Ok, my question is, do you train for situations where the environment is not lit well if at all? and if you do, how do you train for this type of encounter, I'm carious because I want to start working on combat in darkness .
You should not go there ... run away from the darkness ... (star wars) he is NOT your FATHER, Luke ! ... How rude of me ... sorry. Carry a flashlight baton. if you want to do that ... I suggesting to do blindfold in your dojo and have partners sneaking on you and attack (like grab hand, bear hug, neck choke, push off etc) ... feel, smell, hear as much you can ... then fight back like it is self-defense Make sure you all wearing safety gears on. there was a tv show of self-defense shows displaying awareness level similar like human weapon : for example : one person acts naturally walking upstair downstair car behind boxes ... but bad moves and second try acts very alert, knowing the surrounding such as upstair, downstair, car, behind, boxes, people watching you etc and how to respond to it http://outdoorchannel.com/showvideos.aspx?show-id=720 http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/videos/fighting-blind/ This is the one ... http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/videos/human-weapon/ Alternative link ... http://www.youtube.com/user/TheWorldgeographic/videos (part 3 is awareness/surrounding) Great Advices !
We do a nice exercise (mainly during the winter months at my dojo where we drill all of our usual techniques in the dark (given a bit of time for eyes to adjust to the dark) my instructor will then go around with a glow stick and randomly wave it in peoples faces. Completely destroys your adjustment to the dark. Helps with fine tuning other senses for use in low light situations. Oooh, that reminds me, halloween soon, we get to play with the lightsabers!
Humans actually see almost as well as owls in the darkness. Fact. You simply need to ensure you aren't dealing with a transition from light to dark where your eyes are still adjusting. That is simply a management of your environment... similar to taking "high ground", etc.
I did at one point. I'd ask the people teaching me to turn off the gym lights when training or I'd do it myself. I preferred it dark. Rely mainly on your hearing. After a while I'd get used to it though.. like my eyes would adjust.
another trick with the eyes, don't look directly at your target, use your peripheral vision. all to do with the sensors in the back of your eyeball, only a small area deals with colour the rest go more towards black and white. so in the dark the colour sensors do not work so well. to be able to touch or feel your opponent in the pitch dark will give you a better idea on their intention, so maybe the grappling arts, maybe even chi sao or the knife drills from FMA, something to give you some kind of contact to react to.
Its very good but so much for "point sparring like" ... It has to be staged ... If it was for me doing it blindly with a blindfolded partner ... One of us has to get a blood face more than couple times within 6 minutes.
Actually, your peripheral vision picks up movement better... a secondary rational for "pieing a room" on entry ... if you are familiar with the term.
Well I have never trained in the dark, but I used to work the doors, doing front of house was ok as it is always well lit for the CCTV, but inside the nightclub it's a mare especially in the corners, I always found my Wing Chun and Judo skill came in most handy as both rely upon a high degree of listening/sensitivity skill without the need for visuals. The Wing Chun allowed me hand to hand superiority and the Judo was the dogs when it came to stand up grappling.
I used to train outside during the night... Granted that was a very long time ago, and I lived on a farm with the nearest neighbour being 2+ miles away... Didn't have to worry about police getting called for weapons use. Training at night gives you a different feeling than be blindfolded... Feeling your surroundings out becomes more important. Dojo's are flat and being blindfolded in them is simple to feel for footing... Outdoors in the dark really makes you feel your footing. Also training in snow, water, or mud makes you appreciate learning balance and proper technique.
We do this occasionally, too. Of course, it's never COMPLETELY dark. But when is it ever completely dark? It doesn't take long to figure out that you want to use the ambient light to your advantage.
We used to practice dark-room fighting as a matter of course. I'm glad, actually, because now that my eyes are starting to go from all this damned computer work I'll still be able to mix it up.
