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I was just diagnosed and consider myself lucky. My symptoms are not super bad. Just leg numbness, balance issues, and loss of some coordination.

I was wondering if anyone here practices martial arts and what they might recommend.
I started a year ago, and intend to continue.

I am finding that the constant work on spinning kicking, and 3 plane movement has helped.

Why not continue to do any and every activity you enjoy until you are unable to comfortably or effectively or safely? Ultimately, you will know when that time is.

I have no intention of stopping.

Where do you train? How long have you been training for? What type of martial arts are you studying? What level are you at? About 15 years ago I was just a few months away from getting my Black Belt after about 3 years of training and I tore my ACL during a performance on our demo team and that kind of ended my karate career.

I train in a town near where I live in Central Maine.
Shotokan with JJJ and Judo blended in.
I have only been training about 1 year.
Yellow Belt working on blue.

MSKarateka wrote:I train in a town near where I live in Central Maine.

Living in Central Maine, you are very probably deficient in vitamin D.

If you have not had the vitamin D blood test called "25-hydroxy D," it would be a good idea (in my opinion) for you to ask your GP to order it for you. Also, request your own copy of the test results so that you have the actual numbers.

lyndacarol wrote:

MSKarateka wrote:I train in a town near where I live in Central Maine.

Living in Central Maine, you are very probably deficient in vitamin D.

If you have not had the vitamin D blood test called "25-hydroxy D," it would be a good idea (in my opinion) for you to ask your GP to order it for you. Also, request your own copy of the test results so that you have the actual numbers.

That was a test she ordered. I came back deficient and have already started Vitamin B Complex, Fish Oil 3 6 9, and Vitamin D.

BJJ- There is no way I could remain vertical if I removed one of my feet from the ground in an effort to kick anything above knee height. The thing that gets me is the heat, grappling with someone while wearing a GI can drive the temp up fast.

Boudreaux wrote:BJJ- There is no way I could remain vertical if I removed one of my feet from the ground in an effort to kick anything above knee height. The thing that gets me is the heat, grappling with someone while wearing a GI can drive the temp up fast.

I agree with you on the sweating. I sweat like a pig and my gi is usually drenched. It feels good.

I did take an introductory BJJ class once. We were on a trip the NYC and I wanted to try something that I did not have access to.
If I could I would do Karate class and BJJ.

Hi MSKarateka, great to see that you are still getting after it without hesitation.

To give you some context, I'm a physical therapist assistant who coincidentally has practiced some martial arts, so I would love to weigh in on this. If you are mild enough in your balance deficits to entertain the kicking/spinning martial arts without KO-ing yourself, then do it!

If you just want to try something else, however, or for anyone else reading this who has greater balance deficits, I highly recommend Ving Tsun (or Wing Chun). If you're not familiar, it is a Martial Art form that is very fist-strike heavy (70/30 punching to kicking ratio). Another great thing about Wing Chun for MS patients is that the "chain punch" (look it up!) fundamental to this art is a rapidly alternating movement that addresses an MS symptom that also happens to be my favorite medical term - dysdiadochokinesia. Which means, yep you guessed it, difficulty with alternating movements.

At any rate, it's a beautiful martial art form like the rest of them. It's super cool that you are practicing martial arts and I hope you continue. Best wishes,

Tim

KyrieTimo wrote:Hi MSKarateka, great to see that you are still getting after it without hesitation.

To give you some context, I'm a physical therapist assistant who coincidentally has practiced some martial arts, so I would love to weigh in on this. If you are mild enough in your balance deficits to entertain the kicking/spinning martial arts without KO-ing yourself, then do it!

If you just want to try something else, however, or for anyone else reading this who has greater balance deficits, I highly recommend Ving Tsun (or Wing Chun). If you're not familiar, it is a Martial Art form that is very fist-strike heavy (70/30 punching to kicking ratio). Another great thing about Wing Chun for MS patients is that the "chain punch" (look it up!) fundamental to this art is a rapidly alternating movement that addresses an MS symptom that also happens to be my favorite medical term - dysdiadochokinesia. Which means, yep you guessed it, difficulty with alternating movements.

At any rate, it's a beautiful martial art form like the rest of them. It's super cool that you are practicing martial arts and I hope you continue. Best wishes,

Tim

Thanks for the input. I am somewhat familiar with Wing Chun although I have never practiced. Unfortunately, it is not an art available to me. I have actually been experimenting with the chain punch and ghost kick to augment my karate. I even sneak the ghost in during sparring once in a while. I was not aware of dysdiadochokinesia, so I will experiment more.