I have been doing this for a while and i’m much better at it now.I notice I have better balance and I can flow through my forms better with my eyes open.It’s not to hard,I got the hang of it pretty quick.Try it sometime if you haven’t already.
As a general rule, I do my push hands with my eyes closed
better yet
–use a blindfold … takes the strain off the mind 2 keep eyes closed … doesn’t give u an out if u suffer a break in move … then put some chairs in the area … same deal … golf balls on the ground … same deal
Golf balls are for sissies.
A real artist is sensitive enough that golf balls are not a challenge.
Use #0 steel shot and scatter AT LEAST a 5lb bag around your training floor.
:rolleyes:
Complete Darkness
I often practice chi sao w/ eyes closed or blindfolded.
Better than keeping your eyes closed…have you ever tried doing forms and chi gung in complete darkness? Thats a trip, highly recommend it.
uhmm, and this is good.. how? Why would u become better at your forms blindfolded than else?
Chi sao I understand, but forms??
so you’re gonna fight eyes closed too huh?
For some strange reason one legged stances in yoga and kungfu are difficult to hold with your eyes shut. yet seem ok with them open, i realised this inconsistency for some time now…
Can anybody explain why this is so?
Starchaser,
The stance is easier to hold with your eyes open because you have a visual reference point for your balance (i.e. whaterver you are staring at). Without the reference point, it is easier to lose your balance and orientation (like JFK JR. piloting a plane in the fog).
Kristoffer,
The benefits of training and moving this way are that it forces you to rely more heavily on other senses and it can encourage relaxation.
OOoooo right up my alley starchaser
Stranger is right about the visual point thing… very influential on your balance. Balance control originates deep inside your ear in some little tubes filled with fluid. The fluid moves around and lets you know if you are standing up straight laying down, etc. Anyhow… there are three systems that work completely together to send balance information to your brain; they are the vestibular system (part of the inner ear, those little fluid filled tubes) , the visual system (sight), and your proprioceptive system (muscles and tendons and how they work to keep your body in line). If you have a defecit in one of these systems, the others must take over and compensate for the problem. if your eyes are cloes you have to work hard with your inner ear and with your muscles. Since yoga has to do with relaxation, you probably cannot properly relax to hold a position if your compensating for the loss of sight.
afraid of the dark?
in the dark or blindfolded is a great way to train, for chi sao or push hands, but also other forms or improvisational drills and playing around, as well as chi gung…you can really ‘listen’ to you body this way.
no i don’t practice like that all the time…its just one type of exercise to increase awareness…your eyes can distract you from all the other imput that you is out there…it isolates those other senses, not only of surrounding or training/sparring partner (who you need to be able to sense the slightest movement or intent), but awareness of your own body…you have to ‘feel’ whats going on and you can have a heightened awareness of your own (& your opponents) breathing, your heart rate, youre energy and balance. then when you open your eyes, you can bring this added awareness with you.
of course i wouldnt close my eyes in a fight, you need all the awareness available, but thats just an intense training method to isolate and train your senses. and it helps you become more aware of where your body is w/o your eyes telling you. Try it outside on a dark night on uneven ground…try weapons in the dark, you really need to know your weapon and where it is at all times.
besides, you may some day be attacked in the dark or unable to see, so you might as well be comfortable, aware and able without seeing.
once we grappled blindfolded. i found it very interesting and beneficial because you had to let your body feel where the other person was. where there was negative energy and where you had room to move. lots of fun. brings in a whole new element or takes one away, depends on how you look at it.
I grapple in the dark with my GF all the time. It’s fantastic for sensitivity 
“Balance control originates deep inside your ear in some little tubes filled with fluid. The fluid moves around and lets you know if you are standing up straight laying down, etc. Anyhow… there are three systems that work”
I was under the impression that it was the small bits of bone moving around could be wrong.
I think it would be incorrect to train this way. If this was a good way to train why would they say” eyes arrive first, followed by waist, hand” closeing your eyes 8) dosn’t seem like it would help this process.
I think learning to feel where your center point is by relaxing the body is a much better process.
babmoo leaf - you are right there are little bones in your ear, but they have nothing to do with balance. You have no idea how complex your ear is. The three little bones deal with the transduction of sound from your outer ear to your inner ear. the bones are in your middle ear. The tubes are called the semicircular canals and they are deeper inside your ear than the bones, they dont move, just the fluid inside them. yes the bones themselves move and vibrate to transfer frequency and intensity. 
Halfling thanks for the info.
Ive noticed though that after a while it becomes easier and easier to hold (kungfu /chi kung postures) so I guess it is possible to fully compensate for the visual deficit.
The Asana I was thinking about in yoga is called vrksasana or tree. it is in itself supposed to aid in balance and tone the leg muscles, however it is not required to close the eyes in that particular posture , i just did this to see how it would work.
That was really on my own time though, during class we sometimes work techniques in the dark, fending off multiple attackers or grappling, but jamaica being what it is sometimes we get graced by power outages and consequently get an impromptu in the dark class.
I see this as a good excercise for balance, but for forms comp or having your forms look goo, I see this as counterproductive. Reason being that when you do foirms your head follows your fist or striking hand or it follows the way you are blocking. Your eyes must be focused on the attacker or attackee of your forms. Having your eyes closed would seem to complicate things. I also keep eyes closed for Tui Sao.
Maybe you could let your eyes/head follow your hands even with them closed , if you can balance on a pole while doing white crane stance from nothern shaolin and do this eyes closed and facing the attack without stumbling or losing your balance then these exercises wont help you, you dont need them. Its for people like me that like the dark…
heh heh heh.
My rooms to small to do forms in, espcialy in the dark. I actually tried it one time, my wall and my bed defeated me with ease. But it sounds cool, I’ll have to try the blind fold idea outside. thanks!
sancheezball
Golf balls are for sissies.
–u should know 4 sure … sissie boy
A real artist is sensitive enough that golf balls are not a challenge.
–4 a sissie like u i guess balls r never a challege … betcha keep a pair of 'em on ur chin
Use #0 steel shot and scatter AT LEAST a 5lb bag around your training floor.
–sure stumpy … & then coat the floor with 50 wt. motor oil … go all the way right sissy boy?