A Blink of The Eye

Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in the September 1st edition of El Budoka magazine. Click here to read the Spanish version: En Un Abrir Y Cerrar De Ojos

A Blink of The Eye

Often times during the Sengoku period of civil wars in Japan, invading armies would take over towns. In one town, all the villagers fled before the army arrived except for a Zen priest. Curious, the general of the army paid him a visit. Upon meeting, the Zen priest, paid the famous and feared general no more respect than usual and didn’t seem to look at him at all. In anger, the general reached for his sword and said, “You fool, don’t you realize that the man in front of you could run you through without blinking an eye!” Unmoved, the Zen priest calmly replied, “Don’t you realize that the person before you can be run through without blinking an eye?” Impressed, the general withdrew his troops and spared the town.

The reason why the general was impressed was because the story demonstrated the priest’s willingness to be unmoved by the threat of attack. The priest’s statement showed that “the eyes are the true index of the heart” or mewa kuchi hodo mono wo iu (目は口ほどに物を言う). Understanding this, the general knew that the priest was someone that should be revered rather than destroyed.

In Japanese swordsmanship, the eyes are an important aspect that needs to be developed. In Kendo, the neutral stance is referred to as seigan no kamae (正眼の構) which commonly translates as“correct eye stance” but most think it means “to aim at the eyes.” On a certain level it does, because aiming at the eyes is a psychological trick used an attempt to overwhelm the opponent. However, to efficiently aim at the eyes, we also have to not look into their eyes.

In the old days, they used to say, “Never stare into your opponent’s eyes.” The reason was because it was thought that an opponent could hypnotize us with their eyes. This so called hypnotism would cause us to lose focus for a split second and miss the opponents advancement or attack.

There is some truth to not staring. Hardening our eyes as we stare causes our eyes to dry out which causes us to blink. Blinking is a natural reflex which our body does unconsciously to keep our eyes lubricated. It is thought that an average blink lasts somewhere between 0.10 and 0.40 seconds. In modern sports performance, it is thought that conscious movement happens somewhere around 0.20 seconds and subconscious movement can be as fast as 0.08 seconds. Thus, a person who has trained reactions could attack us within the interval of a blink of the eye.

This begs the question, “Where should we look?” However, the question isn’t where should we look but rather how we should be looking.

In swordsmanship there is something called enzan no metsuke (遠山の目付) or “Looking at a distant mountain.” If we only look at what is in front of us like hands or weapons, then we can be tricked with feigns, tricks, or misdirections. To achieve enzan no metsuke, we have to unfocus our eyes so that we can “see” the entire mountain. When we unfocus our eyes, our eyes become wider and our eyes are able to pick up movement more efficiently.

In the eye there are cones and rods. Cones are sensitive to color and are needed for sharper vision. Rods are sensitive to movement and changes in brightness. The retina covers the entire back of the eye and has more rods than cones. In the center of the eye, where the fovea is, there are more cones than rods. When we unfocus our eyes, our eyes widen exposing more rods. It is thought that information from our peripheral vision is processed about 25% faster than information received from our focused vision. In self-defense situations, Furuya Sensei advised us to turn our heads slightly to one side or situate our bodies at angle to our opponents. Doing this, exposes more of the retina and enables us to pick up movement faster which will hopefully give us an advantage when we are being attacked.

Another thing that naturally happens when we unfocus our eyes is that it causes our minds to lower into a subconscious state. Here, as stated before, being in a subconscious state enables us to be around 0.12 seconds faster in reaction time. Getting into a subconscious state allows our minds to act mindfully and appropriately without being held back by judgement, tricks, or emotion.

In the old days, it was thought that a good swordsman had superhuman powers like tengentsuu (天眼通) or “clairvoyance” because they could sense an opponent’s attack. However, tengentsuu might mean “clairvoyance” but it is just a skill. In sports performance, this seemingly clairvoyance is merely the link between the eyes, subconscious states, and athletic performance which is called quiet eye. When athletes are “in the zone”, they are often accessing their peripheral awareness which allows them to see and react quicker than usual. The quiet eye is not only about where or how the player is looking but also how they process information. In a 2015 article in the Atlantic, David Kohn wrote, “Using eye-tracking technology, researchers have found that locking onto the relevant stimulus during the right time frame—typically the few hundred milliseconds before, during and after the movement—greatly improves your chances of success.” When talking about the quiet eyes, Exeter psychologist Sam Vine said, “The difference in focus time between a beginner and an expert is as small as a fifth of a second.”

Unfocusing our eyes so that we can pick up movement faster is just a skill. It is like looking at one of those blurry 3D pictures. In order to see the hidden picture, we have to relax the muscles in our eyes. Relaxing will expand our field of vision which will allow us to pick up movement faster and it will slightly blur the face of our opponent so that they cannot hypnotize us and lead us astray.

Our eyes are not only a tool but can also be a weapon. It is said that a great swordsman can cut you down with their glance. Supposedly, when we look at someone, we see their whole face but don’t necessarily see their eyes. That is why, when meeting people, our parents have repeatedly chided us to “look them in the eyes when you address them.” To cut someone down with your eyes you have to look through them through their eyes as they stare back at you. It was thought that by doing this with true intention, one could cause them to get scared or at least momentarily waver because you are able to see what is truly in their hearts. This is hard to do with a weaker opponent because they will most likely become uncomfortable and look away in response. Either way, when you look through them, you step forward and cut them down while they are momentarily distracted.

Shakespeare wrote, “The eyes are the windows to the soul.” Perhaps that is why the general spared the priest. Either the general could see the priest’s level of development by looking at his eyes or the priest looked through the general’s eyes. Regardless, the general knew that not even killing the priest would cause him to change his mind.

The best martial artists’ inner development is more important than their outer development. The developed martial artist knows that their eyes can be a weapon or give them away in a blink of an eye. That is why good martial arts not only trains their bodies, but their eyes as well.