Training Blind

Discussion in 'Ninjutsu' started by Ninjit, Nov 7, 2015.

  1. Ninjit

    Ninjit New Member

    I have been practising the Bujinkan for about a year now, and I have glasses. I got struck in training one night and they flew off, and I realised that relying on something that could be so easily taken puts me at a huge disadvantage. I asked my Sensei if I could train without my glasses, and his response was to ask me if a blind man could learn the bujinkan.....I suppose that was his way of saying that if I really want to do it, I will.......do any of you have any ideas what I'm in for? I feel like I'm about to step back to 1st Kyu, and I also worry that I may be a burden for my Sensei, if he has to show everyone something once, and come correct me, given that I am actually unable to see without my glasses.....Thoughts or insights?
     
  2. Tom bayley

    Tom bayley Valued Member

    I used to have very bad eyesight. I was not blind but I was very short sighted. So, for example, without my glasses I could not recognize face or even tell the sex of person siting across a table from me because they were too blurred. With my glasses, I had better than 20/20 vision.

    I trained both with and without but I usually took them off because they tended to get broken if i didn't. The biggest problem was sparring without glasses because I had no depth of field, everything was + or - 3 feet. The result of this is that my boxing was pretty bad and pretty uncontrolled. If you can't tell how far away the target is you either hit them too hard or barely hit them at all. My bridging skills however were pretty good. I got very good at sticking with a bridge and feeling what the opponent was doing.

    So my advise would be lighten up on the power when sparring without glasses. If you can wear contacts, try daily disposable soft lenses for training. They work well and you could just use them on training days. I had lazer correction about 7 years ago. The sort where they completely remove the surface of they eye and then it grows back / not the sort when they cut a flap (which can tear under rough contact). I suffered from very painful dry eyes and restricted vision for about 4 years afterwards. This is a common side effect that they do not tell you about. but gradually it improved. I am now pain free and only have minor blurring/ itching on days with a bad pollen count.

    A friend of mine, not a martial artist, used to get into a lot of fights when he was drunk. He was almost blind without his glasses. but he found that they were an advantage because 99% of the time the other guy would try to knock them off with the first punch. So he always knew where the first punch was going.
     
    Last edited: Nov 7, 2015
  3. Pretty In Pink

    Pretty In Pink Moved on MAP 2017 Gold Award

    Wear contacts. That's what I do.
     
  4. Dead_pool

    Dead_pool Spes mea in nihil Deus MAP 2017 Moi Award

    Wear glasses for the instruction, and sometimes take them off for the drilling.
     
  5. jclevien

    jclevien Valued Member

    Your Sensei seems to like frustrating his students, and that is what he is for. Seems rude, but if you look at it, he probably wants to move you and find your own way to progress also in your situation, instead of causing depression in you. In addition to the recommendations of using contacts or glasses, maybe you can develop a talent not so common, because normal people are overwhelmed by all the things they can do, and sometimes less is more.

    Keep Going!
     
  6. jclevien

    jclevien Valued Member

    I find a video that could serve as an example of uncommon talent.
    Hope it could be useful!

    [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_3ajGa2aH4"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_3ajGa2aH4[/ame]
     
  7. Knee Rider

    Knee Rider Valued Member Supporter

    Training blind for striking range is suicide.

    If you are relying on other senses then you need to be in constant tacticle contact. There is no ninja esp.
     
  8. ap Oweyn

    ap Oweyn Ret. Supporter

    They make prescription sports googles for racquetball, etc. Look into a pair?
     
  9. pearsquasher

    pearsquasher Valued Member

    At the 2010 Bujinkan Daikomyosai, Soke called out some disabled students to show what they can do. One of them was blind and my partner who was day-dreaming didn't realize till afterwards - he hadn't seen his cane. I'm not sure where this guy trained.

    There was also that wheelchair fella and a triple amputee (US vet)

    Bujinkan is all about adapting to what you can do, which I love.
     
  10. Hannibal

    Hannibal Cry HAVOC and let slip the Dogs of War!!! Supporter

    My Sifu has taught the blind a few times

    [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKflT-Jabks"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKflT-Jabks[/ame]

    Some arts lend themselves more readily - Muay Thai may not be as useful as Wing Chun for example. Not that they cannot do it, more that it will be more difficult to
     
  11. George Kohler

    George Kohler Valued Member

    What would you do if you were in a confrontation and your glasses were knocked off?

    Do you wear contacts when you are out and about?

    If you can't see the instructor teaching, wear them until you do your kata/waza. Put them aside and then train. If you can't see your training partner in training, then you have no choice. If you can wear contacts then do that instead.
     
  12. Botta Dritta

    Botta Dritta Valued Member

    I'm blind as a bat usually. I tend to fence with my glasses on and use contacts in competitions, but when it comes to boxing I take them off. Depends if you can keep yout torso upright without moving the head too much in the activity you are doing. That being said how bad is your eyesight? Are you functionally blind or is it that you are far too used to glasses?

    After all if Tokiens Granddaughter can do it....

    http://www.bristol247.com/channel/s...s/chance-encounter-with-uks-only-blind-fencer.
     
  13. Pretty In Pink

    Pretty In Pink Moved on MAP 2017 Gold Award

    That's the other reason I wear contacts. Glasses can and have came off during a fight. I can lose contacts too but it's much harder. I train full contact with them on without incedent.
     
  14. SWC Sifu Ben

    SWC Sifu Ben I am the law

    I got the chance to watch some blind judo at one point which was out of sight... so to speak :D. Once you have contact the need for vision pretty much goes out the window.
     
  15. ninjedi

    ninjedi Valued Member

    Tell you what, if I was in a "real" fight with someone who was wearing glasses, one of the first things I would do would be to try to knock them off their face.
     
  16. Ninjit

    Ninjit New Member

    OP Here

    I would rather not train with contacts, the one time I used them was when I was playing soccer when I was young and I lost them when I got hit........the whole point was that I discovered my tactical disadvantage when I lost my sight. Yes, my Sensei pushes me into uncomfortable places constantly, and everything changes always. Bujinkan is so much more than a set of forms. I Think I will try watching his demonstrations and then training with my glasses off for now....The video of the canadian Bujinkan practitioner, was he dodging arrows?
     
  17. Pretty In Pink

    Pretty In Pink Moved on MAP 2017 Gold Award

    Well op I fight with contacts in, and train with them in. Get biweekly ones, or monthly ones. Dailys fall out... well they fall out daily :p

    Invest in good contacts and you will forget about them.

    Or y'know, fight with a massive disadvantage. Not exactly what a ninja would do I think. A ninja would have every advantage. Eyesight is another tool ;)
     
  18. Dialectitian

    Dialectitian Banned Banned

    I am Muslim. And we learn that you have a choise between long term and short term, some of us. We cant have both. Some have both, those who have good eyesight. God requires a sacrifice to be pleased. So sacrifice the shortterm. Train with glasses and a disadvantage, and get the skill in your body and develop a 3D sight, "sight" with the heart.

    Like that movie Spectre about James Bond, where they captivated him and put a black bad on his head (he couldnt see), and when he got the golden chance, he escaped by striking his guards and taking their gun. He felt it with his heart.
     
  19. Knee Rider

    Knee Rider Valued Member Supporter

    Fiction isn't necessarily the best model to base decisions off.
     
  20. Dead_pool

    Dead_pool Spes mea in nihil Deus MAP 2017 Moi Award

    Which bit, the god bit, or the James Bond bit?
     

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