Today’s blog post is gonna be short and sweet.
Earlier this week I had one of those, “Wow, I’m actually doing this!” moments that I love so much. We were doing an exceedingly simple sensitivity drill. Partners had to keep their hands/wrists in constant contact with each other as one blocked and the other punched. At one point in order to demonstrate how far that particular drill could be expanded Sensei called me up to help demonstrate. He told me to close my eyes. I did the drill easily. With my eyes still closed, Sensei took the lead and moved unpredictably, trying to lightly strike me. I kept my wrist and hand in contact with his in order to foil his attempts at striking.
So yeah, it’s cool that I can do this “sticky hands” stuff with my eyes closed. But as I trotted back to my place in line after, I realized this sensitivity training could be useful if I’m ever blinded by dirt thrown in my eyes, blood running from a scalp wound, or just plain lack of light. I’ve done this sort of sensitivity training before – with two hands and indeed the entire body. But never with my eyes closed, and I never realized the practical application. It was a neat little “light bulb” moment for me.
Sorry for the brevity. I’ve been wrestling with MailChimp for months, and this week I neglected blogging in favor of figuring things out on MailChimp. Hopefully those of you on my subscriber list will have already received email notification of this post. If not, I guess it’s back to the drawing board for me!
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The biggest advantage of sensitivity training it’s that you sense of touch gives you faster reaction times. Your eyes are actually slower. Sound like you’re picking it up fast.
Thanks for stopping by and commenting! If that’s the case, then I definitely need to find people who are willing to work on this before and after class >:)
Good for you!
I actually find it easier to do with my eyes closed, as it lets me focus more completely on the sense of touch instead of my sense of sight.
There are also two other benefits to this type of training. First, even if your eyes are working fine, when you get at close range with someone, you may not be able to see all of their weapons. If you’re used to working by touch, your restricted sight area isn’t as much of a handicap. Second — and I suspect you’ve already found this out — once you’re familiar with doing this type of training, touching one part of your opponent’s body will tell you where the rest of it is, and you’ll be able to hit targets without ever seeing them.
Keep up the good work, and thanks for sharing your path!
Thanks for stopping by and commenting, Cliff! Once I find some training buddies, I’ll be sure to close my eyes more often. Yeah, I’ve noticed that I can’t always see my opponent properly to read him or her – mainly when I’m fighting anyone shorter than me and said opponent gets inside my reach. Thanks for explaining things and for the encouragement!