Have you trained your eyes today?

Visual Acuity Training

Sifu Rebecca Cate and Master Keith Mazza emphasize the significance of training to focus on the hand that is not touching.

Visual acuity training in Wing Chun sharpens your ability to track fast movements and react instantly, which is critical for close-range combat. It trains your eyes to pick up subtle cues-like an opponent’s shoulder twitch or weight shift-letting you anticipate strikes or openings. Drills like Chi Sao build sensitivity to visual and tactile feedback, boosting reaction speed. Better visual acuity also improves depth perception and peripheral awareness, key for handling multiple attackers or tight spaces. Consistent practice, like focusing on a moving target or tracking a partner’s hands, rewires your brain for quicker response times, making your defense and strikes more instinctive.

There are six muscles on each eye.  The eyes can be improved by strengthening these muscles by exercising appropriately, such as rotation and muscle stretching exercises.

EYE EXERCISES

1. Rotate the eyes 10 times clockwise and 10 times counterclockwise

2. Focus on target moving across and back then up and down Repeat 10times

3. Focus on the target moving diagonally upward and downward, each way.  Repeat 10 times each.

4. Focus on the target coming in towards your nose from the right side and then going outward.  Repeat 10 times

5. Focus on the target coming in towards your nose in the center, and then going outward.  Repeat 10 times.

6. Focus on the target coming in towards your nose from the left side and then going outward.  Repeat 10 times.

7. Put two targets on the right and left side of the head as far as possible, and focus from one to the other, ​quickly, for 10 seconds.  Put two targets above and below the head, and focus from one to the other, quickly for 10 seconds