Dizziness after ukemi

[conrad665]

Hi, I have been practicing judo for about one year now, and I enjoy it very much. I got used to throwing people and being thrown, but there is one thing I am having trouble with and that has got worse recently: the ukemi.

When we do ukemi (forward and backward), I cannot do more than two (my very limit). If I try more, then the whole world starts to turn, I feel dizzy, sit and cannot get up from the floor for a while. It doesn't happen when I am thrown by someone (probably because there is time to recover between throws), only happens when I do multiple ukemi. I googled my problem and tried some suggestions (like jumping when I get up, keeping my eyes open and breathing deeply during the ukemi) but none of them seems to work for me. I think I do not have vertigo or any related disease, I just don't know why this happens.

Does one ever get used to rolling? Sensei tells me to stop when I feel dizzy, so I guess I cannot overcome this problem by rolling more. Any suggestions? Thank you very much in advance.

Edited October 24, 2018 by conrad665

[Tempest]

Yes it happens. You do sort of get used to it, and it is one of the reasons to continue to do so.

However, and this is very important, one thing that can exacerbate this situation is if you are not keeping your neck supple and good head position throughout the rolls.

This can cause increased dizziness from tension in the neck even if you manage to avoid your head contacting the mat. Which you should.

So try to focus on those 2 things:

1. Don't let your head contact the mat during rolls.

2. Keep your neck supple rather than stiff to reduce tension and thus reduce likely dizziness.

After a couple of years of doing this and if you are confident that you are doing it correctly, and the issue persists, talk to your doctor about it.

You not thinking you have a vertigo issue or a vaso-vagal issue or some other thing that can cause problems like this does not mean it is so.

Good luck, and I hope the issue clears up.

[MatsuShinshii]

Yes it happens. You do sort of get used to it, and it is one of the reasons to continue to do so.

However, and this is very important, one thing that can exacerbate this situation is if you are not keeping your neck supple and good head position throughout the rolls.

This can cause increased dizziness from tension in the neck even if you manage to avoid your head contacting the mat. Which you should.

So try to focus on those 2 things:

1. Don't let your head contact the mat during rolls.

2. Keep your neck supple rather than stiff to reduce tension and thus reduce likely dizziness.

After a couple of years of doing this and if you are confident that you are doing it correctly, and the issue persists, talk to your doctor about it.

You not thinking you have a vertigo issue or a vaso-vagal issue or some other thing that can cause problems like this does not mean it is so.

Good luck, and I hope the issue clears up.

Great suggestions.

[conrad665]

Yes it happens. You do sort of get used to it, and it is one of the reasons to continue to do so.

However, and this is very important, one thing that can exacerbate this situation is if you are not keeping your neck supple and good head position throughout the rolls.

This can cause increased dizziness from tension in the neck even if you manage to avoid your head contacting the mat. Which you should.

So try to focus on those 2 things:

1. Don't let your head contact the mat during rolls.

2. Keep your neck supple rather than stiff to reduce tension and thus reduce likely dizziness.

After a couple of years of doing this and if you are confident that you are doing it correctly, and the issue persists, talk to your doctor about it.

You not thinking you have a vertigo issue or a vaso-vagal issue or some other thing that can cause problems like this does not mean it is so.

Good luck, and I hope the issue clears up.

Thank you very much, Tempest. I sometimes feel tension in my body during an ukemi, maybe I should learn how to do it in a relaxed way. Yesterday I tried to to some handstands and landed in ukemi, and I still experienced the same thing. I will try to get used to the feeling by trying out the ukemi each class.