[Gary]

I had a bad experience with a blindfold in Parañaque, Philippines – on the way to meet a Pekiti Tirsia Guro I had been invited to train with, I took a cab to a gas station in a sketchy neighborhood to wait for a couple of his students to pick me up and drive me to his house. The minivan arrived on time, my wife and I got in, the door closed and one of them turned back to face is and handed us a couple of blindfolds! “Due to machete challenge duels, our location is secret, so you have to put these on”.

Ever since, I’m more comfortable just closing my eyes if I want to try training exercises without looking.

Anyway, back to my story: I balked at the blindfold request and said that maybe they should just let us out at the next intersection…

At which everyone fell fell about laughing, and took the blindfolds back. My heartrate returned to normal another half hour later… 😳

[Dustin]

Yeah…I could see how that might leave a bad taste toward blindfolds. Sorry to hear you went through that.

[Chris Villareal]

I’ve never used a blindfold but have practiced certain drills with my eyes closed. I had a Sifu in the past who encouraged me to close my eyes during Chi Sao drills because I kept looking at my hands. I found that I improved by not looking at them and trusting the feel and pressure. I have done Siu Nim Tao and the Five Energies with my eyes closed trying to imagine the pressure or lack of before I move. I think It has its advantages at times.

[Jerry]

I trained in a martial art where the black belts had to spar blindfolded as a part of their test. It was intense????

[Deb]

I’m on the fence about blindfolds. I think for focusing on sensitivity, not using sight might be beneficial. But if I can’t see what’s coming, I’m already at a disadvantage and I’d have to process whatever the contact is and have to figure out what to do about it even though I can’t see. Maybe years down the road, once I build my skills, I might try a blindfold??? I realize the reality is that I could end up in a situation where I cannot see my attacker, but if I don’t know how to defend myself against someone I CAN see, I wouldn’t have a prayer against someone I can’t. I’m also thinking it might be a good idea to be able to see, but not fully rely on sight. “Train the brain” to get all the senses involved. That way if any one of them gets taken out, your brain already knows how to use the ones you still have.. Okay, so maybe training with a blindfold is a good thing???? Like I said, I’m on the fence!