Contact lenses and Karate

[ozzymk]

Hello,

this is my first post on this forum.

I recently joined Karate club and I really like it!

the only issue for me is my bad vision (-. As I just started I can

use my glasses (made of plastic) but how about kumite in the future ?

I've tried contact lenses but by some reasons it didn't work for me.

My sensei said I can simply take off my glasses during sparrings and

it could even be an advantage as I will be very focused on movements

of my partner.

I really don't want to quit and I would appreciate if other people on this

forum who has similar problem with vision can share with me their

experience ?

thank you in advance!

[joesteph]

I'm greatly dependent on contact lenses, Ozzymk. Glasses have a limited benefit for me, and soft contact lenses don't give me the crystal-clear vision that rigid "gas permeable" contacts do. These are not the same as "hard" contacts, which gave me excellent vision, but limited oxygen to the eyes. Rigid lenses are the middle way that works well for me and might work well for you. Were they ever suggested to you by your eye doctor?

If I'm not wearing glasses (around the house) or contacts, my vision is very bad. I know I could never spar without them. When I took self-defense jujitsu lessons, we were free to wear eye protection.

[Rateh]

I wear glasses, and I have tried contacts but they didn't work for me. My vision is such that I cannot see the big E on the eye chart without my glasses on.

I have tried buying sports goggle that are used in other contact sports, you can get them with your perscription. These did not work for me, because the head gear in martial arts is soft, so everytime I got hit in the side of the head, my goggles would move and stay at that new position.

I have found that the easist way for me to deal with my glasses, is to buy a pair of cheap glasses that are durable to wear during sparring. If they get broken, well its no big deal. And when they do get skewed, they take only a few seconds to fix, whereas the goggles involved taking off my head gear to fix them.

I buy the glasses online from china, you can buy a pair for as little as $8. Not necessarily stylish...but they are for sparring, not fashion.

When I know that the match is going to involve a lot of contact, I take them off, and warn my partner that my control is not as good without them, as I have difficulty judging distances.

[Lupin1]

I wear glasses, and I have tried contacts but they didn't work for me. My vision is such that I cannot see the big E on the eye chart without my glasses on.

You mean you can actually see the eye chart? Lucky! All I see when I look an an eye chart without glasses is the white wall with maybe a little black smudge where the E is. All the other letter blur to the point they don't exist.

I wear glasses to do karate. I've had them knocked off already once or twice (I've only been back to karate for 2 1/2 months), but my eyes don't like contacts (I wore them for a year in high school and they completely irrated my eyes the whole time and moved around on them and stuff) so I guess I don't have much choice. I guess as long as we're careful with them...

[ozzymk]

Thank you guys for all your replies... Now I know for sure that my -8 is not a reason to stop training. Karate is a great martial art and sport! As I am not comfortable with lenses, then I will be taking off my glasses when it is really required. By the way I can see quite clearly in a short distance (2-3 meters) to that I guess this should be enough for kumite ?Sorry I am beginner in karate so that I am just guessing

[KarateGeorge]

I'm highly dependent on my contacts. My vision is even worse than the -8. Like joesteph, I wear rigid gas permeable lenses, and without them, I'm effectively blind. I take them out when sparring and such, where there's a risk of contact, just because I don't want to risk losing them. Even as bad as my vision is, I can still see the shape of a gloved fist coming towards me, so its a workable solution. No, I won't be able to read the logo of the manufacturer on the glove, but who cares, I can tell it's about ready to punch me and block it or move out of its way.

By no means should you let poor vision stop you from training. If I can make it work with a -12, and a condition that makes my contacts fall out extremely easily because of my changing corneas, you can too. Just be patient with it, know that it can be an inconvenience, but it doesn't have to be the end of your training.

Edited March 10, 2010 by KarateGeorge

[ninjanurse]

The new contact lenses are very comfortable-if you haven't tried them in a while you might give it a go. I myself tried them years ago-always felt like something was in my eye....now I have the latest extended wear lens and I sleep in them...it's great to wake up with clear vision!

[WireFrame]

Thank you guys for all your replies... Now I know for sure that my -8 is not a reason to stop training. Karate is a great martial art and sport! As I am not comfortable with lenses, then I will be taking off my glasses when it is really required. By the way I can see quite clearly in a short distance (2-3 meters) to that I guess this should be enough for kumite ?Sorry I am beginner in karate so that I am just guessing

I'm near-sighted too. Anything within "fighting distance" is fine for me though so I don't wear my glasses to train.

[ozzymk]

Excellent, thank you very much for all your support!!!

[Tiger1962]

I've been wearing contact lenses for 32 years and wear eyeglasses around the house. I could never spar with my eyeglasses on - they would get foggy and sweaty and fall off. Love my contact lenses!

There are many different types of contact lenses out there, so you just have to try on different pairs to find one that works for you and is comfortable. They also sell contact lenses for people with astigmatism - called "Toric lenses", which in the old days wasn't possible to wear.

Besides this, I know prescription sparring goggles can be made - don't know how costly they are - but I had a relative who wore them and they worked out fine for him.

good luck!