Kids judo and wearing glasses

littleredhen

my dd is long sighted - has a very high prescription +9.75 and she does judo twice a week
one of the sessions is a club night and as she is improving she is finding that her glasses keep getting knocked off or worse still broken (they are not cheap!)
i spoke to one of the judo teachers and he said she wouldn't be allowed to wear glasses if she fought competitively so my first reaction was that she wouldn't compete then - he said that blind people do judo and also if she was to stop wearing her glasses it would build up her confidence
so my second thought was yes you have a point - she got her glasses when she was one year old and wears them all day everyday so i think it would be hard for her now to try judo without them
anyone had a similar problem as i can't find much in the line of sports glasses for kids

custardy

it really depends,she may be able to do her Judo without glasses
a lot of ground work is more touch and reaction than sight
different for a martial art with stand up fighting where you dodge blows
TBH i cant see anyone doing Judo with glasses,just not practical
i have done some ground work with the Judo guys and i just couldnt do it with glasses

Ladyhawk

As Custardy says - judo is fought by feeling for subtle changes in balance rather than dodging kicks or punches. She can definitely do it without glasses. (I am very shortsighted and have done jiu jitsu for many years).

I would suggest that maybe your daughter wears her glasses to watch the demonstration and then takes them off when she does the groundwork. I often had to do this when I've forgotten to take my contacts with me to training.

custardy

and just to add,i also get my !!! kicked by the Judo guys every time

Money_maker

Ladyhawk wrote: »

I would suggest that maybe your daughter wears her glasses to watch the demonstration and then takes them off when she does the groundwork. I often had to do this when I've forgotten to take my contacts with me to training.

This is a good idea. Are you sure she cannot see well enough for this or perhaps you have told her she cant? DS1 did judo for a few years and always took off his glasses for both practising and competitions. He did very well too.

littleredhen

Money_maker wrote: »

This is a good idea. Are you sure she cannot see well enough for this or perhaps you have told her she cant? DS1 did judo for a few years and always took off his glasses for both practising and competitions. He did very well too.

hi - no i haven't told her she can't see but as she is long sighted it makes close up stuff very blurry - wearing glasses is 2nd nature as i said she has had them since she was 1 - if she forgets to put her glasses by her bedside at night she is very disorientated in the morning and comes through to us not very happy iyswim.
i think my main problem is that she lacks confidence at judo anyway and as she is getting better i am worried that if she takes off her glasses she will feel really vulnerable and it is how i get her to cope with this - i am a very positive person and would actively encourage her to try it - she does get upset if her glasses get knocked off and she also hates anyone seeing her without her glasses -

littleredhen

custardy wrote: »

it really depends,she may be able to do her Judo without glasses
a lot of ground work is more touch and reaction than sight
different for a martial art with stand up fighting where you dodge blows
TBH i cant see anyone doing Judo with glasses,just not practical
i have done some ground work with the Judo guys and i just couldnt do it with glasses

hi - thanks for this - it has really only just become an issue - about 3 weeks ago someone fell on her and broke her glasses - because of her high prescription we get 2 pairs - then last week someone knocked them off - one of the judo teachers spoke to me last night but i had never really thought of trying her without them - i think i need to speak to her regular teacher and see where we go from here - i just don't want to knock her confidence when she already struggles a bit - she really enjoys her judo but sometimes doesn't believe in herself if you know what i mean

babyshoes

How old is she? Even quite young children can use disposable contact lenses - is it worth getting a contact lens trial? (I got one on specsavers a couple of years ago) If you get dailies just for the judo, they shouldn't work out too expensive... Even if her prescription is quite complicated, they might be able to provide a simpler one which will give her 'good enough' vision - I have both short sight and astigmatism, and the lenses for one eye are just for the short-sight to keep the costs down. My vision with them isn't as good as with glasses, but good enough for the things I need them for, ie social situations.

ailuro2

you can get prescription goggles made for martial arts, one of the shotokan karate kids uses them at our local centre. they ain't pretty, but if she's serious about her judo. It would certainly save a lot of bother getting her 'good' glasses broken...

littleredhen

babyshoes wrote: »

How old is she? Even quite young children can use disposable contact lenses - is it worth getting a contact lens trial? (I got one on specsavers a couple of years ago) If you get dailies just for the judo, they shouldn't work out too expensive... Even if her prescription is quite complicated, they might be able to provide a simpler one which will give her 'good enough' vision - I have both short sight and astigmatism, and the lenses for one eye are just for the short-sight to keep the costs down. My vision with them isn't as good as with glasses, but good enough for the things I need them for, ie social situations.

hi - thanks - she is 8 - my optician said not to consider lenses until 12 at the earliest although i know that was for everyday use - have not talked to her about just for judo

littleredhen

ailuro2 wrote: »

you can get prescription goggles made for martial arts, one of the shotokan karate kids uses them at our local centre. they ain't pretty, but if she's serious about her judo. It would certainly save a lot of bother getting her 'good' glasses broken...

hi - she does have prescription goggles for swimming as she swims competitively and can get a +8.00 prescription which is good enough but haven't seen ones for martial arts so i will look into it further - thanks