headache?!air gap in men ?

[pamiro]

hi all,
should you have an air gap between your head and the top part of the men when you put it on ??
i have a men that fits me perfectly like a glove !! i started to have headaches since 2 weeks after the lessons ... do you think that its because i dont have any air gap that would prevent the impact passing from the men to my head ??
any ideas?? do you think my men is small in size or shoud i wait for it to break in as it is 4 monts old (maybe it will get a bit bigger ?)

waiting for your answers, taking an aspirin!!

[Kendo ISB]

Hm...usually there is a SMALL air gap between head and top of men.....if it hurts because you get hit....Get used to that :P I don't know whether to say your men is small or big...can't tell unless ya see it :P.
One thing. If your men is 4 months old.....thats relatively new, bogu can last MANY years....and did you wet your men to soften it down?

[pamiro]

hmm...actually i am not worried because i hurts when i get hit, i was just worried about the headache after !!
when i put my men on my chin and the top of my head sits on the men perfectly ...when i tight it up and control the distance by putting my finger in the back i see that thers no gap between ...
should there be one?

....i havent wet my men to lossen it up... how should i do it?

[hyuna]

when i tight it up and control the distance by putting my finger in the back i see that thers no gap between ...

Yes, there is supposed to be a gap. When I put my men on, I can pretty easily slide a pen in on top of my head all the way to the front pad. Easily except for it catching on the tenugui.

It is possible that your men is too small, but it is also possible that you are not tying it correctly. The himo that go over the top of the men should pull the sides of the men together, and that causes the top to arch. If you tie the men "downwards," the shape of the top is not correct. This is very difficult to explain without being able to show you. Consult with your sensei.

[Caleb]

I had the same problem, along with many others with my men. I was getting headaches because the men would actually press against my ears, and I was told you were supposed to have "bubbles" of air around your ears. You can get these by reaching up inside and pressing agains the side. After I got that cleared up, the sides of my men were pushing into my temples. I found out it was my tenegui. I was tying it, then when I tuked in the extra to avoid the "fish tail" it was bunching up against my temples, so I just took extra care to smoothe and flatten my tenegui out. In both cases I was getting headaches- and it turns out my men is perfectly sized, I was just putting it on wrong. Hope this helps

[pamiro]

Yes, there is supposed to be a gap. When I put my men on, I can pretty easily slide a pen in on top of my head all the way to the front pad. Easily except for it catching on the tenugui.

hmmm... ok i tried it now ... i can slide a pen also ... i was thinking that there should be more gap ...
but it is truesthat i am puttung it too tight that it hurts my ears ... i guess ill have to put it less hard and by pulling the men upwards to create the air gap ...

i hope it will help ... although i am not sure that ill have an air gap over my ears ! i am sure the men would touch it even in i tie it loose...

[Mr.Tvola]

hi all,
should you have an air gap between your head and the top part of the men when you put it on ??
i have a men that fits me perfectly like a glove !! i started to have headaches since 2 weeks after the lessons ... do you think that its because i dont have any air gap that would prevent the impact passing from the men to my head ??
any ideas?? do you think my men is small in size or shoud i wait for it to break in as it is 4 monts old (maybe it will get a bit bigger ?)

waiting for your answers, taking an aspirin!!

I think you will adapt soon and it won't hurt any more. You can put something in the "gap", like some folded tengui or something more solid. No shame in it.

[pamiro]

I think you will adapt soon and it won't hurt any more. You can put something in the "gap", like some folded tengui or something more solid. No shame in it.

the problem is not the hurting during the practice...at the end its not golf what we are doing !
i just wondered if my men was a bit small in size as i had some headache after the last couple of lessons ...
seeing that some peoples men has a huge convex gap on the top, i just wondered maybe mine is a bit small and therefore it transfers all the impact to my brain !! (this part sounded freaky !)
ill try to tie like hyuna said, creating the to arch ...

thanks