I may have mentioned this before on here, but I have dealt with concussions pretty much my whole life. This winter, I suffered my 10th concussion skiing, coming up a little short on a dub backflip. Although only four of them resulted in loss of consciousness, the effects have added up. Four months later, I still had a constant ringing in my ears. I had a difficult time remembering details. I decided to see a neurologist, something I was putting off due to fear. My neurologist told me that with my concussion history, if I have permanent ringing in my ears and some memory problems, I should consider myself lucky. This was a warning shot, and a chance to get out before I do permanent damage. He told me the story of a promising 22 year old motocross pro who had to hang it up because he couldn't get through a day without writing everything down. After making the difficult decision to quit park skiing, we discussed what I could do to try to prevent the dreaded chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), the degenerative brain disease that caused people like Junior Seau and Dave Mirra to shoot themselves impulsively. Some activities that the neurologist said have been proven to delay (or even reverse) dementia in TBI patients include: Dancing Learning a new language Juggling any new activity that is difficult. I showed him some video of kendama and asked if that would help. He said "absolutely", especially if you practice left handed. So here's to hoping Kendama can save the day! https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17957-learning-to-juggle-grows-brain-networks-for-good/
I'm glad you approached the neurologist. I hope things get better in the future for you. Here's the first challenge to look forward to:
I have talked about this at length with numerous people. When I was a child I had a tumor in my ear which spread to a portion of my brain and I always had balance problems throughout my childhood. I feel kendama has helpedy balance tremendously but I do not credit the physical motion of playing as being the cause of this but rather my brain actually refocusing itself. Take it from someone who had to learn how to walk twice in his life, Kendama is defintely good for the brain. Thanks again Kendama, great post @Cheech_Sander
From one multiple concussion homie to another, lithium can both help regulate some of the mood-swings that come with post concussive syndrome, as well as actually reversing some of the damage that PCS causes. That being said, I'm not a neurologist, so take what I say with a grain of salt. Or lithium salts, lol.
I love the idea of kendama as a therapy tool! I'm glad it can be used to help you heal. Hope to see a lefty edit or something.
In Manila I met a hard working business owner who was getting out of most of his ventures because he'd just had his second stroke, he was only 28 at the time. He said previously he'd been able to read contracts through one time and get what he needed but after the second stroke he was having trouble concentrating and remembering. I gave him a kendama and taught him the basics and after several months of use he swears it's making a difference. His mom even told me that he's swapped his triple shot espresso breakfasts with 15-20 minutes of Moshikame. The Japanese have done some tests using MRIs etc to show what kendama can do for the brain so there's definitely something to the positive effects I believe.