24 Ms. Seligman Article: The Eyes Have It

Seminar Homework 7/1/24 Ms. Seligman Article: “The Eyes Have it” Summary: Many claim that reflexes are something you're born with; you can either react to things quickly or you can't. However, Grandmaster Doc-Fai Wong claims otherwise. In his article, "The Eyes Have It," he explains that an important part of martial arts is the training of the eyes. In ancient China, when firearms did not exist, martial artists practiced throwing weapons, which required great precision and sharp vision. To add on, they also trained their reflexes to the point where they could catch objects mid-flight! As stated by Grandmaster, all of these skills can be earned through a variety of eye exercises and activities based on reaction time. For example, one of the exercises he mentions is rolling your eyes clockwise
Moving on, he also speaks of an exercise for eye reflexes, where you choose two "slightly different kinds of uncooked red beans,” combine them in a bowl, and then separate them into their original bowls. Over time, your reflexes will significantly improve and you'll be able to sort the beans at great speed. After 6 weeks of sorting beans, he says the training should be intensified, so he describes ways to make the training more challenging. Near the last third of the article, Grandmaster includes night and day eye exercises—day training will help relax your eyes and balance your tired night training. All in all, the eye conditioning that he writes of gradually increases in difficulty as your eyes become more vigilant, and will take around 5 to 6 months to complete if practiced every day. If one commits themselves to this training schedule, they will significantly improve their “ability to notice movement and react quickly and