On December 16th 2011, a blind man
from Ponoka British Columbia was beaten until his face was unrecognizable to
people who knew him well. On October 29th 2013, Micheal Smith from Whitby
Ontario was assaulted by two females over a taxi ride. Unfortunately, there too
many cases similar to these to relate them all without needing a forest of
paper. The prevalence of assault cases on the blind is serious problem in
today’s society. “People who feel anonymous are more likely to act violently”,
a retired police officer once told me in reference to internet crime, “When
people think they’re anonymous they feel empowered to do what they never would
in a face to face situation… People almost never commit a crime that they think
they will get caught for, at the time of the crime they always think they will
get away with it”. That seems to hold true for the cases regarding assaults on
the blind. Perpetrators assume that they are anonymous, and that the blind are
defenceless. They are wrong.
I talked to my friend Ka, whose eyesight is so
limited that he is considered fully blind, and he is far from defenceless. In
all appearances Ka seems like an average guy, but he’s not. Ka is one of the
most driven people I know, he’s incredibly independent and ambitious. He’s one
of those guys who you know are going to get exactly what they want from life.
Ka has had a very athletic background; he’s done everything from goal ball— a
really fun blind sport that is sort of like a hybrid of handball and soccer— to
rock climbing, and he’s putting all that experience to the test, every Monday
and Wednesday, at the International Krav Maga Federation of Toronto. Under the
direction of lead instructor Christopher Gagné, Ka is learning what most would
agree is the pinnacle of self-defence. When I said Ka wasn’t an average guy, I
meant it. Ka, is blind in only the stiffest definition of the word. He has
incredible echo-location and spacial-awareness skills, as well as hundreds of
hours of traffic awareness training. Despite his lack of optics, Ka is a highly
visual person that follows self-constructed, and very detailed mental maps of
his environment. Ka has no problem navigating familiar spaces, or exploring new
ones. If you can picture how Neo sees in the Matrix, you might start to
understand how Ka navigates. Now, if you can picture Neo fighting blind, you’re
getting closer to understanding Ka.
Krav Maga is one of those arts that
requires more than reflexes or biceps. It’s an intensive art that requires
incredible dedication, and thousands of hours practice. It’s not just about
form and stance. It’s about tactics, and to Ka, “it’s all about strategy”. I
asked Ka how he is as a martial artist, I asked him to put modesty aside and
tell me how good he thinks he is. Being a humble guy with high goals, Ka said
only that he “has a lot of potential”. Ka mentioned that part of his potential
is the practiced awareness he has for his surroundings and his own level of
dedication at accomplishing his goals. Ka told me that most of his friends are
very successful people who inspire him to reach further, and inspire him to set
high goals. To Ka, blindness isn’t a disability, it’s just something that makes
him work harder. It’s this work ethic, this level of commitment and
perseverance that makes Ka a perfect martial artist. Ka, is always on the move,
always trying to improve himself. He is a great advocate for independence and
constantly works on acquiring the skills to be completely self-sustaining.
For
Ka and many others, Krav Maga adds an unshakable confidence that bolsters this
independence. What Ka wants the blind community to know is that they are not
defenceless, they possess innate skills that give them martial advantages, and
make them dangerous to those who would mistake them as easy prey. Ka explained
that when people move he can track them by the sound the air makes as it
rustles their clothes. He can follow their movements and he can strike. I asked
Ka if he thinks people would be surprised at how easily he could put them down.
He told me that his instructor remarked on how “he barely ever misses”, and he
has learned how to put a lot of weight behind those hits.
But it’s not all
hitting, Krav Maga teaches you situational awareness. Ka talked me through the
basic stances. He elaborated on the passive stance, a stance that is to be
constantly maintained with a vigilance that leaves a person always ready. This
doesn’t mean that those trained in Krav Maga walk around always looking for a
fight, just that they are always prepared in case one is brought to them. This
is something that appealed to Ka when he was deciding what martial art he
wanted to try. Ka mentioned the “One-Touch System”: training specially designed
for blind people that teaches them how to break holds or escape grabby strangers.
This, Ka said, “isn’t the most effective way to do things” he mentioned how
“you break the grip, sure, but then what?” The One Touch System doesn’t, if
you’ll pardon the pun, pack the punch Krav Maga does. It doesn’t take you all
the way. This is the strategy that Ka mentioned earlier. Krav Maga teaches more
than what to do when you get in a fight. It teaches you how to talk down
aggressive people to avoid one, or how to incapacitate someone long enough to
get away after one. Krav Maga, while militaristic, isn’t overly violent. Sure,
it’s hard, but it’s effective, and it’s all for defence.
Ka’s final message was
one of encouragement. He told me that he wants everyone, especially those in
the blind community, to have the skills to be independent. He wants to help
others achieve that independence, he wants to encourage everyone to learn Krav
Maga, and one day he even dreams of instructing a specialized course for the
blind. He believes that Krav Maga gives the blind a confidence and edge that no
other training can give. And as far as I’m concerned, if it means that the
people assaulting the blind think twice before trying anything, that’s good
enough. Those pathetic predators should be warned, Ka and his ilk are a lot
closer to Daredevil than the damsel in distress.
