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.
Maybe the thing to do is have someone tape you fighting Ben, and review it continuously until you figure out how to beat him. Or practice a lot more.
Or slip a mickey into his waterbottle before the match.