Hello from the Blind Martial Artist.

[millhilldojo]

Maybe I should have come here first instead of diving straight into the forums but here I am now better late than never. My name is Mark Brown, I am totally blind and lost my sight 10 years ago due to my diabetes. I studied Judo as a child but didn't really get back into Martial Arts until going blind.

I am now a 1st Dan Shodan in karate, I graded in April 2013 which for me was the greatest achievement of my life so far. Just come fresh from operation table after having a kidney transplant March 2014 after suffering with kidney disease for the last few years, little bit tender still but so glad to back training in my dojo.

I train 2 times a week with my local karate club and train every single day inside my own dojo which I built in my back garden from an old car garage I have a personal trainer/assistant who helps me with my day to day activities who is also a martial artist. Collectively we make youtube videos and have a website where we try to offer free karate instruction via our videos for anybody who is interested in learning or watching some karate and self defense techniques. Martial arts training and participation is my life, we currently study quite a lot of styles from the chinese Wing Chun Kung Fu, Traditional and japanese karate to boxing, wrestling and anything else that comes along and catches our attention.

Humbled to be apart of this forum, only just discovered it and still cant get over how much information and interesting reading there is on this site, I think I will be apart of this forum for a long time and look forward to any future discussions and meeting new like minded friends.

Just a quick explanation, some people may think how can a blind man be part of a forum or use the internet? lol, I have a laptop with talking software and screen readers and also an iphone 4s with voice over which allows me to read pretty much everything anybody else can on the internet.

Best regards to all my fellow martial artists,

my website for anybody interest in checking us out is...

MMA DOJO

or my youtube channel where you can find all 100+ of my videos is..

Mill Hill Dojo Channel

Osu, Bonsai, Good day from the crazy blind sensei

[CredoTe]

Welcome to KF! Glad that you're making us a part of your MA journey!

[wagnerk]

Welcome to our little corner of the interweb.

Congrats on achieving your Shodan.

[BlackKnight]

You are an inspiration. You, in my opinion, epitomize perseverance. Thank you.

Quick funny story. I just recently got an Iphone 4s and wasn't aware that it had a voice over setting. I accidentally activated it and for the life of me couldn't figure out how to disable it. It was driving me crazy until someone showed me how.

[DWx]

Welcome to the forum Mark

I have a very strong history of diabetes in my family. My grandmother developed it in her teens and over the years slowly went blind until it effectively made her entirely dependant on others for care. Watching her go through that has made me appreciate my sight so much more and my worst nightmare would be to lose mine.

What I'm trying to say (badly!) is that it is inspirational that someone such as yourself has still been able to train.

If you don't mind answering, why did you pick Karate as your chosen discipline? With a background in Judo anyway wouldn't a grappling style have been a more natural choice? Especially given that a lot of BJJ/Judo/wrestling can be based upon touch?

Edited April 29, 2014 by DWx

[sensei8]

Welcome to KF!!!!!!!!!

I bow to your MA achievements, and for earning your Shodan.

[Zaine]

Welcome to KF, it's good to have you here! Congrats on your Shodan!

[Archimoto]

Welcome!

[Patrick]

Welcome to KarateForums.com, millhilldojo. Glad to have you.

Patrick

[Harkon72]

Hello and Welcome!