reactions

Yesterday after practice, Sab had Scottie spar some of the high red belt kids. I think the purpose was to evaluate them for their upcoming black belt tests, but when Scott fell apart, it turned into toughening him up when he's down. After awhile I could tell that Sab wasn't getting what he wanted, which was to see what the candidates would do if they were put in a match and getting beat on.

So he turns to me and asks me if I'm willing to fight them. Far be it for me to let anyone unworthy test...even if my foot is just on the brink of healing. So I went up against this 13 year old bony gangly kid. And within 10 seconds, I threw two kicks, one into each elbow. (Freaking people who block with their elbows...sigh). Unfortunately, one of them was square on the bad part of my foot - I think I just set myself back from all the healing that I accumulated in the last month.

So I limp back to Sab and he asks me "why did you badachagi?? You know your foot is hurt!" And I replied "I can't help it! I see the opening, my foot just goes!"

I think life is kind of like that. You develop these defenses, and get them so good that they trigger without thinking about it. As soon as someone you perceive as a threat steps in close to you, bam, your leg goes flying. And then you're rolling on the ground because you hit their bony elbow.

Sometimes, if you've already been hurt - you have to realize that you're prone to get hurt again. And in those cases, you have to realize that you tend to react instinctively - and be patient and pull back your reactions. Because as good as they are, maybe it's not the right thing to do in every situation. You can't always badachagi, because then it becomes ineffective. Sometimes you have to mix it up.

And maybe not everyone is always fighting with you.