Stressful Thursday

We all handle stress differently. Some get angry, some close up, but it definitely shows up in training. I found that training my body with Ninjitsu has brought my stress levels down dramatically, but what happens when the stress interferes with your training?

I went to class early to do some stretching and work on my nunchaku. We were about 7 students and after stretching and warm-ups we worked on how to block and evade incoming kicks from an opponent. The natural reaction to a front snap kick is grabbing the foot. With Ninjitsu we need to get in close so the most logical move is to step in to the outside and grab the upper thigh and follow through with some strikes before either sweeping the remaining foot or performing a front leg drop or hog trip.

We then went on with syllabus work and Sensei Chris continues 6th kyu with us. We learned how to escape from a bear hug, both in front or from behind by simply wiggling your shoulders you are able to loosen the grip. Sticking one arm between your chest and the opponents grip and grabbing on to the other arm will completely break the grip. We also did figure four, shoulder lock or hammer lock from a shoulder push, both on the same shoulder or the opposed shoulder.

We ended of the evening looking forward to the sword course on Sunday so watch out for my post on that 6 hour session with a bokken in my hand.