Martial arts for people with glasses

Discussion in 'Disabled Martial Artists' started by pachanga, Sep 13, 2004.

  1. pachanga

    pachanga Valued Member

    Is it feasible to take up martial arts if you are short-sighted and wear glasses? Or are contacts the only way? In my case, I can see things that are reasonably close to me and would probably be ok without them doing one-on-one techniques, but would have to put them back on to watch the instructor demonstrate techniques and see anything else far away. The main arts I'm considering are Krav Maga and Silat. Any other speccy gits out there with similar experiences? :D
    Thanks,
    Pach.
     
  2. rigsville

    rigsville Shukokai Karate

  3. Johnno

    Johnno Valued Member

    Pachanga,

    I've always worn contact lenses at MA classes. I've never considered wearing specs. I reckon they would steam up!

    There is a lad at the class I go to who wears specs, but he is still relatively inexperienced and doesn't do sparring yet. That could be risky, because accidents can happen.

    I suggest you ask the instructor of the class you are interested in for advice before you start. Would wearing contact lenses be a problem for you?
     
  4. Ikken Hisatsu

    Ikken Hisatsu New Member

    i use contact lenses. really, you simply cant use glasses in full contact fighting. maybe in arts which do not hit to the face, but even then accidents happen.
     
  5. pachanga

    pachanga Valued Member

    Hey all,

    Thanks for the quick and helpful replies, and for the link to the other thread (I did do a quick search under "glasses" before posting but it came up with so much stuff to trawl through I decided to post instead - shoulda used "spectacles").

    I did speak to the teacher of one of the classes I'm considering and he reckoned it would be OK to put them on for demonstrations and take them off for practice and that if I didn;t wear them he'd get me to stand up close but I thought I'd ask people's opinions here as well. I don;t think there;s any reason I couldn;t wear contacts but I've never really liked the idea of them, and I wouldn;t be able to get them in time for my first few lessons. I think i'll see how it goes either just wearing them for demonstrations or not at all for the first few classes, and look into getting some contacts in the meanwhile.
    Thanks again,
    Pach.
     
  6. Johnno

    Johnno Valued Member

    Sounds like you should be OK wearing glasses for the first few lessons until you get some contact lenses then.

    What are you intending to study?
     
  7. daftyman

    daftyman A 4oz can of whoop-ass!

    I thought you weren't supposed to hit people with glasses? :p

    A problem I've heard about with contacts and MA is that they can come out. I'd suggest that if you do go for contacts, then get the daily disposable ones. That whay you don't have to find them if they come out. Then just wear your glasses for everything else.

    One thing I wonder about though is:

    If you train without your glasses and you are jumped in the 'street', what happens? Should your training focus on protecting your head/glasses more? Surely you would need to alter your style to take this into account?

    I wear glasses myself (sometimes the daily disposable contacts if I'm going out clubbing) and am generally curious what the opinion is on this.
     
  8. pachanga

    pachanga Valued Member

    "What are you intending to study?"

    Not sure what I'll stick with. Starting out with some Krav Maga classes to see how they go; and also going to go to watch a Silat class or two in nearish future and give it a try as well if I like the look of them. If I'm not totally convinced by either of them I might check out a hapkido class as well.
    Best,
    Pach.
     
  9. Jang Bong

    Jang Bong Speak softly....big stick

    I've been 4-eyed since school, and hate the idea of putting things in my eyes so contacts are out. :)

    No problemm with the glasses during class, but I try to remember to take them off - just to see how much I can deal with when all I can see is a blurry image. The main reason for this is that in real life a lucky swipe could knock my glasses off and I would then have to deal with the sight I really have. :cool:

    (The DareDevil avatar has a few meanings for me :D)
     
  10. Shann

    Shann New Member

    I have very poor sight. I try to leave the glasses on during pretty much everything except sparring, so I can see what is being taught. If I'm sweating too much, I take them off.

    I take them off for sparring. Its not great, but I can see the guy in front of me well enough.
     
  11. Mushroom

    Mushroom De-powered to come back better than before.

    Hell as long as you can see past your arm's length its fine.
    I have very short sight, about arm's length. I wear contacts which is great the only problem is tho is that at timeswhen I get hit in the face, the contact would ride up my eyeball or fall off.
    Its annoying but I keep a bottle of solution with me and I pop it right back in.
    I would consider laser eye surgery but probably not right now, maybe when its a guaranteed to work.
     
  12. Jang Bong

    Jang Bong Speak softly....big stick

    My prescription is in the -8, -8.5 range (pretty darn short-sighted). My last job was with an optical group that did laser surgery, and I was checked for what it could do for me (they wanted walking adverts - the swines :)) Fortunately there was not enough 'material' to be re-shaped so I didn't have to make such a serious decision - I also found out some of the negative aspects. My thoughts.... you only get one set of eyes. :D
     
  13. KickChick

    KickChick Valued Member

  14. pachanga

    pachanga Valued Member

  15. Mrs Owt

    Mrs Owt New Member

    I am very near sighted and always wear my contacts. However I do train with a couple of guys who either can't or don't want to wear contacts. In the first case they guy invested in a pair of sport goggles. They are prescription glasses that are very durable and fit kind of like goggles. Using the word "goggle" makes them sound like they would be large, bulky and unattractive. They aren't But he knows if he takes a blow to the face he isn't going to hurt himself or wreck his glasses.

    The second guy who doesn't like contacts I train BJJ with so he isn't as concerned with distance sight except when the instructor is demoing a technique, then we all just let him sit in front of us close to the action. Not a huge problem.
     
  16. Nevada_MO_Guy

    Nevada_MO_Guy Missouri_Karate_Guy

    I wear glasses during class I'm usually always getting hit or kicked in the head (note to self....defense), I went to the vision center in Wal-Mart and got a pair of sports glasses.
    They are made of poly-carbonate, very lightweight and use an elastic strap to keep them on.
     
  17. Anth

    Anth Daft. Supporter

    Alreet, I do kamishin-ryu/shotokan karate and wear my specs for most of the class, but I always take them off for sparring and for sanbon-gumite (3 step sparring). I did try contact lenses, but I got annoyed when I took a hit to the face and the lense went for a look at my brain (I know, good luck to it :p) so now I'm back with the specs.
     
  18. Mrs Owt

    Mrs Owt New Member

    Really?:eek: The only time I had problems with contacts (and trust me, I have had my fair share of blows to the old noggin) was when we were playing a stupid game in class and someone put their thumb in my eye. Shoved the contact up under my eyelid for a bit, but it came down eventually.
     
  19. Kwajman

    Kwajman Penguin in paradise....

    I was sick and tired of my glasses and MA's was the straw that broke the camels back. I was constantly getting them knocked off or sliding down. So I had Lasik Surgery. I know thats not an option for everyone, but it sure changed my life.
     
  20. Ikken Hisatsu

    Ikken Hisatsu New Member

    well ive been kicked in the face hard enough to draw blood and it didnt move my lenses, so you should be pretty safe in that regard
     

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