better, and then they have to come off but as I have explained before they just come back again, from which again I have to wear the blister aid again. Basically I am going round in circles. So my question to the people here is that do you think that if a kendokan is prone to such an injury should she/he be allowed to wear that particular aid forever?

[Neil Gendzwill]

If you are constantly getting blisters, your footwork is wrong. Ask your instructors for help. Wearing the padding just disguises the problem and prevents the prime motivator for fixing it - pain :)

[KENSHIN]

I think that is my argument, even though my footwork is wrong, which means that I need to practice to get it right...correct? if so and I am constantly injured because of blisters, which means that I have to miss kendo practice. Why don't we just wear some kind of light weight trainers, so that we can practice kendo constantly without the worry of getting blisters and then missing kendo practice. I mean I can understand the argument for bad foot work because it is true. But to achieve the right foot work could turn out to be a lifetime achievement for some, which then means a life time of blisters and being in and out of sole protectors. Wearing light weight trainers or whatever you want to call them, like the ones used in kung-fu can eliminate this problem altogether.

[Paburo]

but, are heel protectors and tabi really banned from competition?

[KENSHIN]

That is something I would like to know.

[alexpollijr]

I'm not sure but I don't think they're so frowned upon. Of course, they disguise vices most of the time (tabi esp.), but in high-level competitions (i.e WKC) you can see people using heel pads.

I believe that this is due to the fact that most kendo championships nowdays are fought over non-spring floor.

- Alexandre

[Neil Gendzwill]

You can wear tape or protectors so long as you get permission, usually when you register you can explain why you need this or that on your feet (or elsewhere). The reason you see a lot of tape at high level comps is that these people practice so much that their feet are often damaged. For most recreational players with 2-3 times per week practice you shouldn't need tape if your footwork is OK.

Kenshin - you're the first person I've met who has such a big problem with blisters. Everybody of course deals with them as a beginner but if they really are giving you so much trouble that you can't learn the footwork (catch-22) I suggest you ask permission from your sensei and if OK, wear some half-slippers.

[KENSHIN]

Originally posted by Neil Gendzwill

Kenshin - you're the first person I've met who has such a big problem with blisters. Everybody of course deals with them as a beginner but if they really are giving you so much trouble that you can't learn the footwork (catch-22) I suggest you ask permission from your sensei and if OK, wear some half-slippers.

Its not so much that I have a big problem with it, But more on the lines that I want to open up discussion about ways to deal with this problem. And what are the options available to beginners like me that find blisters an annoyance.

[JSchmidt]

It's a viscious circle you have to break out of and relying on using tabi just prolongs it. Using tabi gives you very little incentive to fix the problems with your footwork and you dont get to condition your feet.
Heelpads is a little different..first, bruised heels can take forever to heal..and once bruised, it takes very little to make it worse.
Also, once you damage the fat in the heel, it might not recover.

Jakob

[tyler]

Kenshin,
I was very much the same way for about my first year of kendo. I think my skin was really tender, and on a few occaisions it went beyond blisters and I bled on the floor. Same with my hands (believe it or not). It got to the point that I was considering quitting; i'd limp for two days after practice, and start to heal just as the next practice came around. I asked many of my sempai and got the responses we're hearing - that my footwork was the cause, but more importantly I should just stick with it, period.
Luckily I didn't quit and today I hardly ever blister, so even though at the time it really hinders all aspects of your practice and you think 'this can't be worth it', just take your time and keep developing your footwork.
doesn't seem like the best advice but it worked for me.

It seems like we're talking about two different kinds of foot injury too. I tend to get blisters on my left foot, the ball, the place where all the force gets chanelled in order to launch. I've also had trouble with bruising alternatly the heel and ball of my right foot when trying to fumi komi properly. Took me a while to stomp properly. Again, as opposed to getting a pad I just took it a little lighter while healing and practiced on my own until I could evenly distribute the weight.

anyway, good thread topic.

