Blindfold Work

Working with a blindfold seems a bit eclectic and Jedi-ish. This past Saturday only Fabian and I showed up for training, so I decided to let him have the hour and a half of training (I.e. I was the attacker--though there is some training insight to be gained from this role as well.) Fabian has been curious about defending himself from fast and aggressive attacks where the attacker is protecting himself and throwing a lot of strikes all at once. Training with this type of attacker is fantastic, as being able to handle this attacker requires a great deal of precision--precision achieved unconsciously, given the speed at which these attacks come.

There are a few simple drills to start with. Typically, someone attacking in this method will have a narrow focus and direction (Straight at the victim, keeping a razor sharp focus on where the victim is moving.) One way to think of this is to visualize a plane extending vertically from the attacker's spine to the victim's spine. The attacker will (in this instance) be facing his attacker directly. Now of course, there is no limit to how an attacker will act. Sideways, from above, as they shake your hand, etc., just be clear that anything can happen. We are training specifically for one type of attack. In order to handle this type of attack, one must recognize it genuinely, not simply treat an attacker in this manner based on false data. Vladimir wrote in his Handbook that it is ok to know who is attacking and to be somewhat ready for how they are expected to attack. However, equally understand the possibility that they will attack in an unexpected manner, no matter how bizarre. Watching Vladimir move with some of the feints and tricks people try on him is fascinating. He handles the attacks as uniquely as the attacker tries to make, or sometimes he'll just step to the side while scratching his head with boredom (or setting up a "russian bitch slap"--apparently Vlad will scratch his head, looking harmless, only to pivot from the waist, swinging the scratching hand around into a nice *thwap*).

Back to the drills. The plane extending from the spine. What one can work with first off is not getting targeted--I.e. staying off center from the attacker's focus. Even a few inches off the attacker's focus can be extremely ideal (in some cases more ideal than a few feet--subtlety can go a long way). A simple footwork drill:

I had Fabian face me, the attacker. I would walk towards him and have him walk backwards. As I followed him, he would change his direction any way he liked, being observant of how I would react. Then he would try some fakes--some will work, some won't. This drill alone is very complex if one is observant enough. Subtle weight shifts, eye contact cues, audible breathing, and other factors are all involved in this drill. We went slowly until we became bored, and then went slowly for a little while longer. We picked up the intensity for a little while before slowing down and adding strikes to the drill.

At first Fabian wasn't allowed to move away from the strikes. Only use his footwork and concentrate on keeping me misaligned from my attack. Then after this he can start to rotate a little bit to use his body to redirect strikes, duck or lean back to avoid, etc. Throughout the strikes, even while going slow, I tried to throw enough intensity to make visible any tension in his movement (I.e. eyes widening, jerky protective responses in the arms, sharp breathing). After only using his body for the strikes, he is now allowed to use his arms. We did this until we were moving at maybe %60-70 speed. Nobody got hurt. A few little jaw taps (Fabian is relaxed enough to let them just pass by) and one fun one where Fabian somehow managed to headbutt my fist quite effectively (making contact before I expected it, with ensuing finger bone cracks had we been going full speed).

For the second half of this session, I had Fabian work with a blindfold and essentially start these drills all over again. Though before I did that I did some striking work on him while he stood still. What's important in striking somebody while blindfolded is to bring out just enough fear to where they can understand what's happening to them. They should fear the next strike just a little bit (so be sensitive to what your partner needs, as always). This trains them to be able to take a surprise strike genuinely without seeing it. Sometimes vision can allow for preparation before the strike hits, sometimes vision can create too much tension. The trick is to let the vision have just enough priority in how one reacts. This goes for all the senses. If one sense crowds the rest, then the person may overreact to a stimulus in that sense, or they may lack the awareness of other stimuli in other senses. Balance is key. Reacting appropriately is also key, as every situation requires a uniquely appropriate reaction.

As I took Fabian through the blindfold work, he started to loosen up (working without the vision or some other restriction can be very relaxing, just like lying down after standing for a long time can be relaxing). At the end, I had him do some work on me (still blindfolded) while I tried to attack him. This drill has always puzzled me. Sometimes his movement was almost as if he could see my strikes, and other times he would run right into my fist. I think that, as the attacker, being impartial to what happens in this drill is important to see it from a genuine perspective. There is always a temptation to either help the partner out to much or to be too mischievous. A few other people in the past have avoided almost all of my strikes in the first half of the exercise. Then, as they took a few strikes here and there, their performance seemed to degrade, and tension ensued.

After about maybe a half hour of blindfold work, I had Fabian take off the blindfold and do some more work, observing any differences in his performance. He was amazed to find that he was more relaxed in handling my strikes. In his case, his vision was causing him a lot of unnecessary tension. I was amazed as well. I haven't done a whole lot of blindfold work with people, and when I do, it's usually not in this gradual type of drill progression. Seeing the difference in his performance was good training for me--reinforcing some of these basic concepts with the body and nervous system.