Head injuries

[Yowai]

Read http://subtlebraininjury.com/

Have you experienced a concussion while practising kendo?
How often? Is the injury limited to times when receiving hits from beginners? What kind of men are you using? (modern/traditional/expensive/flimsy)
Are you concerned that every concussion that you receive is mentally retarding you?

[Hai_hai]

Concussion categories
Grade 1
The mild concussion occurs when the person does not lose consciousness (pass out) but may seem dazed.
Grade 2
The slightly more severe form occurs when the person does not lose consciousness but has a period of confusion and does not recall the event.
Grade 3
The classic concussion, which is the most severe form, occurs when the person loses consciousness for a brief period of time and has no memory of the event. Evaluation from a health-care provider should be performed as soon as possible after the injury.


I don't think anyone has Grade 2 or 3 concussion from kendo unless then fell down and hit their head on the floor.

[nodachi]

I have had quite a few concussions, unfortunately...

None from Kendo, nor do I feel the impact from a shinai on the men will put me at risk of one.

Granted it's not impossible, but compared to the force I have had in the past to get my concussions, I have no worries about a shinai doing any harm. Obviously make sure your men is not beyond the point of being safe, but I wouldn't worry.

[Marine_Boy]

I can only manage to do kendo once a week for 2hrs. I have now been in bogu for the last two practices. Last week, the top of me head hurt. Today (two days after practice), it hurts slightly, but not as much as the last time.

In fact there's interesting conversation going on the the rehydration or kendo and diet thread about the use of creatine to reduce the amount of brain damage.

But presonally, I believe that the more you get hit there, the easier yuo'll be able to take it. The body may acutally compensate by growing more bone. I know this is true with aikido experts who have "fat wrists" from years of practice. The body has strenghened the bone structure there.

Yours in kendo.

Bone head


I mean stan.

[emitbrownne]

I have been hit full pelt by a beginner on the side of my head, just above my left ear, when they tried kirikaeshi. We were not blocking to allow them to get the correct target.
It caused a massive ringing in my ears, and knocked me off balance for a second or two. I wouldnt say I was concussed, but it was not far off.
needless to say whenever I fence this guy now.. I block.
I aslo warn him about the strenth of the cut (and lack of tenouchi).

[Hai_hai]

Originally posted by Marine_Boy
... I know this is true with aikido experts who have "fat wrists" from years of practice. The body has strenghened the bone structure there.

Fat wrists are from muscle growth or fried chicken.

[Hongsermeier]

I'm afraid to post this, but I was the deliverer of a slightly off target men that almost knocked a freind out once. He wanted to do a little shiai after practice. I wanted to go home after a REALLY bad day at work. He said pretend I'm the person your mad at. BIG mistake on his part. After 1 or 2 min we were at tsubariai. I went for hiki sau men. Hit a little to the side and caught his temple. I did manage to catch him before he hit the floor. We stoped at that point. I did appologize a few times for that. :cross_eye

[Atama]

I've been cracked pretty hard across the top of my head several times, I had a guy on my shodan test hit my head like it was a baseball ( he failed thank god). The best strikes have got to be when you get cracked on the back of the head by an over zealous beginner as you go through on a men cut.

[Hongsermeier]

Atama...I've seen that. Ask Inouye02 or William Honda about the memorial day team taikai. It looked pretty painful. Thankfully I wasn't on the court. :cross_eye

[Inouye02]

aaah yes , i remember that one , the guy went past turned around and kablamm !!! only thing he missed the men , hit the guy in the shoulder..ouch ,,

[Inouye02]

hey Brad , I got a grade 1 from shikai Sensei that night you left keiko early...kurukuru & kawai sensei were asking if i was ok ..it was yeah i think so ...lol

[m_french]

Was that from the force of the hit or the proximity to the ear drum!?!?!? Shikai hit you so hard it made me hurt just standing in line behind you.:beard:

[Inouye02]

who knows.....my eyes just exploded with stars ...

welcome back frenchy ...

[Hongsermeier]

Welcome back mikeeeeee,

When I hit Tovar he said everything started turning white. That's when I caught him.

Mike you intersted in going up north for camp? Let me know, I have the info. Deadline is 15 July. :cross_eye

[m_french]

Would love to go.What are the dates for the Camp? So I can check my Schedule.:beard:

[Hongsermeier]

Aug 1-3. :cross_eye

[Yowai]

Aren't any of you concerned that even the slightest notion of dizziness after receiving men is the sign of your Intelligence Quotient dropping by one point? Concussions are no joke.
Men needs to be replaced by a steel helmet weighing 5kg.

[Inouye02]

actually it goes up , you become smarter , for you will learn to duck next time ..hahahaha

[Hai_hai]

Originally posted by Yowai
Aren't any of you concerned that even the slightest notion of dizziness after receiving men is the sign of your Intelligence Quotient dropping by one point? Concussions are no joke.
Men needs to be replaced by a steel helmet weighing 5kg.

Not all men strikes are concussions. I've had one concussion from hockey and kendo seems to be less concussion-prone than hockey.

IQ dropping? You only have to remember a couple of things to stay in kendo: maintain strong kamae, watch your maai, strike with kiai, kill, kill, KILL....YUSHO!!!!

[dorkusxmaximus]

you lose 32 brain cells T_T each time your head hits or bumps into something (don't know if it's true or not), so that means i lost about 1000 brain cells on Tuesday night!!!

[Inouye02]

then i'm a vegetable

[Marine_Boy]

I want to either be a deep fried potato or veg tempura.

Stan;)

[Nishi]

I work as a rehabilitation coach for people who have aquired traumatic head/brain injury, i can tell you, it takes quite a bit to damage the brain permenantly. It appears that the most common type of head injury is damage to the frontal lobes from the brain crashing into the skull. There is a design flaw which allows sharp ridges behind the forehead to form in childrens skulls which become permenant in adults, and there is little protecting the brain from these ridges...(car accidents, and very bad falls are comman problems)....Kendo is very unlikley, i would imagine there would be greater issues to spinal chord damage(where the spine connects to the brain) from repetative vibrations, and mild impact over long periods of time, but the muscles and tissue surrounding these areas would also build to support the new demands....all in all, not really a major problem.

Occipital lobes (back of the head) are at risk because there is no armour there, but thats only an accidental risk, with those type of statistics your in more danger in your car.

Just in case you wanted to know.....