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I had a different experience at aikido last night. As an asthmatic, I'm used to getting winded and exhausted during a vigorous practice. But...
Last night, it was 95 degrees in the dojo, even with our new Big Ass Fan. Charlie (the dojo's sensei) had me lead warm-ups, then called me up as his uke (for those non-aikidoists out there, that means "the person who gets to be tossed around like a limp dishrag") to demonstrate the first technique. That was fine, though I noticed that gee, I was a little disoriented by those rather easy falls. We broke into groups of two to practice for a bit, and I was having some trouble staying focused, and getting up when it was my turn to be thrown was more trouble than usual. Then Charlie clapped again to show the class something else, and again called me up to be his uke. I was going through the motions, focusing mostly on just 'getting through this.' I felt exhausted (but not 'winded'), disoriented, and dizzy. Charlie stopped suddenly in mid-technique, looked at me strangely, and said "Are you all right?"
I considered (momentarily) toughing it out, but wisely shook my head. "May I be excused, Sensei?" I asked, and Charlie waved me away and called up someone else. I walked off the mat and sat down on one of the benches at the back. The dojo was spinning around me, and I felt cold and thought for a second that I might pass out. Not wanting to fall from a sitting position, I went to my knees on the floor and put my head down. About that time, Charlie and another of our students (who happens to have a goodly amount of medical training) came over quickly. They put me on my back, my legs on the bench, and someone brought ice packs from the dojo's freezer for my head and neck. A few minutes later, I was feeling more normal...
And yes, I got up about five minutes later and finished the class -- it helped that Charlie (worried, I think, about everyone else's health, too) went from throwing techniques to weapons work, which is less strenuous.
Thinking about it, I realized that the one thing that was different was that I went to the doctor a few days ago. My blood pressure has been (for years) borderline-high. This time it was somewhat higher, and the doc had me start on blood pressure medication. I mentioned that to our medical aikiodoist, and he nodded. According to him, when you're new to blood pressure medication, you can experience "positional hypotension" -- when you suddenly sit up from laying down, and change position rapidly, the blood flow to the heart changes and blood pressure can crash, causing dizziness or even fainting. Exercising hard in heat exacerbates the effect.
That would appear to be a good explanation for what happened: I was being thrown down, getting up, and being tossed down again in 90+ heat. Makes sense to me.
The good news is that the body usually gets used to dealing with the new medication and figures out how to deal with it. Usually. I was told that if this continues, I should consult with my doc again and try a different medication.
But -- all in all, an interesting experience, and not one I care to repeat, frankly.
Last night, it was 95 degrees in the dojo, even with our new Big Ass Fan. Charlie (the dojo's sensei) had me lead warm-ups, then called me up as his uke (for those non-aikidoists out there, that means "the person who gets to be tossed around like a limp dishrag") to demonstrate the first technique. That was fine, though I noticed that gee, I was a little disoriented by those rather easy falls. We broke into groups of two to practice for a bit, and I was having some trouble staying focused, and getting up when it was my turn to be thrown was more trouble than usual. Then Charlie clapped again to show the class something else, and again called me up to be his uke. I was going through the motions, focusing mostly on just 'getting through this.' I felt exhausted (but not 'winded'), disoriented, and dizzy. Charlie stopped suddenly in mid-technique, looked at me strangely, and said "Are you all right?"
I considered (momentarily) toughing it out, but wisely shook my head. "May I be excused, Sensei?" I asked, and Charlie waved me away and called up someone else. I walked off the mat and sat down on one of the benches at the back. The dojo was spinning around me, and I felt cold and thought for a second that I might pass out. Not wanting to fall from a sitting position, I went to my knees on the floor and put my head down. About that time, Charlie and another of our students (who happens to have a goodly amount of medical training) came over quickly. They put me on my back, my legs on the bench, and someone brought ice packs from the dojo's freezer for my head and neck. A few minutes later, I was feeling more normal...
And yes, I got up about five minutes later and finished the class -- it helped that Charlie (worried, I think, about everyone else's health, too) went from throwing techniques to weapons work, which is less strenuous.
Thinking about it, I realized that the one thing that was different was that I went to the doctor a few days ago. My blood pressure has been (for years) borderline-high. This time it was somewhat higher, and the doc had me start on blood pressure medication. I mentioned that to our medical aikiodoist, and he nodded. According to him, when you're new to blood pressure medication, you can experience "positional hypotension" -- when you suddenly sit up from laying down, and change position rapidly, the blood flow to the heart changes and blood pressure can crash, causing dizziness or even fainting. Exercising hard in heat exacerbates the effect.
That would appear to be a good explanation for what happened: I was being thrown down, getting up, and being tossed down again in 90+ heat. Makes sense to me.
The good news is that the body usually gets used to dealing with the new medication and figures out how to deal with it. Usually. I was told that if this continues, I should consult with my doc again and try a different medication.
But -- all in all, an interesting experience, and not one I care to repeat, frankly.