My Life and Karate, Day Three

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!

This is only related to karate and/or self defense in that we do learn break-falls - I actually picked up the skill (at least for certain angles) playing volleyball. But it's one of my very favorite stories to tell, so... stop me if you've heard this one before.

It was a Friday or Saturday night, and I got out of the bar at 2:15ish. I had quit drinking at midnight (which I always do if I'm driving,) so I felt just fine. I walked down Sixth Street on the sidewalk until I hit one of the seething crowds in front of the pizza shops, then I angled to step into the street.

This isn't a complicated maneuver. But there was a big piece of plywood on the ground, and with my supernatural coordination, I managed to catch my toe on it. You know that bit in Spider-Man where Biff takes a punch at the newly-irradiated Peter and everything slows waaaay down? I get that every time I'm about to bust my ass. I looked down, realized there was no way I was going to get my leg back out in front before I pitched headfirst off the curb, and my last thought was "Oh, shit!" before my volleyball reflexes took over.

I stuck out an arm as I hit the ground, tucked my knees, rolled over my shoulder, and flipped to my feet in one graceful motion. I was almost feeling proud of myself when I glanced back to my right. Three sorority girls were sitting on the curb, pizza slices in hand, gaping at me. I feebly protested that I wasn't actually drunk. I don't think they believed me.

We haven't specifically covered pitching-headfirst-into-the-street-and-emerging-unscathed-but-for-slight-scrapes yet, but I am assured it comes up later in the curriculum. Help us teach people these critical skills by donating $5 to our fundraiser!