blind fighters

I have done Judo for 14 years and I have fought a blind man called Ian and he was amazing, one of the best fighters that I have ever fought. Why do you think that this is?

 

I also had a similar experience in aikido. The lady is blind and I was very concerned about training with her. She told me not to worry about it and when I attacked (she didn't know what I was throwing at her either) she was able to toss me around like a rag doll. Probably the most impressive aikidoka I have ever met.

 

In close grappling styles, lack of eyesight is apparently not that much of a hindrance for excellence. I've heard several stories of very good blind wrestlers/judoka/Bjjers.
Another story told to me by a BJJ instructor was a guy with only one arm who fought in tourneys in Brazil at black belt level and nearly managed to win the whole thing. THAT'S impressive!

 

Ah yes, we should never forget what "longstreet" taught us.

 

You know what people say, when you lose one sense, the rest get boosted, i am a prime example of that, i only got blinded in one eye, but heck i was shockd when my sense of smell improved greatly, and my sense of hearing, i had this lad at college tesing me on my left side, which was completely a blind spot for me, now i would have noticed but i could hear the air moving from the movements of him waving his middle finger at me, he almost you know what himself, when i grabbed his finger, being visually impaired doesnt leave people at a disadvantage unless that person chooses it to be that way, i can understand the amount of work work that man in judo must have put in, he must really love doing judo in order for him to perform so well against a person with sight, the courage and presistance is amazing and if i was you i would gladly shake his hand at the end of any match with him...

 

I am sure I am right in this. If I'm not? Who cares!

It's not that blind people become super sensed in other areas, its just that they pay more attention to them.

In judo and aikido, a lot of what's going on is trying to listen to what your partner is doing. If you can 'shut off' some of the background chaff, you are going to listen so much better.

 

Yeah i see what you mean, i was just trying to make it sound a little more spiffy

But yeah you are right, when losing a sense, you tend to pay more attention to the others and tget more detail through doing so...

I guess readin this thread might get some people thinking twice before thinking that blind people are at a disadvantage, sadly it not martial artist who think that way, it the young youth that gang around on the street til late at night thinking it is fun to throw thing such as rocks at blind people trying to get home, sorry but one time when this happened, i stepped in, i know how it must have felt for the old man, but i couldnt really do anything to stop the youths so i just took the man home safely... Dammit i wish they would pass a law so we can imprison people like that... or send them to a miltery camp... hehe

 

You know the old saying! 'The humans weakness is eyesight!' We judge people with them wether we know the person or not! Judge the food we eat with them regardless of wether it tastes great or not! They can play tricks on us when fatigue kicks in! But then what would we do without them!?! I think those who are born blind, Or for various reasons suffers blindness, They just adapt naturally! And as mentioned, The other senses get boosted, Because they are used more!

 

silat

I was reading a book on silat (Indonesian MA), and the guy was saying, in the dark, you might not be able to see well, so having close body contact is used to feel the body weight shifts in an opponent. I know of people who have used that too in real fights. You can often feel what the opponent is going to do, as his weight shifts. Silat is a very "zero space", grappling art, so if you were blind, it would be a good art to learn.

 

I sometimes spar blindfolded, this of course... isnt the same as being blind, but it seems when your not relying on your eyesight to fight... you gain new skills. I find it easier to be defensive when 'blinded' though.

 

Sight deprivation has been used for a long time in most styles, whether directly (with blinders or blindfolds) or indirectly. By indirectly i mean that the whole "calming of the mind" shares the same basic principles. you learn to rely on feeling and reflex rather than thought. thinking takes too long and it hurts :bang:. you just pay more attention, as was mentioned. youll here them step, feel the floor shift and, in my case, shoot lasers out of your eyes. dont question it. :woo:

 

Blind Blademaster

Don't know if this has any relation at all, but I just want to share it anyway.

The best hairdresser my fiance ever had was blind. A truck that slammed into the windshield of a taxi he was on also slammed into the front of his skull, leaving him completely blind. But he had been a hairdresser all his life, and he wasn't prepared to give that up after he had completely recovered.

He, in fact, became a better hairdresser than before. But he said that he had to learn to do things differently from the time when he could still see. But as I watched him style my fiance's hair, it didn't seem like he had no sight, except for his constantly having to run his fingers and his palm through her hair. He has more difficulty cutting men's hair, as it is shorter; but he cut mine with no problem.


Now that was the first time I ever witnessed a completely blind guy use blades. All of a sudden, Zato Ichi doesn't seem so far-fetched. In fact, the newest remake of Zato Ichi shows the blind protagonist fighting more like a blind man (with the sword and sheathe held closely out in front of him) and not just some iaido expert who happens to be blind (like they did back in the '60s and '70s).

Is it possible in real life? I don't know, but it is very intriguing.

 

very sharp hearing when u cant see !

