Public beatings

I have a couple of public beatings scheduled for the next few days:

On Sunday, I plan to enter the Mass State Judo Championships. I’m eligible in two divisions: Seniors (over 17) and Masters (over 30). The seniors will be, by far, the larger division, so there will be subdivisions by skill level. I will most assuredly be a novice. Masters will all be older guys. On the positive, we omit the aggressive and uncontrolled 18 year old wrestlers. On the negative, I’ll be up against the entire spectrum of competitors.

My sensei advised me to enter both. He says that the masters crowd will be more fun to work with and have greater overall control so I’ll learn a lot. Conversely, I have a chance of winning at least a few matches in the senior novices.

Then on Tuesday, a unique opportunity has presented itself. Dan was contacted by the local branch of ABC (channel 6). They’re doing a little series on ‘how to protect yourself.’ The first two episodes were about escaping a burning building and something similar. The third will be on “self defense,” for the special case of “someone jumps you in a parking lot.”

I’m to be the punching dummy. I’ll don the padded suit and get thrown around.

It’s going to be an awesome week.