Tyler

[kendomushi]

Blisters on the feet are usually the result of imporper technique. Most often they occur on your left foot and are the result of twisting your foot when you push off it to attack. The twist need only be a degree or so to tear the skin. Wearing a tabi is good for preventing the blisters, but work on keeping the foot perfectly straight and you will soon have no need for the protector.

[Hyaku]

Originally posted by kendomushi
Blisters on the feet are usually the result of imporper technique. Most often they occur on your left foot and are the result of twisting your foot when you push off it to attack. The twist need only be a degree or so to tear the skin. Wearing a tabi is good for preventing the blisters, but work on keeping the foot perfectly straight and you will soon have no need for the protector.

Couldnt agree with you more but.... some poor guys get them in the middle.

I used to wear all my support (sounds like a pensioner) after injury. Now I wear it as a preventative measure. But for public events if I wore it I would look like a real pussy. It comes "off".

I think we really have to sympathise with the guys that practice on strange floors especialy varnished ones.

Hyaku

[PhilMcLaughlin]

Kenshin

Most posters correctly identify the problem as rotating the left foot on launch and that is a matter os practising until the problem is fixed, but there is something else that you can do that might help

Lots of people (me included ) wear trainers a lot and a consequence of that is that the skin of your feet gets very soft and very susceptible to damage in kendo

a couple of things you might try are to walk around the house with no shoes, wear sandals (without socks ;-) outside and to dry the soles of your feet before practise

I sometimes use surgical spirit (old fashioned cure) to dry the sole of the foot (it also toughens the skin) but dont overdo it I would reccomend talc as it is banned in some public sports centres

if that doesnt work then see a podiatrist (sp?) and get your feet checked over

hope that helps

regards

[PhilMcLaughlin]

OOPs

that should say would NOT reccomend talc

cheers

[m_french]

Kenshin- IMHO the last thing you should do is lay off kendo until the blister heals. If you have to wear a tabby to keep you're pain internalized, by all means do, but continue your kendo through the period that the blister is on your foot so that a calouse forms. eventually you will blister with out pain and when the skin tears there will already be a calouse underneath.


Remember only through pain can we grow stronger! :beard:

[samurai999]

Heh.. Blister? I had many of those. Blood blisters even. We have special taping methods to prevent and to cover up torn blisters. :D

As for ankle braces and heel protectors.. I used to use a heel protector, but not anymore. I was way to heavy in the past. Now that I've slimmed down a bit, I feel lighter and the heel pain is non-existent. I now use the heel protector on my left foot as an ankle/achilles brace. As long as you let the head judge know that you are using that equipment, they will usually let you use it.

Two yrs ago at the Steveston taikai, I was asked to take everything off. I then promptly twisted my left ankle when I tried to launch. My left ankle is weak already from basketball injuries..

Tim

["Rojindo"]

I agree, it's all in the footwork. My sore old soles have improved emensely over time.

What I have done from time to time is find a level sandy area (like at a park or beach) or even loose dirt path... then simply practice in my shoes.

A nice tennis shoe works OK, flat bottomed, no heel, not too much "foam". You can even use sandals ('cept they're not so great for going backwards). After you have taken a run, the loose sand allows one to examine your footwork. It's funny how much is revealed about the angle if each step. All in plain sight... like hand writing.

In this way, one can get the "feel" of correct footing while saving precious skin!!

Anyways... it seems to be a matter of taking time outside class to practice suburi and your basics. Lots and lots of time.

[tango]

Since we're all sharing war wounds again...

I have only ripped the skin on my foot once. It happened on my left foot in the process of turning around (after having run past my partner). Left a nice FOUR INCH GASH running underneath all my toes. What did I do? I taped it up and kept on with class. I got kinda painful the next couple days, so I laid out of class for a couple weeks (missed 4 classes) and then it was healed enough to where I could tape it and still get through class.

