Blame Canada!
Saturday, July 14th, 2007So appears on the mats of my Dojang the other day a Canadian Taekwondo practitioner (3rd Dan), Hapkido practitioner (3rd Dan), 5 years Muay Thai fighterand 8 years Canadian Kick Boxer. Add to that he’s huge. And stern. Think of any US army movie you’ve watched. Now think of the drill sergeant. Yep, that’s exactly him. Not surprising since he trained police officers there.
Hitting the mats with grace, flow and flexibility wasn’t his aim. He was here to share the quickest, deadliest, smartest way to take down your opponent. No aerobatic flying kicks, spin kicks or any fanciful dancing like that in his dictionary. It was quick, sharp and extremely painful. That means in his school of thought, there should not be kicks higher that the sternum. Why? Because high kicks leave you vulnerable to counter attacks that pushes you off balance.
Well, argue against that if you may. It’s just a different school of thought and the point is to learn as much as possible from one another. For me, practising high kicks is not so much for the street but to train your leg power.
All in all, still a fruitful 2 hour session with him practising the mother of all locks, the wrist locks and quick location of the pressure points; points, he claims, when hit hard, will make a grown man whimper like a little girl. I should know. He demonstrated some moves on me.
His best advice? When robbed at knife point, take out your wallet, fling money on one side and run the other. Only defend yourself when left with no choice.
Okay, if you say so big guy. 
