My dojo, Sun Dragon Martial Arts and Self Defense, is running its major yearly fundraiser. We're a nonprofit martial arts studio, which is something of a rare beast, and we raise money every year for our scholarship fund and the free self-defense classes we offer in the community. For my part, every day until the day of the Kickathon, I will write a random amusing anecdote about karate and self-defense - enjoy!
My first memory of karate in real life was in fourth or fifth grade, on the playground. A very sweet if dorky boy named Ben (I have long since forgotten his last name) was attempting to win my favor by bragging about his karate skills. His account of a couple years of classes at the Y failed to impress me - I had hit a growth spurt and probably had three inches and thirty pounds on him, and I knew it.
He waved his arms around in a way that was, I suppose, intended to be menacing. I did not feel menaced. He came at me. I picked up a four-foot-long fallen tree branch the width of my thigh. He stopped.
Apparently his training, which obviously didn't impart the wisdom of not showing off in the schoolyard, also didn't cover how to cope with an armed attacker. I felt sorta bad for him - he was obviously trying to flirt in that fourth-grade-boy sort of way - but the fellow was barking up a tree in the wrong forest altogether.
Many years later, I found a school that teaches practical self defense as well as fancy hand-waving. Hopefully poor Ben eventually found a girl to swoon over him.
Everyone should know what to do when confronted with clueless ten-year-olds or smart-alecks holding chunks of wood. Help us teach people these critical skills by donating $5 to our fundraiser!
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