Practising with a blindfold.

During a weekend seminar for Haidong Gumdo this November, a few of the exercises we did were executed with our eyes closed/blindfolded, to help sharpen our senses.

It was an interesting and enriching experience.

Removing sight from the equation tells you exactly where you are ‘at’, training-wise.

It slows you right down, improves proprioception (your sense of ‘self’ in motion and in space) and increases your balance (precisely because it challenges it!)

I haven’t tried it yet for Taekwondo, but I saw it performed in class today with TKD forms and kicking techniques. I’m inspired.

I came across this article as well mentioning skipping rope(!) with a blindfold, and I am curious to experiment with that, too.

And of course.. I should apply it more often for practising dance.

..And perhaps even for drawing 🙂

And you? Have you ever employed blindfolded/eyes-closed training for your art? If yes, what did you practise?

What did it teach you?