Tell me more ×
Martial Arts Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for students and teachers of all martial arts. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 6 down vote favorite

In the good old days I used to train karate. I would like to come back to martial arts (not necessarily karate) to work on my agility and endurance.

There are two catches:

  • Now I have a myopia + astigmatism (not so strong, but vision without glasses is blurry).
  • I can't wear contacts

Any hints?

share|improve this question

2 Answers

up vote 10 down vote accepted
  • For non-contact training, I just wear my glasses.
  • For sparring, I take them off [1].
  • For non-contact stick training, we wear safety goggles, which fit over the top.
  • For heavier stick training, I either take them off, or wear prescription sports goggles. They're goofy-looking, but so am I--it's a wash.

[1] In a fight, your glasses will come off--might as well get used to not having the vision you want. It sounds like my vision is noticeably worse than yours--honestly, my vision isn't the gating issue when I'm getting whupped in class ;)

share|improve this answer
1  
+1 This is what I did until I got laser eye surgery. – Dave Liepmann Jun 10 '12 at 19:24
2  
Me too. I find that even with very poor eyesight I can see gross body movements just fine without my glasses or contacts, but if your opponent has tells in his or her facial expressions you may miss them without corrective lenses. I try to train both ways (with and without lenses) to maximize my learning but also train for the possible situation of having to fight without lenses. – dmckee Jun 10 '12 at 19:36
1  
@dmckee Good points. My training is almost completely non-sport, though--hopefully nothing will last long enough for me to discover if the other guy has tells ;) – Dave Newton Jun 10 '12 at 19:50
2  
I'm going to second the recommendation for sports goggles (I have advanced astigmatism with differing prescriptions for each eye). My wife and I both use them for sparring and I swear by them - that first time you nearly put someone through a wall because of bad depth perception will typically convince everyone that a prescription strength solution is in order :) – rjstreet Jun 10 '12 at 21:17
up vote 2 down vote

I would recommend plastic/goggle type glasses with an elastic band around your head. While it's true that glasses will normally come off in any real physical altercation, seeing and understanding the techniques during the hours and hours of practice is more important (IMHO) than your potential discomfort if you have them knocked off. Sport glasses were very good to me while I used them.

share|improve this answer
1  
+1 for advocating seeing. Also, not every physical altercation is a knock-down drag-out struggle to the death. My glasses have stayed on in minor scuffles with friends that only escalated a little bit. – Dave Liepmann Jun 12 '12 at 21:14

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.