This could be a serious problem

[Groucho]

First post too...

So the doctor sends me in for an ultrasound after finding protein in my urine...we both thought it was likely a kidney stone.

In fact, it turns out that I may well be missing my right kidney altogether. THAT was a weird afternoon, let me assure you...

The short list of things to NOT do when you have a solitary kidney is pretty much exactly how I've lived my life so far, but I will finally apply some common sense...

The catch is this...after about 5 years off any real training (IT jobs...) I've just started serious training again, and my sensei is training me in both Kyokushinkai (I'm shodan) and Ashihara, which was the style I was looking for when I got involved in KK in the first place...

both the doc and sensei are supportive of me continuing, but are adament that some padding be used over my kidney...I'm thinking of the rib pads for North American Football and REALLY working on getting my blocks lightning quick...

Any other ideas?

[Bloke]

Groucho

Just about to leave work when I came across this post. Stunned is how I would describe my reaction. Can you elaborate on the missing kidney (I know it wont alter the problem or the solution but I'd like to know none the less) if you dont mind?

As to what you can do well that depends on whether or not you compete. If not then I am sure your Sensei will have no problem asllowing you to wear some kind of protection. But you may have issues in tournaments.

Hell of a first post by the way

[Groucho]

Yeah...I like to start off with a bang...

The condition's full medical name is unilateral renal agenesis, meaning the one kidney never developed, and the one I have has grown to handle the extra work, but is, understandibly, under a little stress...

Never had both kidneys, never will...no biggie, though, there are no real threats to health or longevity posed by the condition...we can all get by just fine with the one kidney...

As soon as I told sensei, he assured me he'd never allow me to fight in a tournament ("No more fighting for you...only kumite."...only makes sense in the Kyokushin realms...), and he's wondering about training to switch my stance to southpaw...which just feels weird...

Personally, I'm just looking for suggestions that the 3 of us (me, sensei, doc) might have overlooked...

Thanks for the kind words, btw...

[ibuki]

Groucho,
firstly welcome here. You said you are a shodan...how did you manage to get it with this kind of handicap? One of my friends has your problem. He was training everything but Kumite. When it was time for Kumite he went to weightlift. Now he gave up Kyokushin because he didn't find it profitable since there was no kumite...he is a lazy man actually. He said that he was going to start Judo but never done it.
Anyway just wondering are you born with this handicap because my friend was born with it
And once again - How did you manage to get your shodan...is it in Kyokushin?

[Groucho]

I just found out about it last week...basically, if you never get an injury or anything that requires and abdominal ultrasound or surgery on that side, you can go your whole life not knowing...as I said, you can lead a perfectly normal/healthy life with just the one kidney...and seeing as I don't remember waking up in a strange hotel room in a bath-tub full of ice, it's likely I was born without that kidney...

So I trained Kyokushin the same as anyone else would, fought tournaments, passed the full exam for shodan, went on to train Muay Thai in Thailand, 4 fights there...and this after playing football for 14 seasons...

Funny thing is, the ultrasound made no mention of the horse-shoe I obviously have up my butt...

[Fire!]

Do you have a family to support? then I think you should care about your health more.
All the best to you sempai osu.

[Groucho]

Fire!

make no mistake, if anything got in the way of supporting my wife and daughter, I'd drop it like a hot rock

My wife knows how big a part of me karate is, and she's cool with my desire to press on...

and karate is the only contact activity I'll be hanging onto...have already quit rugby, and won't be signing up for the company hockey team next season...and the motorcycle is being sold at summer's end :sad:

the rest of my family thinks I was nuts for taking up Kyokushin in the first place, except for dad, who just said 'be careful'...so the familial support is what it's always been

[Bloke]

Groucho

First off can I just applaud your attitude in handling what must have been a very difficult piece of news to hear. Secondly I know what you mean about what your Sensei said about tournaments versus sparring (no tournaments for you, however you are free to have someone knock lumps ot of you in the dojo - Sometimes when I sit back and think about what we do I can understand better the funny looks people give me!)

As for working southpaw thats not a bad idea. When I started traing it was always orthodox. As I progressed I started to try and work toe to toe with people (ie if they had left foot forward I had the right). I found that people had trouble dealing with this as most peole like to fight in the same stance as their opponent. Now I find I just switch stance throughout the fight and I find this helps me working better laterally - maybe give that a go.

I wish I had a better answer but thsi is the first time I have heard such a question posed. Good luck with your continued training.

Osu

[Groucho]

Bloke

I hear you about switching stance..it does mess things up for the opponent, and the switch to Ashihara will open more opportunity to fight out of switched stances, so it might well be the way to go...if sensei leaves it up to me, that is

my real hesitation there is that I switch from exposing my one, soon-to-be-padded kidney to leading with my unpadded liver exposed...and having taken some stiff shots there, I'm none too wild about that idea

but switching throughout the fight...there's an idea

Thanks for that answer, it's given me some ideas to work with

Osu

[kakatootoshi]

Dear Groucho,
I am not a medical expert but I have heard that drinking more water and having a low-salt diet will be beneficial to the kidneys and I am sure your doctor must have told you the same already.
It is good that you are pointing out about the exposure of the liver to your opponent. As a matter of fact, liver attack is a very important winning strategy in kyokushin fighting. Lechi Kurbanov is a living example for this. I agree with your sensei that tournament fighting should be avoided in your case. But if you insist in continuing your kumite training in the dojo and have a full understanding of all consquences, that I would suggest your to protect your kidney at all costs. And in that case a southpaw stance seems to be a better option. To be able to excel in kyokushin with a southpaw stance a very good left leg is important. Andy Hug and Tsukamoto Norichika should be good examples for you.

OSU!

[Groucho]

kakatootoshi

funny you should mention Andy Hug...as I was living and training in Japan at the time he won the K1 Grand Prix (I was at that final, as a matter of fact...) Hug has always been sort of an idol/hero to me and at different times I've tried to emulate his fighting style...

right now, I'm working on mastering the intricacies of Ashihara's footwork, and hopefully that will help reduce the exposure of the kidney somewhat

thanks for the diet suggestions, they're right in line with what the doctor told me...apparently the specialist is going to be recommending less than 200 mg of sodium a day, as well as minimal caffeine intake :sad: