Fighting in the Darkness
The lights don't click on when you enter your house. You head for the circuit box in the garage, and you find out why the lights don't go on. A mugger flies through the darkness at you, screaming and swinging a club, and you are quickly knocked unconscious.
You think a fight will happen on a good surface with good lighting, so that you can see everything that is happening? You think the mugger is going to ring the front door bell and tell you to take your best karate stance because he want s to home invade you? You've been taking too many drugs, my friend.
The fight will happen on slick gravel with no lights in an alley. The fight will happen on the slick grass in your backyard late at night. The fight is going to happen when you're not ready, and that mugger is going to pick terrain that gives him the best advantage.
Fighting in the dark is easy if you just get used to moving in the dark. One of the easiest exercises to prepare you, very simple and fun, is just to move around your house late at night. Turn the lights out and move around, and work on remembering where the furniture is.
Shadow box, do your forms, pretend there is somebody there, and soon you will have an intuitive feel for moving through the darkness. This matter of developing intuition is the key to everything. You must not have to rely on your vision to know where everything is.
Practice moving around your backyard like a cat, climbing trees, getting used to the dark, actually building up to rolls and gymnastics. You can also set up an obstacle course, climbing over the house, ladders up to short jumps down, learning how to navigate no matter how dark it gets. You can eventually have somebody else set up the obstacles, and the game will notch up and turn delightfully unpredictable.
When you get your friends to join in the play you will have the most fun. Get a bunch of fellow students and friends and start having wars. Two teams, playing in the dark, both dressed in black, remember to practice relaxing when you fall, and you might want to wear mouthpieces.
Yes, a fight will happen in the dark, but it doesn't have to be the end of the world. You can train yourself, become more aware, and all while having fun. Just think, playing games, having fun, and being the ninja...that poor mugger, he has no idea what he is going to be running into!
About the Author:
Al Case has studied martial arts for forty++ years. You can Sneak Up on him at Blinding Steel.
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