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When sweat gets into eyes

by Olga
(Ukraine)

If we train hard sometimes it happens that sweat gets into eyes and it stings. When we have jigeiko series without resting that is the most actual.

And my problem is that in some cases I can't even open my eyes because of a sting. Then I just can half-open eyes for a very short time to see where the opponent actually is. Several times I even had to stop fighting because I wasn't able to open my eyes. :( Just like a cut onion is very close to eyes. A lot of eye water.

This doesn't happen every time, but when jigeiko lasts quite long without resting it happens.

I don't like stopping to have a rest, so this solution is not very good for me. Do you know any other solution for that problem?

Kendo-Guide.Com: Good one. Some people have a stick ready in their tare name (a bag with your name on your tare. I am sure people use a different name).  They used it when they want to scratch. You can get something like that but with a flat end so you can wipe your sweat.

I had this problem as well especially in summer. At the beginning of every summer when I started getting sweat, my eyes were burning because of sweat.  Eventually I got used to it so I was fine for the rest of the summer.

Hope someone else can give you a better solution.

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When sweat gets into eyes

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Jan 04, 2010
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Very good question!
by: philipp


Actually, this happened to me many times, too.

I think it has something to do with the tenugui.

Of course, hair wax can also be crucial.  I remember I was using tea tree oil hair wax, and when I started to sweat, you can imagine how it burned in my eyes.
However, my sensei in Japan had another method to get rid of the sweat: he would use Japanese o-hashi (chopsticks), to rub the sweat out off the eyes, and he didn't need to take his men off.    

However, if your dojo is crowed and people are doing jigeiko around you, this can be very dangerous.  

I tried it myself, and it worked very well.  

Kendo-Guide.Com: Thanks for the post.  I remember some people had some kind of stick ready in their tare bag.  I used to use my tsuba to get sweat around my eyes.    

However, I do not recommend this when you are doing jigeiko with a sensei.  It does not look elegant and also not very polite to stop jigeiko and wipe your sweat with a stick.

Oct 20, 2009
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Tenugui fix
by: Anonymous

Try your tenugui lower on your forehead to prevent sweat dripping into your eyes.

Kendo-Guide.Com: Thank you for your comment. That is an option, too.

Oct 19, 2009
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Sweet Sweat)))))))))
by: Val Serezhkin

I am not sure as I am not physiologist ;-)
I have noted that sweat burnt my eyes in two cases:

1.  I was very tired and exhausted even before keiko, I mean before the entire class not only jigeiko (lack of sleep, light fever and so on). As I read in medical magazines, sweating is one of the ways our body gets rid of the toxins.  Maybe they are responsible for burning our eyes as an acid.

2.  Hair-wax, style-gel and perfume. Sometimes one of those "friends of beauty" mixed up with sweat cause an eye irritation.

P.S.  And better way to reduce the irritation is to take your men off and wash the face than playing blind Zat?ichi ;-).

Hope this helps.

Kendo-Guide.Com: Yup. These hair products. I forgot about them. I am not sure about the effect of women makeup. That may burn your eyes when sweat? If so, it may be a good idea to find some kind of sporty makeup.  Since I don't wear makeup, I am not sure about these but just trying to throw an idea.

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