Hi there, i'm 34 years old and just had a pacemaker inserted at the beginning of June. Its another familiar post here as i love karate and was hoping to sit my black belt grading in November. Unfortunately Doc says no more sparring incase it gets broken. Anyone else do Karate ?

 

 

I don't do karate so I'm not familiar with exactly what happens during sparring, but your doc sounds overly cautious to me. You aren't going to break it, it's a chunk of titanium! A strong direct kick would hurt and I suppose it could conceivably knock the leads out but I'd think the odds of that would be pretty slim.

I usually direct my activity questions to the technician that checks the battery/adjusts the settings rather than the doctor. All he deals with all day long is pacers just like mine so he has better practical advice. I know I'm the only young and otherwise completely healthy pacer patient my doctor has so most of my questions are ones he's never had before and his answers tend to be overly conservative simply because no one has asked the question before.

 

The main worry would be to take a direct hit and damage a wire, the pm itself is a pretty tough piece of kit.. Is there any body protection that you can wear to protect the area? I know it is hard to give up something that you love, just be cautious and take care.
regards Chrissie

 

Congrats on being ready to test for black belt! That's a huge accomplishment!

I'm 33 and I studied for karate for 3 years. I ended up stopping a year or two before I got my pacemaker when I moved away from my dojo, but I'd made it to 3rd kyu, just before brown belt.

I miss it terribly, but I know I could never do full-contact sparring again. It hurts when my cats accidentally walk over my pacemaker - I can't *imagine* the pain that would come from a direct punch! (And given where my unit is located, I would have gotten hit there all the time during sparring... Your mileage may vary, of course.) Having observed some black belt tests, well, all I can say is "no thank you" to the idea of doing that with a pacemaker now.

It's true that you probably won't damage the pacemaker unit itself, but the leads are another matter entirely; they're considerably more fragile and can be susceptible to fracturing. Given how hard some of the punches and kicks can be, even during a controlled sparring session, I personally wouldn't want to risk it, but that's me. You may decide otherwise - just be sure you understand the risks and potential consequences if something goes wrong. :(

Good luck with your decision, and congrats again on being ready to present for black belt!

-Stephanie

 

thanks to everyone who has posted a reply here. my instructor says he can speak to the panel before the grading to explain the situation however he is reluctant to put me forward for it this year now. I can understand where he's coming from as i dont like pain and wouldnt want any of the leads being broken and having to go through that again so soon. I'll keep up the training but give the sparring a miss until i get some kind of body armour. if it proves too difficult then thats it i guess.