Ben.

Last night at Kung Fu, I fought Ben. Ben… is really ridiculous.

Ben is younger than I. He trained in China for a number of months in a Kung Fu variant that is highly acrobatic and very aggressive. Right now he’s training for a full contact fight in a tournament down in Florida. Whenever you fight Ben it is a test of nerves. Ben will win. It’s just a matter of how.

This fight was on mats. And Ben was allowed to throw.

The fight began. I circled quickly to my right threw a faux kick and a right hook. Ben blocked. From there the fight became a bit of a blur. Ben wasn’t being very aggressive. He was just taking my hits and occasionally jabbing me in the face or throwing a precise kick. There was one kick which literally, clipped my nose. That doesn’t mean I dodged it, it means Ben decided not to extend his foot the whole way.

His successful jabs were bothersome. In an attempt to push him back, I threw a side kick. He caught the kick, twisted, stepped forward, and swept my other leg out from under me.

I jumped up and charged with a crescent kick… he caught that two. I went down again.

It was fun, but humbling.

Clearly, I still have a lot of Kung Fu to learn.