Well... upon further evaluation from an article I read stating the "fact"... there are a lot of caveats to this. This is a good Wiki read: Biological night vision[edit] For more details on this topic, see Adaptation (eye). "Night sight can mean life or death. Eat carrots and leafy greens or yellow vegetables, rich in vitamins," WWII poster In biological night vision, molecules of rhodopsin in the rods of the eye undergo a change in shape as they absorb light. Rhodopsin is the chemical that allows night-vision, and is extremely sensitive to light. Exposed to a spectrum of light, the pigment immediately bleaches, and it takes about 30 minutes to regenerate fully, but most of the adaptation occurs within the first five or ten minutes in the dark. Rhodopsin in the human rods is less sensitive to the longer red wavelengths of light, so traditionally many people use red light to help preserve night vision as it only slowly depletes the eye's rhodopsin stores in the rods and instead is viewed by the cones. However the US submarine force ceased using red lighting for night adaptation after studies found little significant advantage of using low level red over low level white lighting.[3] [4] Many animals have a tissue layer called the tapetum lucidum in the back of the eye that reflects light back through the retina, increasing the amount of light available for it to capture. This is found in many nocturnal animals and some deep sea animals, and is the cause of eyeshine. Humans lack a tapetum lucidum. Nocturnal mammals have rods with unique properties that make enhanced night vision possible. The nuclear pattern of their rods changes shortly after birth to become inverted. In contrast to contemporary rods, inverted rods have heterochromatin in the center of their nuclei and euchromatin and other transcription factors along the border. In addition, the outer nuclear layer (ONL) in nocturnal mammals is thick due to the millions of rods present to process the lower light intensities of a few photons. Rather than being scattered, the light is passed to each nucleus individually.[5] In fact, an animal's ability to see in low light levels may be similar to what humans see when using first- or perhaps second-generation image intensifiers.[citation needed]
Nice. Actually, it doesn't have to be staged. Chi Sao is about touch sensitivity and body awareness in regards to the proportions of the opponent. These two have obviously been training for a good length of time. The initial start of motion allow each to identify the proportions of each other (that & they already know what the other "looks like"). The touch sensitivity gives a "hands on" sense of where the anatomy is located in relation to the movement from the arms. As the functioning motion & dimensions of the arms (forearm & upper arm length/elbow & shoulder motion) plus the height and feel of posture shifting, allow for a "sense" of what is where. After that it becomes a matter of "control". Which takes practice (not many train to "Not Hit" much anymore). Neither practitioner actually used critical impact. As they both maintained contact with one another (and kept it "slaptastic" until the take down). Doing this with different sized training partner will increase the ability to identify a potential attackers proportions quickly. As for not being point sparring like. Chi Sao is a different animal. Using touch sensitivity drills are great for the Low to No Light situation. As you won't really have a clear idea of the attackers body dimensions until contact is made. Ultimately, for Low Light, peripheral vision (widen your eyes....like an owl)and hearing (for breathing, any clothing motion, floor friction/contact, etc.) will help in locating the approach. Peripheral vision and touch sensitivity for engagement. No Light works similarly. One can also sense their surroundings, using a combination of hearing & touch with that "weird feeling" you get when someone is staring at you from behind. This is your 360 awareness. Without the benefit of partial sight. You'll need to increase you 360 awareness. A great way to increase the concept of 360 awareness is to go to a pool and feel the water around you. You are aware of you whole body being influenced by the water. You are aware of the water's contact on your front, sides, and back. Afterward try to remember that sensation while you are no longer in the water. You can be in the dark (the black water) or with your eyes closed or blind folded. Or even in total light.
When I spent time to watch this clip... you can see the outcome within a couple seconds every time... simply watch their feet and the "planted-ness" of the two. The guy who loses every time... is never well planted. Has much less to do with their hands than than their posture and ergo leverage.
once a week i do bare hand CMA training and sparring in a park at night very dim light, then once in a room with cement floor without shoe, twice in a carpet room with shoe and twice in the afternoon. so i try to train in as many different environment as possible to get used to different environment
