Infinite
Brown Belt
Some of you know some of you do not so a recap,
Former JKD concepts guy good enough to teach self defense classes (sorry guys we had no belts).
Gives up for almost 15 years and picks up Kajukenbo starting at 31.
So starts my likely succession of posts about the experience.
I've had my second class yesterday. This dojo is strange to me... before we just practiced and never used belts just seniority. So to have people with belts on is a bit surreal.
the first class there was 2 blue 1 yellow and me white. The sifu had us do some boxing and then moved to escape drills. I sucked on all accounts. The body doesn't remember what the mind does and I can't put anything together. I thought I had done a fair bit of groundwork. HA that is what I say now ... fair bit my ****. At the end of the class I toss my cookies in the toilet and head home.
This second class 3 black belts the sifu 1 clear belt (me) 1 white and 1 yellow. Once again I'm thinking wow ... more black belts than people studying this should... be interesting.
So we are pairing up and I end up with a woman who is 41 and a black belt. I don't know what rank and I don't think to ask because well rank just never occurs to me. I just think better than me or not and right now everyone falls into the former of the categories. She is telling me about her two kids before we start. She's very nice and we bust out with some pads.
We throw left, right, hook combo's for a while switching pad holders. Then we switch it up to Left, Right, LONG hook. This means the pad holders step back so you have to really send that hook out to reach it. We follow that up with some slaps to replace the long hook.
Heck half the time I can't figure out how to my my feet do what they did 15 years ago. I try but the more I try the worse I get so I take a deep breath and just start throwing letting my body find its way there. That works better and by the time I just start to feel comfortable we throw down the pads.
He tells us part of the drill is too stay in and weather the blows. To get stay close and not just back up. So I take that too heart and I try my best not to back up I do this the whole class. It occurs to me later that might not have been wise.
Then we pick our hands back up and start doing the same drills bare knuckled. Ok so this was new to me all around. Ok bare knuckled hmm and she throws at 30% and as we get comfortable she moves up to probably 50% at rare times. I throw at about 20% mostly because I don't have the control she does.
Now each phase of transition is marked by, "demo"
Demo requires each pair to get up and perform and get critiqued by the class. Well needless too say I throw and he's impressed but the list of critiques from the class was LONG. She got much less
So we move to throwing combinations and then adding a random counter. I fail miserably I never counter hell I have no idea when she's STOPPED she's mixing body blows with straight blasts and hooks. I hold my own but I never counter and I decide maybe I'm being too nice.
So we go to demo and I throw feints in and double punches. We do about 4 back and forths and she nails me right in the elbow. So my last turn and I pull out the only move I practiced and still have. JKD has a fencing background and part of fencing is this ability to cover distance quickly and further than your opponent expects. A quick step and I felt my 15 years smooth out a quick right slap hook. I was surprised... she was surprised (she blocked it but she had that oh crap look) the sifu was surprised. Hell the whole class was surprised and I quote
"Did you see where that arm came from? Did he really just hit her with that? Did you block it? Did you think he could get that deep? Wow you should practice that your arms are LONG."
So I felt kinda good really. Then we move to free spar with headgear and gloves. I'm feeling ok I'm thinking ok I can do this... and humbled I was.
She ducks her chin and is fast and ruthless. Every jab results in a counter punch every cross a jab. I have nothing I can't hit anything and she's taking me to TASK. I get rocked hard by a left hook and clinch her. That pretty much sums up my strategy from then on. I backed out tried to get a few shots until she rocked me till I clinched. It occurs to me at this point perhaps the stay in and take it is for drilling and not free sparing
I toss my cookies once again and I am awarded with my very first belt ever... a white belt. I can't tie the damn thing it's like learning to tie a neck tie all over again.
I head home ... toss my cookies when I get there and after a few hours fall to sleep end ramble.
--Infy
Former JKD concepts guy good enough to teach self defense classes (sorry guys we had no belts).
Gives up for almost 15 years and picks up Kajukenbo starting at 31.
So starts my likely succession of posts about the experience.
I've had my second class yesterday. This dojo is strange to me... before we just practiced and never used belts just seniority. So to have people with belts on is a bit surreal.
the first class there was 2 blue 1 yellow and me white. The sifu had us do some boxing and then moved to escape drills. I sucked on all accounts. The body doesn't remember what the mind does and I can't put anything together. I thought I had done a fair bit of groundwork. HA that is what I say now ... fair bit my ****. At the end of the class I toss my cookies in the toilet and head home.
This second class 3 black belts the sifu 1 clear belt (me) 1 white and 1 yellow. Once again I'm thinking wow ... more black belts than people studying this should... be interesting.
So we are pairing up and I end up with a woman who is 41 and a black belt. I don't know what rank and I don't think to ask because well rank just never occurs to me. I just think better than me or not and right now everyone falls into the former of the categories. She is telling me about her two kids before we start. She's very nice and we bust out with some pads.
We throw left, right, hook combo's for a while switching pad holders. Then we switch it up to Left, Right, LONG hook. This means the pad holders step back so you have to really send that hook out to reach it. We follow that up with some slaps to replace the long hook.
Heck half the time I can't figure out how to my my feet do what they did 15 years ago. I try but the more I try the worse I get so I take a deep breath and just start throwing letting my body find its way there. That works better and by the time I just start to feel comfortable we throw down the pads.
He tells us part of the drill is too stay in and weather the blows. To get stay close and not just back up. So I take that too heart and I try my best not to back up I do this the whole class. It occurs to me later that might not have been wise.
Then we pick our hands back up and start doing the same drills bare knuckled. Ok so this was new to me all around. Ok bare knuckled hmm and she throws at 30% and as we get comfortable she moves up to probably 50% at rare times. I throw at about 20% mostly because I don't have the control she does.
Now each phase of transition is marked by, "demo"
Demo requires each pair to get up and perform and get critiqued by the class. Well needless too say I throw and he's impressed but the list of critiques from the class was LONG. She got much less
So we move to throwing combinations and then adding a random counter. I fail miserably I never counter hell I have no idea when she's STOPPED she's mixing body blows with straight blasts and hooks. I hold my own but I never counter and I decide maybe I'm being too nice.
So we go to demo and I throw feints in and double punches. We do about 4 back and forths and she nails me right in the elbow. So my last turn and I pull out the only move I practiced and still have. JKD has a fencing background and part of fencing is this ability to cover distance quickly and further than your opponent expects. A quick step and I felt my 15 years smooth out a quick right slap hook. I was surprised... she was surprised (she blocked it but she had that oh crap look) the sifu was surprised. Hell the whole class was surprised and I quote
"Did you see where that arm came from? Did he really just hit her with that? Did you block it? Did you think he could get that deep? Wow you should practice that your arms are LONG."
So I felt kinda good really. Then we move to free spar with headgear and gloves. I'm feeling ok I'm thinking ok I can do this... and humbled I was.
She ducks her chin and is fast and ruthless. Every jab results in a counter punch every cross a jab. I have nothing I can't hit anything and she's taking me to TASK. I get rocked hard by a left hook and clinch her. That pretty much sums up my strategy from then on. I backed out tried to get a few shots until she rocked me till I clinched. It occurs to me at this point perhaps the stay in and take it is for drilling and not free sparing
I toss my cookies once again and I am awarded with my very first belt ever... a white belt. I can't tie the damn thing it's like learning to tie a neck tie all over again.
I head home ... toss my cookies when I get there and after a few hours fall to sleep end ramble.
--Infy