That was a freak accident though. It's never happened again. That's also when I TRIED to use that half-slipper thingy and couldn't get any traction for the push-off, so I've never worn that again.

If I get a blister (which are very few and far between now), I get them in the little "notch" beneath my big left toe. What do I do? I pop it (if it hasn't popped already in class) and tape it up and finish class.

When I get home, I cut away ALL the skin around the blister, leaving it exposed to the air.. I *might* put a bandaid on it if I have to work the next day. It usually "toughens" up and is fine before the next class.

Now, heel protectors: I do not mess around with my heel anymore. I bruised my heel once and used a heel protector and when it got better, I took it off. I later did it again and bruised my heel so bad, I simply could not practice kendo for the better part of 3 months. I could not remember to NOT STOMP when attacking. We have practiced on HARD LANOLEUM floors and some floors that weren't *quite* that hard. It's a "mental" thing for me now because I remember not being able to practice for 3 or 4 months because of a bad heel bruise, and I don't want to do that again.

So I always wear a heel protector now and I don't care what anybody thinks about it.

[Nanbanjin]

Kenshin,

Bruising, or splitting I can understand, but how exactly are you managing to get blisters on your heels? Do you mean blisters on the balls of your feet?

If you are getting blisters on the balls of your feet you need to go back to basics and concentrate on your footwork. So you can concentrate on your footwork alone it might be an idea to forego holding the shinai altogether and practice basic footwork by youself until you get it right.

You should go back to such a basic level that protectors are not needed.

When moving start by taking very small steps.
When you move you should not allow the balls of your feet leave the ground.
You should be landing and turning on the point on the ball of your foot at the base of the second and third toes.
Concentrate on the movement of your toe joints during the movement. Your weight (centre of gravity) should be forward on your feet enough that you can do this.
In natural stance and during movements the four springs of the arches of your feet, your ankles, your knees and your hip joints should be relaxed and supple at all times.
Clearly if you are moving so that you are getting blisters on your heels you are not using the arch of the foot at all.

I will include some translations of footwork tips from Ichinikai http://www5a.biglobe.ne.jp/~ichini/

For the first time student, enter into leg and footwork training without holding a shinai, and with both hands placed on the hips.

Start by teaching "basic stance"
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1. Stand with the tips of the toes on both right and left feet pointing straight forward and the feet together.
2. Pivoting on the heel of the left foot open the left foot out 90 degrees in an anti-clockwise direction.
3. Using the point on the sole of the foot directly at the base of the toes between the second and third toes, rotate the heel of the left foot 90 degrees in a clockwise direction.

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As a result of the above adjustment the distance between the left and right feet will be about shoulder width and the line of the heel of the right foot should be the same as the line of the of the ball of the left foot.

Also teach that,
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4. The heel of the left foot should be raised to a degree where the ankle is at a natural bend.
5. The heel of the right foot should be raised to one paper width from the floor.

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By this the position of the feet will be such that the floor is gripped with the soles of both feet at the base of the toes.

Next teach the following,
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6. Relax the "four springs" of the arch of the foot, ankle, knee and hip joint.
7. Place the centre of gravity between the right and left feet.

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"mawari-ashi" is performed as follows,
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1. Raise the Shinai without moving the position of the left hand from the position of chudan-no-kamae.
2. Using the sole of the right foot at the base of the toes as a pivot spin in an anti-clockwise direction 180 degrees.
3. Return the standing shinai to chudan-no-kamae position.

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At first move with the separate movements (commands) of "lift", "turn", "lower", and work towards performing all of these movements in one smooth motion at the call "turn".

Points to be aware of are as follow,
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* Don't wobble about.
* After turning make sure that you accurately return to the original stance.

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However, when turning make sure that the springs of the lower body (the arch, ankle, knee and hip joint at the crotch) push down on the floor, and it is important to maintain "basic stance" through the motion, with the right foot drawing and arc like the moving arm of a pair of compasses.
It is also important that no twist results in the neck, shoulders or pelvis.

