On 10/11/2024 at 5:13 AM, Nidan Melbourne said:

I am a "Grabber" too for sparring, as not many people expect that especially from other karate practitioners. 

When you said "I generally avoid sparring" any particular reason for that? I'm curious.

I mainly avoid sparring right now because I'm on blood thinners, so the potential for excessive bruising is pretty high.

I, too, am on Eliquis, which is a blood thinner, ever since 2018 due to my having Afib. The bruising is no joke, and the bruising remains as long as it does, depending on the bruising. Besides the bruising comes the bleeding that might take longer for the bleeding to stop. The bleeding under the skin looks like a purple spot varying in its size. The wearing of pads doesn't eliminate the bruising or bleeding, so sparring is just not worth the risk. So, what can one do who takes blood thinner?? Like what aurik does...NO SPARRING. What do I do?? Well, I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer. What I did right after being prescribed Eliquis, and at the advice of both of my PCP and Cardiologist, was...

"If you're determined to spar while on blood thinner, and I do not recommend it, find a trusted partner that will respect your limitations."

That's what I did, Partner Shadow Boxing, however, the novelty of that quicky died off. It's difficult to hit me but not impossible because, darn-it, things happen.

Edited October 14, 20241 yr by sensei8

2 hours ago, sensei8 said:

I, too, am on Eliquis, which is a blood thinner, ever since 2018 due to my having Afib. The bruising is no joke, and the bruising remains as long as it does, depending on the bruising. Besides the bruising comes the bleeding that might take longer for the bleeding to stop. The bleeding under the skin looks like a purple spot varying in its size. The wearing of pads doesn't eliminate the bruising or bleeding, so sparring is just not worth the risk. So, what can one do who takes blood thinner?? Like what aurik does...NO SPARRING. What do I do?? Well, I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer. What I did right after being prescribed Eliquis, and at the advice of both of my PCP and Cardiologist, was...

"If you're determined to spar while on blood thinner, and I do not recommend it, find a trusted partner that will respect your limitations."

That's what I did, Partner Shadow Boxing, however, the novelty of that quicky died off. It's difficult to hit me but not impossible because, darn-it, things happen.

That's exactly what I'm on.  I technically have atrial flutter (which is a form of afib, but easier to treat).  I recently spoke with a cardiac surgeon who suggested a surgery to treat it -- basically go in through the femoral vein with a laser and create a small patch of scar tissue which prevents the signals from going haywire.  So I'm most likely going to have that done later this year.

18 hours ago, aurik said:

I mainly avoid sparring right now because I'm on blood thinners, so the potential for excessive bruising is pretty high.

Yeah that makes sense, i know a few people who are on blood thinners and they do have to be careful.

On 10/14/2024 at 10:39 AM, aurik said:

That's exactly what I'm on.  I technically have atrial flutter (which is a form of afib, but easier to treat).  I recently spoke with a cardiac surgeon who suggested a surgery to treat it -- basically go in through the femoral vein with a laser and create a small patch of scar tissue which prevents the signals from going haywire.  So I'm most likely going to have that done later this year.

Interesting!! I just might ask my Cardiologist about that procedure!! Thanks, aurik!! 

Do you know how long that procedure takes and how long the convalescent time is??

10 hours ago, Nidan Melbourne said:

Yeah that makes sense, i know a few people who are on blood thinners and they do have to be careful.

I'd imagine that they'd have to be very extra careful while on the floor. 

13 minutes ago, sensei8 said:

Interesting!! I just might ask my Cardiologist about that procedure!! Thanks, aurik!! 

Do you know how long that procedure takes and how long the convalescent time is??

My wife and I were discussing the procedure yesterday evening.  It's a 2-3 hour outpatient procedure, you have significant activity restrictions for 5 days afterwards (no strenuous activity, no driving, careful going up and down stairs), and then you can begin resuming normal activity afterwards.  You'll continue to be on blood thinners for about 4-6 weeks afterwards.  

Only 5 days of down time is not too bad in the grand scheme of things.

I've never been a fan of pads of any sort, except for Bogu gear, which is similar to kendo helmet and a canvas chest protector, leather lightweight gloves. Full contact...literally.

I'm old school, learn accuracy and control when sparring. Hit happen, people accept them as part of the "game", but every effort is to control your technique.

The only time I've worn foot and leg pads/gloves was when my students guilt tripped me into entering a tournament that I took a few to out of town. I entered the black belt sparring in these big, clunky and bad fitting "booties" and a pair of foam gloves. Single elimination, I won my first two matches, then the third was against a friend of mine from an eclectic kung fu system. I'd never fought him before. Score ties 4-4, time ran out, and he got the 5th point. I ended up placing 3rd (my first, and only tournament as a competitor), then got 2nd in kata doing Chinto . I retired from competition after that.

13 hours ago, Montana said:

I've never been a fan of pads of any sort, except for Bogu gear, which is similar to kendo helmet and a canvas chest protector, leather lightweight gloves. Full contact...literally.

I'm old school, learn accuracy and control when sparring. Hit happen, people accept them as part of the "game", but every effort is to control your technique.

The only time I've worn foot and leg pads/gloves was when my students guilt tripped me into entering a tournament that I took a few to out of town. I entered the black belt sparring in these big, clunky and bad fitting "booties" and a pair of foam gloves. Single elimination, I won my first two matches, then the third was against a friend of mine from an eclectic kung fu system. I'd never fought him before. Score ties 4-4, time ran out, and he got the 5th point. I ended up placing 3rd (my first, and only tournament as a competitor), then got 2nd in kata doing Chinto . I retired from competition after that.

When we spar, adults are only required to wear hand pads.  We are encouraged to wear mouthguards, and shinpads + footgear are optional.  Students under 16 are also required to wear headgear and footgear.  I'm with you, sparring is about learning to get around/past your opponents defenses with light contact.  Generally adults should be able to control their techniques so as to not injure their partner.  However, in sparring the unexpected often happens (someone steps INTO your attack instead of away from it), so some padding definitely helps avoid injuries.