#188: Touch, confidence and blindness - Takashi
Martial Attitude Training and my MSc in Applied Sport Psychology research are happening! And they are introduced and complemented by a new series of short podcasts exploring how touch, exercise, and confidence are perceived in the visually impaired and blind community. The first guest is Takashi, a professional viola player based in London. He explains to us how there is a good and bad way to touch and be touched.
Would you like to participate too? Please keep reading, then.
I am very grateful and happy to share that our funding application through National Lottery was successful! We will soon deliver a series of workshops to visually impaired/blind people, possibly in February-March 2024.
As MSc in Applied Sport Psychology student at St. Mary's University, Twickenham, my research will be a great opportunity to combine valuable research contributing to the scarce literature on the topic, and the application on the field of a significant and impactful work empowering the visual impaired community. It would be then possible to measure pre/post intervention for perceived psychological/physical well-being and confidence on top of important demographic aspects such as age and level of visual impairment, across participants. Also, interviews will be taken, and videos recorded.
Imagine if you were visually impaired or blind. How is sight loss affecting your movements, posture, and your attitude towards a healthy lifestyle and other people? Is it possible to develop a training method enhanced by a solid sport psychological approach specifically tailored for visually impaired and blind people?
My experience as a Sport & Remedial Massage Therapist led me to observe that visually impaired and blind people, usually suffering of overall poor posture, need specific support when addressing any kind of exercise and manual therapy as they lack full proprioception and are often live a sedentary life, aggravated by different degrees of anxiety, and depression.
Combining some of the close-up techniques and tactile teaching methods derived from Kung Fu Wing Chun, that I train and teach, I have found that visually impaired and blind people can also increase their confidence and self-efficacy in controlling their immediate surroundings when in a new environment or in contact with strangers.
A notable client registered as blind that I have been working with for over two years is Peter Sands, Chairman of the London Sports Club for the Blind, provided the following reference: “The training has personally helped me to feel confident in crowded situations, be aware of my posture alignments and overall has improved my balance.” Pre-pandemic, Peter and I have also recorded a presentation of the work done together, which you can watch clicking HERE
Building onto these observations, I created Martial Attitude C.I.C., I qualified as Gym Instructor, and I undertook biomechanics for all three years during my undergraduate at Roehampton University to gain the psychological/biomechanical foundations and to learn about the different methodological approaches that could be integrated in Martial Attitude training for visually impaired and blind people.
If you are visually impaired or blind, or if you know someone who is, and would like to take part to the series of Martial Attitude Voice podcast interviews exploring touch, confidence and visual impairment or if you would like to join in the upcoming Martial Attitude Training workshop early next year, please do keep in touch, via Instagram or according to your communication preferences, all available in the Instagram link in bio.
Sincerely,
Mathias Alberton
Creator and Director at Martial Attitude C.I.C.
MSc in Applied Sport Psychology Student at St. Mary's University, Twickenham, London, UK.