As I age I notice that my eyes are not what they used to be. Reading anything less than a banner headline is impossible without glasses and when I'm tired, my mid range vision gets blurry around the edges. Sight is the sense I rely on most when getting around in the world. Hearing, smell, taste and touch are decidedly secondary players in this regard. So it's with some trepidation that I watch as the years roll on by and my eyesight degenerates.
In class I will occasionally institute a blindfold drill where nage must execute technique while deprived of her sight. We have several variations of this drill: nage and one uke, nage and multiple ukes, nage in a circle of ukes, guess the attacker's identity. When I practice these drills I'm amazed at how quickly the other senses will compensate for my lack of sight. I am usually able to hunt uke down and engage him on my terms rather than simply waiting passively to be attacked.
What I am discovering is that sight, because it is so dominant, will drown out other more subtle clues as to where the attack is coming from and when it will be launched. This realization is leading me to hypothesize that an acute sense of vision can actually impede Ki development.
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