Anticipating the Enemy

[Wa-No-Michi]

i tend to look at the chest - it not only allows to use peripheral vision, but u can also determine which of the opponent's attacks are likely to hit u, and which aren't.

u can also pick where you will attack from since u know what angles are less likely to be protected.

but i dont want to have to think, I want to know and react!

Personally I think that looking at the chest is the wrong thing to do.

Most beginners will instinctively look where they are blocking and punching, but in doing so they are closing off their field of vision. As we progress through the ranks our training steers us away from this habit.

For example do you focus your eyesight at chest level when performing Kata? No of course not.

It's akin to blindfolding yourself really. But I guess if it works for you then why not.

[tallgeese]

It's not blinding, it just allows your quciker periphial vision to pick up movmement, which is more efficient than trying to focus on it. That's all.

[Kajukenbopr]

i tend to look at the chest - it not only allows to use peripheral vision, but u can also determine which of the opponent's attacks are likely to hit u, and which aren't.

u can also pick where you will attack from since u know what angles are less likely to be protected.

but i dont want to have to think, I want to know and react!

Personally I think that looking at the chest is the wrong thing to do.

Most beginners will instinctively look where they are blocking and punching, but in doing so they are closing off their field of vision. As we progress through the ranks our training steers us away from this habit.

For example do you focus your eyesight at chest level when performing Kata? No of course not.

It's akin to blindfolding yourself really. But I guess if it works for you then why not.

I dont do kata for fighting... our style is a lot closer to Kickboxing so even our kata is only designed to show you know a Traditionally Based Martial Art- not just a sport fighter.

I do wish I could learn to use KAta-like movements for fighting, but right now, I havent had time to practice it enough...

[Wa-No-Michi]

I do wish I could learn to use KAta-like movements for fighting, but right now, I havent had time to practice it enough...

Indeed, there are a lot of good little tips locked into them.

[bushido_man96]

I focus on the chest and shoulder area, as well. I try not to zone in, but to just keep my eyes there, and see everything around moving, too.

[Kajukenbopr]

Come on, somebody must know a way to train for "feeling out" an opponent, even when u cant see them.

Anyone up for sharing?

[Wa-No-Michi]

Come on, somebody must know a way to train for "feeling out" an opponent, even when u cant see them.

Anyone up for sharing?

In Hironori Otsuka's book, he has a section entitled, "Preparing the Mind, Preparing the Heart", in which he explains the importance of being in a constant state of readiness

He gives several examples / stories that date back to the time of the Samurai that were in effect a code for surviving in an age where death at the hands of your enemy was a very real threat. Potentially anyone and everyone was your enemy.

Things like:

When walking past someone in the street, you would always go to the left. Why because swords are drawn by the right hand and it is easier / quicker to stop them if you are closest to this hand.

Walk quietly so that you can hear any noises around you and watch people out of the corners of your eyes.

Walk round corners giving you enough room to see what is around them.

There are loads more, but you get the idea. Always be aware of those around you and your surroundings.

As Otsuka says "Leave ones yard and find seven enemies".

Edited October 12, 2008 by Wa-No-Michi

[joesteph]

Come on, somebody must know a way to train for "feeling out" an opponent, even when u cant see them.

Anyone up for sharing?

I don't know if "opponent" would be the right word for what I'm thinking, Kajukenbopr, but there are some things that were referred to by my Street Survival instructor, a police officer, when I took that course in the past. I live in a mid-sized city, meaning lots of side streets.

For a woman who's walking with someone she's uncomfortable about behind her, that he seems to be following her, the instructor suggested that she turn her head, as though looking up to a higher floor than street level, smile and wave, then just continue along. It's a ruse that someone's looking, which would only affect a man actually following her and, if he is, he'll likely want no witnesses. (I ran this by my students [i teach in an all-girls high school], and they thought it was a good idea when I mentioned it.)

He also suggested that, at night, a woman walking the side street might feel safer walking in the street itself. The streets are well-lit; she'll see a car coming to step to the side while it passes, and then continue. No one in an alley, there to ambush, will be able to surprise her if she's so far away. (When I mentioned this to my students, some told me they'd heard of this and sometimes did this at night.)

If there are, say two, men ahead of you (whether you be male or female), and you don't feel comfortable about them, he suggested you don't try to get away from them by trying to walk past them. Slow down; don't let them get behind you. An opportunity to get away from them will come up--even it's as simple as a good spot to cross the side street to the other side. (A male friend of mine used this slowing down when in another city, and discovered the men ahead were also slowing down, till they were walking at a snail's pace. They gave him a glance; he looked right back; they then picked up to a normal pace and he walked away from them at the corner in a direction he hadn't intended, but would separate them from him.)

It happened some years ago, maybe ten, that one of our students was walking to school along an avenue that she'd never had a problem with. A man perhaps in his thirties began talking to her, and when she didn't respond, he began to speak in an angry tone and insisted on her responding. She then said a few words as she continued to walk forward, and since it was an avenue, sure enough there was a deli that she could--and did--rush into. They called the police; she rode around the area in a police car and identified the man; he was stopped and found to have had a knife on him. This wasn't something I remember mentioned in my Street Survival course, but it's something to think about; keep your wits about you, duck into a store, and have them call the police.

[Wa-No-Michi]

Come on, somebody must know a way to train for "feeling out" an opponent, even when u cant see them.

Anyone up for sharing?

I don't know if "opponent" would be the right word for what I'm thinking, Kajukenbopr, but there are some things that were referred to by my Street Survival instructor, a police officer, when I took that course in the past. I live in a mid-sized city, meaning lots of side streets.

For a woman who's walking with someone she's uncomfortable about behind her, that he seems to be following her, the instructor suggested that she turn her head, as though looking up to a higher floor than street level, smile and wave, then just continue along. It's a ruse that someone's looking, which would only affect a man actually following her and, if he is, he'll likely want no witnesses. (I ran this by my students [i teach in an all-girls high school], and they thought it was a good idea when I mentioned it.)

He also suggested that, at night, a woman walking the side street might feel safer walking in the street itself. The streets are well-lit; she'll see a car coming to step to the side while it passes, and then continue. No one in an alley, there to ambush, will be able to surprise her if she's so far away. (When I mentioned this to my students, some told me they'd heard of this and sometimes did this at night.)

If there are, say two, men ahead of you (whether you be male or female), and you don't feel comfortable about them, he suggested you don't try to get away from them by trying to walk past them. Slow down; don't let them get behind you. An opportunity to get away from them will come up--even it's as simple as a good spot to cross the side street to the other side. (A male friend of mine used this slowing down when in another city, and discovered the men ahead were also slowing down, till they were walking at a snail's pace. They gave him a glance; he looked right back; they then picked up to a normal pace and he walked away from them at the corner in a direction he hadn't intended, but would separate them from him.)

It happened some years ago, maybe ten, that one of our students was walking to school along an avenue that she'd never had a problem with. A man perhaps in his thirties began talking to her, and when she didn't respond, he began to speak in an angry tone and insisted on her responding. She then said a few words as she continued to walk forward, and since it was an avenue, sure enough there was a deli that she could--and did--rush into. They called the police; she rode around the area in a police car and identified the man; he was stopped and found to have had a knife on him. This wasn't something I remember mentioned in my Street Survival course, but it's something to think about; keep your wits about you, duck into a store, and have them call the police.

Nice one joesteph, it would appear that we are on the same wavelength.

[Kajukenbopr]

not bad...