Judo and Amputees
Normally you don’t be aware that people next to you have a disability, but there are a lot of people that by accident or illness lose a part of there body. It’s also not always visible because in the treatment of the revalidation process in west-Europe substantial artificial limbs will be profited to the patient.
Likewise the amputation in the most cases is not visible in daily life. In the most sports however is it common that the athlete sport without prostheses. Mostly is this in the disadvantage of the amputated athlete, in certain sports are the prostheses are so devel-oped or the rules so adjusted that the amputated athlete is in the advantage towards able body people.
The fastest man without legs
Oscar Pistorius smiles whenever he is introduced as "the fastest man on no legs" even though some might be offended by the somewhat politically incorrect sobriquet.
For Pistorius, a talented sprinter who had both his legs amputated when he was a baby, it is just an indication of how far he has come – and how much more he could achieve.
In a groundbreaking race next weekend in Sheffield, 20-year-old Pistorius will take on the current Olympic champion. Not as some freak show or demonstration race – but because for the first time in history, a disabled runner has earned his place among the world's elite on merit. "Already a Paralympic champion and world-record holder in amputee races over 100m, 200m and 400m, Pistorius is now achieving something revolutionary.
With aid of high-tech carbon-fibre legs, he is almost as fast as the best able-bodied run-ners in the world. While he could well set yet another world record for amputee athletes next week, that is no longer his goal. Nothing short of qualifying for the Beijing Olympics next year will satisfy him. But his case could divide the sport. While many see him as a groundbreaking hero, redefining the very concept of athletic achievement, others claim his artificial legs amount to cheating. Pistorius himself can't see what all the fuss is about be-cause he considers himself as just another athlete. "I'm not disabled," he says breezily. "I just don't have any legs." If this sounds like a story straight out of Hollywood, it will come as no surprise to learn that Tom Hanks is bidding to make a film about Pistorius, nick-named the Bladerunner because of the carbon-fibre blades he attaches just below the knee.
But if this story has a hero, it needs villains, too – which is where the officials of the Inter-national Association of Athletics Federations come in.
Earlier this year the ruling body introduced a ban on technical aids, although it claimed the move was not specifically aimed at Pistorius.
There is concern that the South African's prosthetic limbs might give him an unfair advan-tage, under pressure, the IAAF recently refined its position
Ali Jawad
In 2004 we were visitors at the Judo4all festival in the city of Koper in Slovenia. The judo4all festival is organized once a year in alternating countries. That year it was organ-ized by the Judo Federation Slovenia. It was a good and attractively organized event.
I like observing judokas and there I saw a judoka without legs who did judo on the floor: Ne-waza. His legs were amputated just below the knee. He had two stumps he used to push himself up. Moreover he was a broad, strong and well-muscled young man. He was placed in category 5 for some reason there is a misunderstanding by coaches, that only level 5 can compeet in Ne-waza . There he bowled everyone over. It was moving to see how carefully he handled his opponents. Because Tycho and I were supporting the poule divisions we put Ali, as he was called, in the most diffi-cult category, nr 1. He had to fight 5 difficult opponents. Those were obliged, according to the rules, to do judo on their knees. In the beginning no one paid attention, but gradually people began to notice that the matches on tatami nr. 1 were very exciting. There a boy was settling up with illustrious G-judokas in an unknown fashion. He was jumping about on his two stumps like Mohammed Ali in his better days, and as fast as Carl Lewis. When he got hold of an opponent they could not free themselves. Strong as an ox, quick and technical insight as well. The other judokas had a difficult time of it. It was one of those poules judo4all is all in favour of: judokas with various restrictions doing judo together. In this poule there were a visually impaired judoka, a mentally restricted judoka, a judoka with Down Syndrome, two judokas with CD or brain paralysis and a judoka with Asperger Syndrome. This competition was very exciting. Soon the tatami was surrounded by people cheering them on. Come on Ali! Ali won match after match. Until he came to fight Jasper Duinisveld. He had observed Ali really well. After two minutes of an equal match Jasper took hold of Ali over his back with two hands on his chest and threw him over himself. Ippon. Sutemi-Waza is allowed in a Ne-Waza match. So Ali ended up in second position instead of first. It was the first but also the last time I met Ali. And I do understand this. Ali also did power lifting and that has Olympic status. Judo has not, or at least not in his cate-gory , so he chose for power lifting and gets good results.
For me he has proven that Ne-waza judokas can be in one poule with Tachi-waza ju-dokas. In every discussion I have had on this subject a film of a match between him and Edward Bossinga was my trump card. Extremely exciting. It soon shut up every objector.
Reasons for amputation may be:
Reasons for amputation may be:
• accidents like traffic accidents, bomb explosions, industrial
accidents.
• after sever damage when recovery is not possible a body part may
have to be removed.
• in case of fast spreading infections such as gas gangrene it may
be necessary to remove a body part in order to save the patient’s
life.
• Amputation may be necessary in case of malignant tumours which
can form metastases.
• after closing off of blood vessels which can cause necrosis;
atherosclerosis, diabetes.
• when a body part becomes crushed through car accidents or
earthquakes and can not be released in time.
• as a punishment the amputation of for instance a hand can be
executed. This can happen in Islamic countries where sharia law
is enforced.
• criminal violence.
• as a result of serious burns where body parts are badly damaged.
• after poisonous bites necrotic sores can develop. A bite in a
finger can lead to the amputation of this finger or the whole hand.
Consequences.
Amputation is always a serious trauma for the amputee, not just physical but psy-chological as well. Besides the loss of the functions of the body part amputation is usually visible and can cause strong emotions in other people. But also non-visible amputations cause the victim to mourn heavily and protractedly.
Phantom pains.
Many people who have lost a limb feel as though the missing limb is still attached; they can experience itching or pain in a foot that is not there anymore. This is called phantom pain.
Treatment.
When a body part has been amputated a prosthesis can usually take over part of the function of the missing limb. A prosthesis can only approximate the functionality of the body part.
Sports.
Depending on the sport an athlete with an amputation can do
• regular sports
• adapted sports with devices like prosthesis or wheelchair
• adapted sports without devices.
According to the rules for judo an athlete can do adapted judo without devices de-pending on his remaining possibilities. Occasionally we come across judokas with amputations below the knee. In the whole of Western Europe I only know of two, the Dutch Corrie Boon being one of them. She achieved the black belt and then….. she stopped because for her there was no challenge in it anymore.