I think "suri-ashi" is practiced just about everywhere. It is simply a matter of using "Movement of the body" in a continuous and smooth manner.

Firstly, points to consider when moving forward are as follow.
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* Under no circumstances allow the left foot to overtake the right foot (or to become aligned)
* Don't lift the ball of the right foot up (the foot should not land from the heel)
* Use the springs of the lower body in a flexible manner
* Use the kick of the left foot to propel the body (the right leg and the centre of gravity)
* After the right foot has landed, tension the thigh above the right knee and quickly pull up the left foot.
* Don't allow chudan-no-kamae to be disrupted (consider posture, position of the left hand, and the kensen)
* Keep the vertical movement of the head (centre of gravity) to a minimum.
* Move the feet in small quick intervals.
* After moving in one direction use "mawari-ashi" to turn.

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When moving backwards consider the following.
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* Under no circumstances allow the right foot to overtake the left foot (or to become aligned)
* Don't retract the hips
* Use the kick of the right foot to propel the body (the left leg and the centre of gravity)
* After pushing off, don't drag the right leg (don't raise the ball of the foot)
* Don't allow chudan-no-kamae to be disrupted (position of the left hand, and the kensen)
* Keep the vertical movement of the head (centre of gravity) to a minimum.
* Move the feet in small quick intervals.
* After moving in one direction use "mawari-ashi" to turn.

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[Neil Gendzwill]

Now, heel protectors: I do not mess around with my heel anymore. I bruised my heel once and used a heel protector and when it got better, I took it off. I later did it again and bruised my heel so bad, I simply could not practice kendo for the better part of 3 months. I could not remember to NOT STOMP when attacking.
Tango, if you're consistently getting heel bruises you have to fix your fumikomi. You're coming down on your heel, not your whole foot.

[tango]

blisters on HEELS?

my god.. i must've missed that in an earlier post..

i can't imagine how someone could get a blister on a heel...
something is definitely wrong with basic footwork if that's the case.. once again, nice post, nanban..

whoever has mentioned getting a blister on his heel.. i'm kinda surprised the instructor hasn't said something about correcting footwork..

but what do i know, eh?

[tango]

Tango, if you're consistently getting heel bruises you have to fix your fumikomi. You're coming down on your heel, not your whole foot.

Neil-sensei -- oh no.. don't get me wrong. I'm not constantly getting bruises on my heel.

It's only happened to me twice in 7 years.. and the first time I think I was very brand new at kendo and we were working out on a hard, lanoleum floor. I THINK I did just stomp incorrectly then. The second time was at a goshgu and there was a nice, springy, wood floor in a gym.. I wan't wearing a heel pad then and the floor was just great. So I was going at it all day and then, my left foot slipped on a push-off and I landed very hard and very flat on my right foot (no heel first, just plain flat), and it just so happened that I stomped on maybe a hard support beam underneath the floor. Instead of the nice BOOM! I was getting everywhere else, this time there was a solid *THUD!* ... so, coupled with my misstep there, it was just kinda bad luck.

I do stomp correctly, but ever since that situation I just described, I have worn a heel pad as a precaution. Like I said, I think it's just very "mental" now and there's really not that much cushion on the heel pad itself.

One of these days, I'll probably get over it (haha).. but I can't stand the thought of having another "accident" and landing flat again such that I can't do kendo, much less walk, for 3 months..

[Nanbanjin]

blisters on HEELS?

my god.. i must've missed that in an earlier post..

i can't imagine how someone could get a blister on a heel...
something is definitely wrong with basic footwork if that's the case.. once again, nice post, nanban..

whoever has mentioned getting a blister on his heel.. i'm kinda surprised the instructor hasn't said something about correcting footwork..

but what do i know, eh?

This guy has to have made a mistake with his post. I mean how do you get a blister on your heel?