In RAtC, the Blindfighting Ability works as follows:
As a defense against Surprise, Blindfighting allows a chop for the target to have an innate awareness of an incoming attack, prior to the attack landing. It also allows use of Dodge in complete darkness/blindness situations, up to your permanent Blindfighting rating.
Offensively, Blindfighting allows a chop for the attacker to sense where the target is. It also allows use of Melee, Brawl, etc. in complete darkness/blindness situations, up to your permanent Blindfighting rating.
Additionally, Specialized Fighting Style (SFS) Maneuvers may be used in complete darkness/blindness situations, that are of a level equal to or lower than your permanent Blindfighting rating. For example, a character with Klaiviskar x4 maneuvers, but Blindfighting x2, may only use Klaiviskar x2 maneuvers and lower.
NOTE:Â Normally, without the Blindfighting Ability, any complete darkness/blindness situation would result in an automatic fail, per the related description of the Blind Flaw on page 93 of Laws of the Wild:
"You are robbed of the blessings of vision. you lose all ties where sight is involved (such as manual dexterity) and automatically lose all challenges where sight is required [such as dodging or landing an attack]."
Complete darkness/blindness can be overcome only through the use of Blindfighting, or some such similar sense-affecting Ability, Gift, or combo (i.e. the Metis Gift: Eyes of the Cat).