Down But Never Out
Topic: Training
One of the things I firmly believe is one of the prime statements of Sun Tsu's Art of War. The statement says that all warfare is based on deception. That being the case I try to fight in a different manner with different people.

The other night in my Japanese Kempo Class I had an opportunity to spar with one of the juniors (junior to me, senior to others). My friend is a phenominal fighter and on occaision we have been known to kick each other around the floor. One of the things I find interesting is how different people react to me when I fight them. When I first got to the school back in 1998, i fought really hard to prove myself as a compentant fighter and my ego fueled that desire more than the rest of me. These days...I am far more interested in learning what people have to show me rather than what I can show them. I noticed that even the new juniors have lessons that I learn every time I strap on the gloves.

Back to the fight at hand... At one point during the match (which we had both decided to it take easy this time...both of us are nursing injuries of one form or another) my friend decided to apply a takedown that succeded. The problem for him was that he did not really control the takedown and I tossed him by me as I fell. I then took my foot and kicked up to touch the inside of his thigh to simulate a kick to the groin. I don't even think that it registered with him. But it was this event that got me thinking about my orignial statement.

I know that would that have been a real fight, my first reaction after the fall and kick would have been to cut the back of his ankle. My dillemma is whether or not to discuss something like this to my opponent. During a match several years ago, another friend (a Hapkido instructor) got thrown by me and proceded to show me that he would have tortured my groin as payment. I learned from that experience. Do I tell my current partners so they can learn in much the same way?

For this fight...the decption to my friend was that he had control of the match...Do I tell him he really didn't because he is smart enough to recognize tactical mistakes or do I keep capitalizing on these mistakes to make advances in my own training (making the art of deception a primary goal)?

These are questions I am going to have to think about this week.

Regards,
Walt