Occasionally I've posted about my blind student, Mytchiko. One of the things I've worked with her on is being able to keep control of her cane when people are moving around her chaotically. Sometimes they bump her cane and disorient her. Mike Denton posted a comment that pretty much sums it up...
Well, Mike, So long as Mytchi is just some poor, helpless blind chick, there is no reason for people in this increasingly 'might makes right' world to treat her with respect. No consequences because, "if you can't see you can't fight." Right?Who the hell kicks a person's cane out from under them? Even if it's accidental, you can see the thing easily and should be doing all you can to not interfere with it. Damn that pisses me off. I'm glad you're teaching her some cool ways to deal with it.
Well, today, Mytchi told me an interesting aiki story. At school people were jerking around in her vicinity and one of the guys ran through her personal space, frightening and disorienting her. She evaded with a turning sidestep and stabbed him in the foot with the cane. He started to fall on her and she evaded again, giving him the aiki brush-off. He landed on his back and the onlookers applauded and told Mytchi she was great!
Nobody got injured, and maybe she just kicked it up a notch for the inconsiderate.
Sheesh! Surely wouldn't want to surprise Mytchiko in the dark. Two reasons: First, I can't see in the dark and second, I would be more qualified to speak in front of both houses of the National Diet of Japan than I would in taking an active part in whatever the heck you guys do in Metro Magnolia.
ReplyDeleteAwesome stuff. I can only imagine the difficulty of teaching the moves. Thankfully so much is tactile.
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