Training Camp Day 3

Training camp is just about over.  Today I took a good yoga class, and then an excellent self defense class.  They worked to make us feel like we would feel if we were attacked suddenly, by having partners act angry and mean while launching fake attacks. It is amazing how the sight of a scowling angry face, coupled with aggressive body movements, can change your attitude and mental processes.  By artificially generating and adrenaline rush and fight-or-flight response, they helped us train our mind to act properly. At the end of the class, we were attacked by guys in body armor, and had to fight our way loose.  They were god actors, so the experience was different than standard sparring. They made it feel real, teaching us how to work through the adrenaline rush.

Then there were demos. Mostly it is black belts doing kata, pre-arranged sequences of attacks, blocks, and moves designed for practice.  There were not as many this year.  One of them was a sensei swinging around a Klingon sword.  I had seen the sword lying around earlier, and had correctly guessed its owner.  Earlier, I had heard this sensei talking shamelessly about the Dungeons and Dragons rules for throwing spears, and how his spear throwing ability compared to the rules.

He is not the only geek in the style. I saw plenty of geeky t-shirts, with things like comic bookcharacters, worn by a lot of different of people.  Few people realize that martial arts tends to attract a lot of geeks, and our style attracts more than most because we are friendly, fun, and accepting of all kinds of people.

Then there was skit night, where we compete to see who can make fun of other people in the most clever fashion.  If any black belt does or says something that can be mocked, it will be mocked.  This is a great addition to our style; it helps remind everyone that we are here to have fun, and prevents egosfrom building up.  And yes, the klingon sword sensei got mocked.  It was all in good fun; the person doing the mocking knew the exact Klingon name for the style of sword he was using.

There is a big party upstairs; I will go up and see how loud the music is. If it isn't too bad, I'll stay.  If it is too obnoxious, I'll come bck to my room and go to sleep.