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Ian H
Ian H's picture
A laugh and a lesson ... blindfold boxing.

I saw this the other day on someone's Facebook page, and had a mild laugh.  It looks like a lark.  But when I look closer and with more intent, I notice what the two contestants do ... or rather, what they DON'T do ... when they finally make contact with the other one.  They don't use their non-striking hand to maintain contact with ... locate, control ... their opponent.  

I suppose fighting blindfolded is no different, really, than fighting in the dark, or fighting when you have a face full of sand or scotch (depending whether you get ambushed at the beach of the bar).

Kevin73
Kevin73's picture

I believe it is that exact reason why some katas like Kusanku (as taught by Chotoku Kyan) used many of the moves for nightfighting.  There is alot of "searching hands" and techniques to distract and/or locate the attacker.

Quick2Kick
Quick2Kick's picture

When I train bjj I frequently close my eyes against lower ranks. I find it helps me feel when there balance is wrong and makes me focus on technique instead of brute strength.

Iain Abernethy
Iain Abernethy's picture

Ian H wrote:
They don't use their non-striking hand to maintain contact with ... locate, control ... their opponent. 

I suppose fighting blindfolded is no different, really, than fighting in the dark, or fighting when you have a face full of sand or scotch (depending whether you get ambushed at the beach of the bar).

To be fair, I think this is more of a testosterone (and alcohol?) fuelled lark than legitimate demonstration of how to do it ;-) I get your point though.

I’d go one further and say that being able to feel what is happening is a vital part of close-range combat generally. Feeling is quicker than seeing, it helps locate targets in the chaos of conflict and Motobu was definitely right when he said we should never have a dead hand. This old video explains this a little further:

Kevin73 wrote:
I believe it is that exact reason why some katas like Kusanku (as taught by Chotoku Kyan) used many of the moves for nightfighting.  There is a lot of "searching hands" and techniques to distract and/or locate the attacker.

I’d agree that kata definitely has loads of techniques that utilise proprioception for the reasons discussed above. When teaching a new group, the kata’s utilisation of proprioception to locate targets is normally the first thing I teach. I don’t buy the “night-fighting” myth though.

I’ve heard the following part of kata explained as night-fighting:

Drop in Kushanku: Falling to the floor so the enemy can’t find you!

Jump is Kanku-Sho / Unsu: Moving in totally unexpected way so the enemy has no idea of which way to grope through the darkness for you!!

Shuto-Uke (Knife-Hands) at the end of Passai / Bassai-Dai: You are not looking on the penultimate one because you can’t see them anyway because it’s dark!!! (No explanation of how to block a punch you can’t even see though).

I don’t buy any of that and would suggest that the following are much more logical and practical explanations that have nothing “ninja-esque” about them:

Drop in Kushanku (from 3:10)

Jump in Kanku-Sho / Unsu

Shuto-Uke (Knife-Hands) at the end of Passai / Bassai-Dai

The above work and there’s not a ninja in sight (is that because they are hidden? ;-)) #1

Quick2Kick wrote:
When I train bjj I frequently close my eyes against lower ranks. I find it helps me feel when there balance is wrong and makes me focus on technique instead of brute strength.

That’s a good way to train. During my time in Judo I trained with and fought against people on the British Visually Impaired Judo Team. You start from a neutral grip – as the rules of V.I. Judo dictate for obvious reasons – and then it’s pretty much just the same as doing Judo with anyone else. The role of vision in close-range combat is much smaller than the role of proprioception / tactile awareness.

Back to the video that inspired this thread!

Many years ago we set up a similar thing I the dojo … as an April Fool :-) We had people grappling and with their eyes shut (as a useful drill … and a set up to the prank). We then took two of the class – who we knew had a good sense of humour and would enjoy the joke – and told them that they were going to spar with strikes at a distance while blindfolded. They questioned this, but we told them they would be fine and once contact was made would be able to work out what was going on. What they did not know was that they were facing in other directions at opposite ends of the room! Calls of “Whoa! No groin kicks!” etc made from some funny responses. Oh how they laughed when the blindfolds came off ;-)

This is a similar prank … that I may well try on another April fool.

All the best,

Iain

#1 – That line remained me of this very funny video: