Teaching a legally blind person Tai Chi ?

[bill miller]

I was wondering if any of you long time practitioners have ever worked with a blind person, and if you have are know someone has, was it taught for the most common physical reasons, such as balance, posture, etc., and were there any martial applications involved?

 

[Dirty Dog]

A lot will depend on the details. You say legally blind, but that covers a lot. Can they see nothing, light/dark, vague shapes? It matters.
I taught a woman who was completely blind (both eyes were prosthetic) to fight with the rapier. She relied on her hearing and maintaining contact with the other persons blade. Normally you avoid constant contact, but for her it was necessary to "feel" where the other person was.
If this person is not sparring, I would think you could teach them by coaching them through the movements or even physically guiding them. Probably both.

 

[geezer]

A lot will depend on the details. You say legally blind, but that covers a lot. Can they see nothing, light/dark, vague shapes? It matters.
I taught a woman who was completely blind (both eyes were prosthetic) to fight with the rapier. She relied on her hearing and maintaining contact with the other persons blade. Normally you avoid constant contact, but for her it was necessary to "feel" where the other person was.
If this person is not sparring, I would think you could teach them by coaching them through the movements or even physically guiding them. Probably both.

Many tears ago I taught a few legally blind people basic Wing Chun.

The first was a young man who had been totally blind since birth. That was more challenging since he had awkward postures ...even in doing ordinary tasks since he had never seen how other people stand and position their bodies, and he had never done other athletic activities.

A later student I remember was a successful businessman who became blind as an adult and could still make out light and dark, and some vague shapes. He was a smart guy, learned easily, and could perform Wing Chun solo drills and contact drills, like chi-sau just fine. We never tried free sparring starting without making contact first.

Personally, I think an athletic and motivated visually-impaired person should be able to do well at skills that involve constant physical contact like grappling and WC chi-sau. And sighted students often can benefit from occasionally training with their eyes shut.

 

[dvcochran]

I have taught legally blind but never fully blind. Some have real balance issues that complicate training. Others were born 'blind' and it did not have nearly as much hinderance. Granted, everything was different. It takes a Lot more oral teaching. Once they have a good idea of things spatially, they can pick up forms pretty quick. Mainly a recipe of learning how to explain if/how they need to turn more or less. Sparring is quite different. I have been to para tournaments where there are specific rules for the blind. Essentially, they touch hands and learn where the other person is. If they break for any length of time they re-touch and start again. It is quite impressive and honestly quite humbling. It may not be 'flashy' but it is pretty freaking cool.
Just treat them the same as everyone else and you will be fine.

 

[bill miller]

Personally, I think an athletic and motivated visually-impaired person should be able to do well at skills that involve constant physical contact like grappling and WC chi-sau. And sighted students often can benefit from occasionally training with their eyes shut.

Thank you! I use to blindfold my higher ranking student in my KDK system, and have them perform hyung. They would also do some reaction based light sparring, Once the could "feel" what they were doing, their forms seemed to improve quite a bit.

 

[Instructor]

Thank you! I use to blindfold my higher ranking student in my KDK system, and have them perform hyung. They would also do some reaction based light sparring, Once the could "feel" what they were doing, their forms seemed to improve quite a bit.

My teacher blindfolded me routinely in training and it's something I carry forward with my students by asking them to simply train with eyes closed.

 

[isshinryuronin]

Back in about 1977 I contracted with the Los Angeles Braille Institute. Had about six or seven students. Found that thru speech and me physically moving their positions they could learn about as good as the average walk-in student. Whatever disadvantage they had not being able to see what the move looked like was made up in their body awareness.

I'll second much of what dvcochran said. As well as Dirty Dog regarding maintaining contact with the opponent. At the time I didn't know that this was actually a form of muchimi, Okinawan "sticky hands."

Unfortunately, they closed down the program a few months later as they cut back on "recreational" activities. A shame they didn't see the actual occupational therapy and confidence value. I was pretty young then and not equipped to make my case. But I did discover how to convey ideas to students in new ways so some good came out of it.