One of the best ways to learn how to teach self defense to people who are ‘vulnerable’ is to ‘walk in their shoes’ for a time. If you’re teaching someone who is ‘blind,’ spend time walking with and without a cane. You can blindfold yourself so you can see no light or objects. You can also turn the lights out in a totally dark room and see what it’s like to find your way to a chair, a table, a door, etc.
After you are blindfolded to the point where no light is making its way to your eyes, walk through your home. Find a door and step outside. Move around the yard. Walk down the sidewalk in your neighborhood, find the curb, and cross the street (have a sighted person with you for safety). You can also do this experiment in a store, mall, church, or other public building (have a sighted person with you for safety). That will help you better understand the ‘world’ where blind people find themselves – a world without sight.
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Teaching Deaf and Hard of Hearing
If you’re teaching someone who is ‘deaf’ or very hard of hearing (where hearing aids do not help much), learn what it’s like to be deaf. How do you do that? You can use professional ‘ear muffs’ that cancel out most sound. You can also insert ‘ear plugs’ to cancel even more sound. It’s quite amazing to go from hearing everything to hearing nothing.
Move trough your house. Take a walk outside. Go to an event where people are talking, music is playing, etc. Once you’ve arrived and feel safe, insert the ear plugs and put on the noise-cancelling ear muffs. That will give you some idea of what a ‘deaf’ person experiences – every day, all the time.
Other Senses
What I found in my experience of learning what it’s like to be blind was that I became more sensitive to what I could hear, smell, and touch. The same was true for learning what it is like to be deaf. I became more sensitive to what I could see, smell, and touch.
Those experiences, I believe, made me a better self-defense instructor for vulnerable people. I explained to my students about my experiences and what I learned from them. I helped them understand how to use ‘other senses’ to improve their ability to defend themselves against an attacker.
Touch and Go Training
No hesitation. Move immediately and do not stop moving until you are safe. A deaf person may not hear someone coming up behind them or next to them, but once ‘touched’ by the attacker the deaf person can respond with an effective defense and run to safety.
A blind person can often ‘hear’ someone coming toward them from almost any direction. They can face the direction of the ‘sound,’ place their arms and hands forward (possibly with their walking stick), and ask who’s approaching them. If they don’t get a good answer (or no answer), they can begin moving defensively. If they are grabbed (touched), they can use a ‘touch and go’ technique to stop the attacker and keep them from proceeding with the attack.
Learning ‘touch and go’ techniques is part of learning ‘Push Hands,’ also known as ‘Listening Hands.’ I shared how it works in a previous part of this series, so please re-read that as a reminder.
I recommend finding a qualified instructor to teach you or a friend or family member how to train in it. Learning with a good teacher and having classmates who can help with the experience will prepare you or a loved one for what I hope will never happen to you – being attacked.
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