Peace to all,

I workout with a couple of guys who are blind, one can see out of one eye and the other is completely blind. I believe that being completely blind allows you to focus on self more and in doing so it allows you to execute waza without as much flaw. Sparring with him is crazy ! He'll take a punch just to grab that hand as you bring it back to you, and next thing you know your looking at the ceiling lol

 

very sharp hearing when u cant see !

Peace to all,

I workout with a couple of guys who are blind, one can see out of one eye and the other is completely blind. I believe that being completely blind allows you to focus on self more and in doing so it allows you to execute waza without as much flaw. Sparring with them is crazy ! Justin will take a punch just to grab that hand as you bring it back to you, and next thing you know your looking at the ceiling lol

 

I don't know any blind people, or am blind, but a couple times we were doing our forms with the lights out. Usaully ill be maybe a lil bit in front, back or side ways from the spot I started at. Then wit' the lights out I ended the form exactly where I started. Just wanted to say that.

~TL~

 

general reply

You're all right. I'm speaking both as a professional (i.e. re. my job) as well as through my own experiences in teaching visually impaired kids a few years back.

OK the professional bit...I'm a rehab officer which basically means I guess that I'm a life skills coach. I teach/train visually impaired people how to do a whole load of things that us sighted folk take for granted: how to get about independently e.g. use a long white cane (not as straight forward as it might seem, sometimes it can take several months to complete said training). Also adaptive things in the home e.g. cooking, cleaning, etc., also what we term as communications e.g. braille, large print, talking books etc. Generally trying to enable said person to achive for his/her own needs at his/her own level.

As an example a guy I've just completed some work with was an accomplished artist (oil painter) prior to his sight loss (had over 400 paintings of his own already to his name). Through someone I've gotten to know he's now about to start painting again, despite the fact that he has impaired vision. Basically when you have a skill there is no reason on earth why it should stop, just need to find another way around something. More important if you have the vision to do something you should just do it.

Martial arts bit...I learned just as much from my blind students as they did from me. Examples: I'm currently working with a deafblind guy. He has very limited tunnel vision, no hearing whatsoever (profoundly deaf). We communicate by my signing on his hand & through large print on his laptop. Thus far he's not shown me he CAN'T do anything all my other non-disabled students do. For me I just work with him.

Some of my former blind students taught me about echo location i.e. how close you are to an object e.g. a wall or somesuch. Also another showed me how to break up turns in kata's to minimise his sense of direction loss i.e. if he did a turn in 1 go he's more often than not NOT turn at the correct point but by breaking down the turn in to 3 x 1/4 turns her was spot on.

Re. the use of other senses in lieu of not being able to see this is a fact of life i.e. if you are born blind you learn automatically to rely on other senses and therefore learn by wrote how to use them more effectively. It's a falsehood that you actually GAIN better hearing or other sense.

hope this has been of use

Terry

 

Blind Judo and other VI information

http://judoinfo.com/usaba.htm

MENU topics:
Coaching Tips for Visually Impaired Athletes
Rules for Visually Impaired in Judo Competitions
Benefits of Judo for Visually Impaired People
Competition Judo for the Visually Impaired
Kata Competition for One Blind Participant
Blind Ambition (LA Times article)
Lisa's Story
International Blind Sports Association Homepage
International Paralympic Committee Homepage
US Association of Blind Athletes Homepage

Benefits for VI in Judo
http://judoinfo.com/blind.htm

Coaching ( for those inclined or lucky enough to have the opportunity...)
http://judoinfo.com/vicoach.htm

International Blind sport federation
http://www.ibsa.es/eng/

Blind Golf.
http://www.blindgolf.com/
(* Trivia but true: In FT. Worth Texas, a Totally Blind Female Golfer hit a hole in one on the same par 3 hole two days in a row. Never been done by a sighted person )

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

I am fortunate to work with a Blind Rehabilitation Clinic in the V.A. medical system. A sighted person who assists a Blind individual is called the "sighted guide" or his "sighted companion", not the Pusher of the blind individual. You don't like being pushed and neither do they. There are pictures at the bottom of the posted link below to show the positions where the blind individual lightly touches or grabs the sighted person. And always explain the situation of what you see if it there is clutter, narrow passage or awkward changes in ground level. The guide uses arm position signals to alert the Blind person of required stance of position changes.

there is a Word text document at the bottom of this link that you can download to print off.

Sighted Guide Techniques
http://www.campabilities.org/sighted-guide.htm

another link:
http://www.vi-info-center.org/sighted_guide_tips.html

Sighted guide for runners
http://www.rnib.org/xpedio/groups/public/documents/PublicWebsite/public_frtm_tips.hcsp?printPage=1

White cane accomodations.
http://www.vi-info-center.org/white_cane_law.html

We use to put an old style football helmet, with a single bar across the face, on the totally blind vets and let them hit the speed bag. (Many had memory of doing that in their younger days. ) The bar keeps the bag from hitting them in the nose. Some of them were pretty good, too.

Don't take your eyes for granted....

PF

 

"because the blind have better senses"