Jo Thursday

I didn’t eat as well as I normally do and by the time I got to class I felt like I was on the back foot, but I was confident that I would be ok; a ninja sometimes needs to fight on an empty stomach. I did a bit of stretching and as we warmed up I forgot about the hole in my stomach.

Body conditioning seemed a little less intense even though my partner was really climbing into me. He seemed to be possessed with grading fever and his form seemed somehow better than before. Our training together and apart really is coming together. I had my little bit of revenge on his ribcage, but I took it easier because on Tuesday night my roundhouse kicks almost ended the class for him. Even a ninja can be compassionate…

We started doing evasions from punches. The Sensei’s aim was to train us for a situation where the opponent strikes with a straight punch to the face and we would ether block with water (a backward step) and then move in with a low elbow to the ribs or step to the side after slapping the punch away and striking the ear. We did a couple of variations and he kept urging us on to add more intent to the attacks and counters. Soon we were throwing full toss punches and blocking and countering at full speed. It almost felt real and I could almost see my opponent falling to the ground with a ruptured ear drum.

For Syllabus I suggested that my partner work on the Jo with me. It was a mistake. He again near assaulted me as he painfully twisted my wrist and arm. He was using his left arm with the Jo and seemed to hurt me in ways that I haven’t felt before. The sensei asked him to do a takedown with the weapon and as he blocked my strike and wrapped the Jo around my neck my left hand got stuck. I couldn’t get it out to break fall and ended up banging my recently injured elbow against the concrete floor. I waited for the pain to shoot through my arm, but fortunately it didn’t. I checked it a couple of times to make sure that I didn’t aggravate it again, but the pain remained dormant. We were lucky, but my pain threshold was wearing thin.

I afforded him a couple more moves then called a halt and grabbed my Bo. As I turned back the other sensei was behind me. I promised him that I would show him my takedowns with the Bo earlier in the evening and he was going to make sure I made good on my promise. Soon he was showing me alternatives and shortcuts to the standard takedowns. We went through the syllabus and made sure I didn’t miss anything. We hypothesised a bit about retaining one’s own weapon. I caught a glimpse of the new sensei as he told the Sempai he was training with he wants to do some Bo.

I rounded on him and play taunted him with fighting talk and mock strikes. He grabbed the Bo and tried to retain the weapon from me. I adjusted my grip on the Bo as I felt his strength on my weapon. We wrestled. I stole a couple of mock strikes to try and put him off, but he held firm. I had a real fight on my hands. I got him twisted up a couple of times, but with quick hands he equalised my attempts as I failed to capitalise on my initial success. Pretty soon we were both huffing and puffing. We were locked in battle like two reindeer males in mating season. The Sensei saved us as the class came to an end and we were both happy to accept the draw. I definitely want a rematch.

Embrace the shadows.