{"id":1587,"date":"2007-04-10T21:54:00","date_gmt":"2007-04-10T16:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chris.dwan.org\/?p=1587"},"modified":"2007-04-10T21:54:00","modified_gmt":"2007-04-10T16:54:00","slug":"kung-fu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chris.dwan.org\/?p=1587","title":{"rendered":"Kung-fu"},"content":{"rendered":"

So, I just got myself tossed around a gym by a 7th degree black belt. Good times.<\/p>\n

Let me back up a bit.<\/p>\n

I’m traveling a lot these days, to Rockville MD. The projection is that I’ll be down here every other week for the forseeable future. So, I’m looking into those “realities of life” things that make life worth living. For me, this includes some sort of exercise. My local self defense school<\/a> fills that role for me at home.<\/p>\n

I was out looking for dinner, and I saw “Kempo Karate” on a building. The “open” light was on, so I parked and walked in. There was an intermediate class going on, and I found a seat along a wall. It was this school<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In short order, the owner of the school walked off the mats and asked me into his office. We talked for a little bit about the fact that I’m a student at my “home” school, and what I’m really looking for is a place where I can exercise and learn while I’m in Maryland. He was friendly enough, but was clearly not interested in being a backup teacher. This is totally fair. Particularly if you’re of the old school “master – apprentice” mentality, my approach was not the best. So be it, it’s what I’ve got.<\/p>\n

In any event, he offered a quick “introductory lesson,” and I accepted. I removed my shoes, belt, and sweater, and he welcomed me onto the mat. We went through a basic lesson, and in short order I was joint-locked (by the elbow and wrist, thanks for asking) and slapping the mat. Good times. We proceeded again, and I was once again placed on the ground, none too gently. After that, I didn’t get knocked down again, because I was being careful. Once I realized that he was in the mode of making a point that his way is better, I decided to switch from “accepting student” to “active defense” mode. Good times.<\/p>\n

All in all, serves me right for walking into an unfamiliar gym and saying anything<\/em> about my previous studies. Note that I did not make the gaffe of admitting to having a black belt. That would have wholly justified my now-developing bruises. We proceeded further from there, and I didn’t get thrown again. The guy was trying to impress me, and he succeeded. He’s a solid martial artist (way better than me), and a good teacher. On the other hand, he lost me as a potential student because I just don’t have the commitment to show up several times a week, and he’s not interested in part timers. We’re probably both happier for that decision. <\/p>\n

Anyway, the adrenaline rush was pretty awesome. Something like picking a fight, but without the “picking a fight” part.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So, I just got myself tossed around a gym by a 7th degree black belt. Good times.<\/p>\n

Let me back up a bit.<\/p>\n

. . . → Read More: Kung-fu<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chris.dwan.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1587"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chris.dwan.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chris.dwan.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chris.dwan.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chris.dwan.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1587"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chris.dwan.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1587\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chris.dwan.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1587"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chris.dwan.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1587"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chris.dwan.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1587"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}