Self defence for visualy impared

thefizz

Does anyone know of a type of self defense or a club which caters for the visually impaired. I have a 16 year old student in my Karate club who is loosing his sight (experts say he may be fully blind by 21) and he is finding it harder to take part in sparring.

I have started a program of Close Quarter Battle training with him but just wondered what else might be available to him. The more he can learn before his sight deteriorates too much, the better prepared he'll be.

Thanks,
Sensei Fitzsimons

Roper

Can't say I know of one but I'd imagine something that involves grabbing, grapling etc would be more suited.

pma-ire

there used to be a very handy lad at judo who was blind doing the comps years ago?

i would imagine that judo would be the best option??

Burnt

Judo does provide for blind competitors...with events at the Paralympics
Tony White(?) was the guy i think who used fight on a regular basis

DCU judo club also used to have a blind judoka...

Cake Fiend

Yeah, anything longer than grabbing range is going to be of very limited use, something with grappling and clinching would be ideal.

Regards,
The Honourable Cake Fiend Esq.

arybvtcw0eolkf

Burnt wrote:

Judo does provide for blind competitors...with events at the Paralympics
Tony White(?) was the guy i think who used fight on a regular basis

DCU judo club also used to have a blind judoka...

Judo, and I'd imagine BJJ too. But one of the BJJ guys would have to pick up this one.

We have a few regular blind lads training Judo with us in POrtmarnock, including Tony White (as mentioned above).

Have a look through www.irishjudoassociation.ie and I'm sure there's information on www.judoinfo.com for the visually impaired.

Btw, if it mean's anything to your lad we've one lad (a black belt too) who's both blind and deaf.

Best of luck to the lad.

spiral

Mairt just out of interest do you do randori with the blind guys the same as with anyone else or do you start with grips ?

Im2Lazy

Any of the grappling arts would seem to be the way to go.

I train with a guy doing BJJ who always rolls with his eyes closed for some reason & he does alright:rolleyes:

Gorman

When I first started BJJ I used to train with a blind guy. I never realised it until we went to a tournament and I asked in why he couldn't drive a car there - "didn't you know I'm legally blind?". I had no idea.

I think he had around 10% vision, but it didn't affect him at all. In fact at the tournament he placed second in his division.

bella1

ray stears at portmarnock judo club has trained alot of blind fighters over the last 15years ,they train monday and thursday,

arybvtcw0eolkf

spiral wrote:

Mairt just out of interest do you do randori with the blind guys the same as with anyone else or do you start with grips ?

Unfortunetely they train just like everyone else ... ... ... unfortunetely because Tony White beats the sh*t out of me everytime, lol.

As Andy say's Ray Stears in the man to talk to. PM me if you want his number or email addy.

schmooFlan

Mairt wrote:

Judo,

I saw this a few days ago, seems appropriate to the thread?

http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,504854,00.html

A street robber in Germany didn't know what had hit him when he tried to mug a blind man. He had made the mistake of choosing a world judo champion as his victim.

thefizz

Thank you all for your suggestions. I'm not sure how far his folks are willing to drive him but I'll let him know about the clubs you have suggested.

arybvtcw0eolkf

thefizz wrote:

Thank you all for your suggestions. I'm not sure how far his folks are willing to drive him but I'll let him know about the clubs you have suggested.

There's a full club listing on the IJA website, and recently I fought a lad from a club out by Ashburn which might suit.

Nothingcompares

thefizz wrote:

Thank you all for your suggestions. I'm not sure how far his folks are willing to drive him but I'll let him know about the clubs you have suggested.

where does he live sensei? judo is the best because it has established training for people with visual impairment but bjj might be even better because it's on the ground.

thefizz

Thanks guys, he lives near Dunshaughlin so Ashbourne wouldn't be far but I can't find any info on that club. Does anyone have contact info for Ashbourne?

arybvtcw0eolkf

thefizz wrote:

Thanks guys, he lives near Dunshaughlin so Ashbourne wouldn't be far but I can't find any info on that club. Does anyone have contact info for Ashbourne?

I could of course be wrong on Ashbourne, I thought I remembered him saying their club was out that way. You really should get in touch with Ray Stears from Portmarnock Judo, he's the man you can point you in the right direction.

thefizz

I have done some web searches and found the Ashbourne club mentioned but I just couldn't find any contact details or training times. I'll try Ray Stears as you suggested, thanks.

pearsquasher

www.bujinkan.ie for clubs.

Not "self defence" per se but in my opinion, bujinkan is all about
Proprioception which may be of help to your friend. It's also unhindered by limitations, so blindness won't be a problem at all.

Judo sounds like a good one if they're sports-orientated.

Good luck.

Nothingcompares

contact details for ashbourne judo club

ashjudo.bebo.com

thefizz

Nothingcompares wrote:

contact details for ashbourne judo club

ashjudo.bebo.com

Thats great, thanks.

Blowback

Try Coolmine Judo Club,train Tuesday and Thursday.

Seems to me you are instructing without too much difficulty and that you are looking to the future.
I see no reason for him not to go to any club, once those that need to know that a pat on the shoulder or stand close.

Nothingcompares

yeah that's a very good point. He doesn't need to go to a specialist club, I've trained with blind people in a variety of clubs. I would say it would be more important for him to train with people his own age (16 did you say?) than anything else. So any club with a good junior section would be good.

thefizz

He loves the Karate so I don't know if he would be interested in other martial arts like Judo but Ashbourne is close to him so I'll suggest it anyway, thanks.