Fight Night
Besides my normal exercise routine, every Wednesday I go to martial arts. Yeah, once a week sounds kind of lazy, but since it’s an hour away I’m not easily able to make it more often. The style I’m currently taking is an Okinawan martial art called Isshin Ryu. While I’ve taken a few other styles in the past (I actually already have blackbelts in Tae Kwon Do and Tang Soo Do), I’m currently about greenbelt level here, and studying under my father, who is a 4th degree blackbelt in the style. Despite Isshin Ryu being in the family, when I was younger I prefered having a large class of kids at my age, so I’m only really starting to study this style now. Isshin Ryu is definitely one of the more serious styles I’ve taken - more about actual combat rather than flashy moves - and there are a number of things that I think more styles should pick up (the vertical punches and palm-in blocks are far more effective than those in Tae Kwon Do, for example). Of course, it’s always great exercise.
My dad is able to give some very unique angles on many of the moves we practice due to his knowledge as a doctor. It’s quite funny to hear exactly how and why a certain motion will break a joint or otherwise cause intense pain. He only teaches twice a week due to his real job taking up all his time (as well as six kids - luckily half of us are out of the house now…), but it’s more of a passion than anything else for him, as well as for myself I guess (I have been doing this since I was 5, after all). Wednesday night is usually sparring night, and while my favorite sparring partner is out of town at the moment, some of the other guys are getting a lot better. It’s always a good class when you have some nasty bruises to show for it the next day ^_^.
