One arm Thursday

I had to make a fire for the family before I left for class. It was with the smell of a warm, fresh, smoky fire that I spent a minute to centre myself whilst in the car and with the twilight fast turning into darkness I focused my breathing and recalled some of the things the Senseis in my live taught me. My mind is set on the Nunchaku and I looked forward to swinging them before class. As I ascended the steps I greeted my Sensei and Shidoshi Nathan. They we in deep conversation and I was just too happy to mind my own business and work on my style.

The Sensei called me closer after a minute or two and I noticed a father to one of the kids joined the circle of conversation. The Sensei reached out for my weapon. I let him off easy and handed them over. Shidoshi Nathan took them and started flaring. It was an impressive display but it was interrupted when the one arm of the Nunchaku suddenly separated from the other in mid-swing. The missile hit the father on the outside thigh. He didn’t flinch much and Shidoshi Nathan apologised. I have had the weapon for as long as I did Ninjutsu, in fact it was the first weapon I bought since I started the art of the Ninja. I looked at the two broken pieces and thought; cool now I have two…

It quickly shaped up to be another ill attended class. With only two students joining me in stretches, I made a meal of the event and even broke a sweat at the end as I handed the class back to the Sensei. I suggested some bag work and he happily obliged. Soon we were pounding each other. I enjoyed it, but deep inside I longed for a more personal encounter. The taste of aggression awakened the tiger inside two days ago, but the Sensei would hear of no such things when I suggested a bit of tea cup.

We broke up into groups and my old nemesis was back, but clearly with less steam and as I suggested we do one arm fighting he agreed that Tuesday was a rough session. We slowly went through the motions as I got used to only having one arm. Most of the techniques remain intact with one arm, plus you still have your legs to fight with. We did all the strikes with each arm being debilitated in turn and I got into the swing of things quite naturally. I feel with a little bit of experimenting I could be quite effective with one arm as most of my stand-up style edges towards one arm anyway, but it’s the groundwork that I really think needs some attention, especially if a takedown is something you like to end with. If the takedown ends in a wrestling match one arm might not be as easy on the ground as on your feet.

The class was over much too quick and even though I am not 100% after my head cold, I could feel almost a full tank of energy left. I miss the MMA drills…

Embrace the Shadows.