bruising

[e_kendo]

I've been in bogu for about a month, and training for several. Every practice I go to, I come home with some nasty bruise from people hitting too hard, mostly on the kote (even though I wear a kote protector), last week on my side above where the do protects, and I think one spot under the do. Right now I've got a bunch of nasty bruises and scratches all up and down my forearm from somebody hitting way too hard and in the wrong spots.

I'm female and I know women tend to bruise more easily than men in general, but I want to know if this is normal, especially for a beginner. And if over time your body will just get used to being hit in the same places and not really bruise?

I don't mind if some strikes hurt more than they should but I don't really like how much I've been bruising so far.

[b8amack]

There is a long history on this question. It's got to be one of the more popular questions.



*edit* Maybe posting advanced search links doesn't work anymore. Anyway, the point is, there is a lot of advice for this issue already covered.

[e_kendo]

I searched first and saw some threads about specific bruises or other issues where bruising may also be a component, but not one bruising in general

[b8amack]

http://www.kendo-world.com/forum/sho...=bruising+kote

http://www.kendo-world.com/forum/sho...=bruising+kote

http://www.kendo-world.com/forum/sho...=bruising+kote

http://www.kendo-world.com/forum/sho...=bruising+kote

http://www.kendo-world.com/forum/sho...=bruising+kote

[hyuna]

I have found that I bruise much less now than I did before.

I think how much bruising you get depends a bit on your dojo since it depends on who you're practicing with. I don't think it's typical to get a LOT of bruising, but there are certain bruises that seem to be a lot more common than others and that you might expect to get. I suspect that also is rather dojo-dependant because it probably has to do with the specific way that beginners' technique is flawed, and some of that is determined by the way they are taught.

Sometimes it's hard to tell people that they are hitting too hard, but I find it easier to get the point across to people without being too confrontational by showing them the bruises that they gave.

[Neil Gendzwill]

*edit* Maybe posting advanced search links doesn't work anymore.

The problem with your initial link is that it contains an ID assigned to the search you performed that is only temporary, it does not contain the search terms themselves.

[annoraderenart@]

HI,

Kote and near the kote bruising is common. I have given up telling certain individuals that they hit too hard. Instead, I have added a soccer shin guard under my kote. The thin pad that I purchased at a kendo store for under my kote was not enough. I used one of the hard, over the kote shells for many years. However, my classmates have broken it. Now, I cannot tell is a kote strike is good. However, I still feel some of the shots made each practice. However, now I can use my hand the next day with no problems.

Page

[rfoxmich]

I find that for the most part it's not that people hit too hard but that they hit with insufficient te-no-uchi. I also find that putting it in that way often helps them to be willing to accept the criticism about their strikes in a way that lets them improve. There are nonetheless people and even dojos that just don't get the concept that the purpose of kendo has nothing to do with crippling your partner, and insist on striking with 'sufficient power to have killed if they were using that mythical real sword'.

[UnimportantHero]

You should also check your iron and zinc levels too! Deficiencies in both lead to increased bruising. I know it is almost certainly from being hit and so on, but few people ever get regular blood work done to keep track of their nutrition levels. We just assume that we get enough in whatever we eat, when in fact most people seem to be malnourished in some fashion. People who bruise easily almost always have something wrong with them, usually malnutrition, though also often from drinking too much alcohol. Zinc deficiencies are common. So get some work done too, if the easy bruising persists.

[Kokoro777]

I remember being covered in bruises during my Kendo years and the ones on my neck after badly execute tsuki thrusts always raised questions from my then girlfriend!

Bruising is caused by capillaries being ruptured under the skin, in this case, due to trauma. Since the walls of capillaries are just once cell thick and have to be in order to function there's not a lot you can do about them breaking open-you can't toughen them in anyway. Women tend to have more subcutaneous fat so that helps cushion blows and the bruise less easily in certain areas, as it turns out! Assuming you don't have any nasty clotting disorder, you'll have to put up with them I'm afraid but I think you'll get less simply by being a better Kendo player and parrying blows. Give as good as you get if your opponent doesn't ease off when asked to!

In the meantime enjoy the multitude of colours they fade into over time-the purples are my personal favourite.

[JSchmidt]

I think you'll get less simply by being a better Kendo player and parrying blows.

Nah, you toughen up and simply just bruise less.

[Kokoro777]

I'll take your word for it.

[hyuna]

I for one don't like to recommend using additional protection or parrying as a long-term solution to bruising/injury. There are times where these things are appropriate but I think they are rare, in general.

Look around the dojo and try to see patterns. If you're the only one getting hurt, then your bruising/injuries probably have something to do with you, your form (proper form and technique allows the bogu to do its job), or your gear. If it's the beginners, then maybe there is some instruction that they missed or didn't get. If it's everyone who practice with a specific individual, then it's probably that person and the instructors should probably be involved somehow. If everybody is getting beat up all the time, then perhaps you have accidentally joined a dog brothers practice instead of a kendo practice...

If it is a problem with a specific individual, you can't just tell them they are hitting too hard and expect things to improve. If they are hitting too hard, either it is because they (1) don't know how hard they are hitting, or (2) believe they should be hitting harder than they really should be, or (3) can't control how hard they hit, or (4) are trying to hit you hard. In any of these cases they need help and a lot of feedback to fix the problem.

It is important take this kind of information into account when deciding how to respond.

You might think that seniors get bruised less because they can just parry everything, but that's mistaken. If you are senior you deny your juniors the ability to learn anything if you indiscriminately block everything they throw at you and you discourage them by not allowing them any success. And you set a bad example since we should be learning to attack with sutemi instead of being afraid of getting struck.

[Eskiriatai]

This is my opinion, I have suffered of these brusings many times and so far I think that heavier and bigger people tend to hit(cut) with more strenght than light and little people, particularly western people tend to do this, although smaller kendokas can apply the same strenght if they want, I think in keiko the solution is not to get touch or block their attack if you can do so, during training I try to match the strenght use by the other kendoka if they hit(cut) using excesive strenght, some times they feel it and start hitting more softly. But that's me in any case I think only the sensei should advise them about their strenght. The last option is to endure.

[e_kendo]

I've got some bruising under where the extra kote padding is as well. It's not as noticeable as the stuff on the rest of my arm though. I guess I will see how it goes. If a particular person keeps hitting me too hard, I might speak with him or her. I try my best to execute tenouchi but if someone's whacking me really hard maybe I'll just whack them back from now on :-p I think I tend to hit lighter in general, but I don't know for sure, because I'm not hitting myself.