Don't Blink!

I was sparring one day when i was younger and i noticed that I flinched or turned away whenever i was sparring someone and they were about to hit me.

I also noticed that if I could get the other person sparring me to flinch or turn away I could dominate the match for a short time. Most likely long enough to win in a real life situation.

I have been in several real life situations in my life so I know what it takes to win a fight as well as what it is like to take a hit.

Everyone loves winning a fight but it really sucks being on the losing end of one.

The last fight I was in I technically lost but not without significant injury to the other guy who was much larger than I was and although I was winning I didn't stay aware in the fight and I got hit and knocked out from the side by his friends.

He started the fight by pushing me from the side. I was actually facing another guy at the time. I turned and hit him in the groin with my forearm.

Then I punched this guy in the face four times.

At this point I should have just kept going and hitting him but it turns out I hadn't learned that lesson at that point in my training.

So I stepped back.

He pushed me.

I took a sparring stance at this point cause I knew I was in for a fight.

He went to push me again and I dropped below his push and i tried to sweep him with a tiger tail sweep. If you don't know what that is, it is a dropping spinning sweep. I just hit this guys leg and he stayed standing.

So I quickly kicked the back of his knee and the front of his ankle which dropped him on his face.

He crawls over to me and at this point I get a little concerned...This guy was not only huge he was also one of the wrestlers in the school.

The problem with wrestling is that they always try to pin you by getting you on your back. Which to me is awesome because that means I can punch them in the face!

However, this guy grabbed me under my thighs and around my back and started to try to squeeze me.

Luckily for me I had been in this position before and I knew how it ended up. So I grabbed my own ankles and pulled my head to my knees which got me out of the hold!

He crawls over to me at this point and I knee him in the groin...This guy was on steroids so the groin was not the most effective place to be hitting him..

I grabbed his hair with my left hand and I used it to accelerate my punches power from my right hand into his left cheek bone. There is a pressure point right beside his nose that I was hitting.

At this point I was really getting nervous so I pulled his hair back and tried to punch his throat. This is when his friends kicked me in the head and knocked me out.

They continued to kick me for a while while I was knocked out until a teacher broke it up. I was in high school at the time.

Any way now that I went on that long tangent let's get back to the point...

Work hard not to flinch or blink when you're sparring. If you feel the need to blink then squint your eyes just a little.

I used to yell to people from the side lines look at him when he is punching you and you know what, I meant it.

If you can get over your fear of getting punched and actually just look at the other person while they are trying to hit you you'll be able to block the punches far more effectively.

Ben

Tai Chi on the Beach

I recently moved to Hopkins, Belize.

In the mornings I like to do Tai Chi and the best place to do it down here is on the beach.

The cool morning air is awesome down here and the smell of the ocean can't be beat.

The only problem I have with doing Tai Chi on the beach is that the sand is rather unstable especially when you get rather close to the ocean. It does however help you develop a root. After all if your rooting can't be moved even when the earth below you is moving then you really have amazing rooting!

Another problem with doing Tai Chi on the beach is that I often flick some water at my wife who is trying to do Tai Chi as well. It's unintentional but it does take away from both of our focus when she yells, "HEY"!!! lol.

Maybe we should back up from the water a bit but I actually enjoy having my feet in the ocean.

The movies always make stuff look so much cooler than the damn experience actually is...even though I do still enjoy doing it, Tai Chi on the beach isn't all it's cracked up to be.

Ben