One-eyed beginner

[Eyeofhorus]

Hi
I wear a glass eye on my left side, and see only with my right, so my field of vision is narrower than normal. I am right handed.
I'm thinking of taking up a martial art to improve my spatial awareness, build up my confidence and gain basic self-defensive skills.

I've no idea where to start - there are so many disciplines out there, and I'm totally new to this kind of sport.

Thoughts and suggestions welcome.
Thanks a lot

Vince

 

[Tony Dismukes]

Hi Vince. Welcome to MartialTalk!

One of our senior members here has a glass eye, so he'll probably be along in a bit to give some specific advice on how it might affect your training.

That said, you should probably take the same approach to picking an art and a school that we would recommend to anybody. Make a list of the martial arts schools in your vicinity, visit as many as possible and decide which one feels like an attractive training environment for you that also fits your schedule and your budget.

If you post the websites of any particular schools you are interested in, then the members here might be able to offer some feedback on whether we see any red flags.

There are a fair number of threads here that contain advice for newbies starting out in the martial arts. I recommend you do some reading and post if you have any specific questions.

 

[jks9199]

Hi
I wear a glass eye on my left side, and see only with my right, so my field of vision is narrower than normal. I am right handed.
I'm thinking of taking up a martial art to improve my spatial awareness, build up my confidence and gain basic self-defensive skills.

I've no idea where to start - there are so many disciplines out there, and I'm totally new to this kind of sport.

Thoughts and suggestions welcome.
Thanks a lot

Vince

I think I recall someone mentioning having a similar problem... Maybe they'll chime in?

 

[Dirty Dog]

That would be me...

The art doesn't matter. Go visit all the schools in your area. Try a class or two. See what "fits" best.

Make sure your instructors are aware of your eye. I've always modified stances slightly to compensate. For example, if I'm in a perfect back stance with the left foot forward, I won't actually be able to see my opponent. Neither will you. So I shift the left foot slightly out of the "ideal" position and rotate the torso slightly more than the norm.

You're going to find that your eye makes very little difference.

One thing though... when you do any sort of spinning technique, you need to squint that left eye closed. Otherwise the centripetal force can cause the prosthesis to go flying. While that might distract your opponent, it can also damage an expensive prosthesis.

 

[Touch Of Death]

The truth is, we are all one eyed fighters, and the weaker eye gives us the 3-D stuff. So, we should all turn our dominant eye toward what we are doing. The issue is, the eye you have, may not match your hand dominance. (I did it for years and years), and it is best if you let that eye lead you and not your natural dominance.

 

[GiYu - Todd]

Other than restricted field of vision and depth perception issues, you should be as capable as anyone else. Many of us have some sort of physical limitation, and just have to learn to work around or overcome it.
Just let the instructors you talk with know, and see what they say. Most should be comfortable with whatever minor adjustments to technique you'll need to make.
Good luck to you. Let us know how you do.