What if martial arts helped recovery after a stroke? This is the idea defended by a judoka. He works at the Fleyriat Hospital in Bourg-en-Bresse. For him, patients reconnect little by little to their body thanks to simple gestures and the practice of “Taïso”.
On the tatami, the session begins with the essential bow, bowed bust. The students run. “It’s a mark of respect and it’s a way of saying hello to Japan”, explains Pierre Neyra.
The latter is a technical advisor in Judo. His public of the day is a bit out of the ordinary. They are not students, but patients in rehabilitation at the Fleyriat hospital in Bourg-en-Bresse. All have worn the appropriate white kimono with a red belt.
Particularity of these practitioners, they have all been victims of a stroke or serious neurological disorders. Pierre introduces them to Taïso, literally “body preparation”, in Japanese. In the martial arts, it is the preliminary preparation of the athletes. At Fleyriat Hospital, discipline has become synonymous with preparing for a new life.
“It allows me to become aware of the body and to feel it better, to start to feel the movements. Until now, I did not feel too much, the body was not too sensitive. There, I try to make a little more effort”, explains Olivier, a former athlete. This patient is enthusiastic about the Taïso. “It allows you to work without it being too painful”.
These judokas of the day work in pairs, supervised by Pierre Neyra and Inès Dradri, teacher in Adapted Physical Activity. Many exercises are practiced in pairs, “for support”according to Pierre Neyra.
Discipline is fun. Movements are smooth. We are looking for balance in particular, muscle strengthening, flexibility. Practitioners work particularly “everything that is balance and imbalance”. Pierre Neyra summarizes: “Judo uses these principles to bring down (the opponent). We use them to be able to work the lower and upper muscles. And above all, to work on the fall”.
Walking along a line, on soft carpets, doing flexions, working on support and movement… All the physical exercises and stimulation exercises contribute to improving the control of gestures. For patients, the benefit is indisputable.
“Week after week, we really see the benefits it brings them. And the patients also see the benefits in their daily lives. They are more confident, they are less afraid of falling because they know they will be able to to get up, to catch up without getting hurt”, assures Inès Dradri. “It affects a lot of things: balance, cognitive, sensory. There are many facets in this activity”, summarizes the nurse.
“Swingers”
It is a long-term job, but the patients also gradually find a smile despite the efforts: “we work hard, hard so that we find ourselves more or less plumb, less dented”, assures another patient, operated on for a tumor. “Some time ago, I was a little scared, but now I’m super happy. It requires a lot of concentration, I have balance problems. But it’s rewarding, I would never have done that before”, she adds.
And Pierre Neyra does not hide his admiration for these patients. “It’s a pleasure to work with them. They work a lot. Some have never played sports or practiced martial arts. We really have very courageous people. They want to succeed, they want to find the function of a hand or a leg. It can also be psychological, some have been affected in the brain. They are fighters. An impression shared by Inès Dradri : “we are sometimes impressed by what they are capable of doing”.
Each patient knows their own path to recovery. Sometimes very long. The Taïso offers above all a reconnection to his body.
2023-05-23 10:13:01
#brave #people #fighters #martial #arts #Taïso #stroke #patients
