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I meant to write about this before, but somehow got sidetracked. While I was at Tuesday night's kung fu class, something funny and frustrating happened. I was paired off with a young, buff-looking guy for some punching drills. He had to punch at my centre and at my face, and I had to knock his fists out of the way. This is pretty basic stuff.
However, he was not punching directly at me, but somewhere off to the side. To top it off, he was punching with no power at all. I mean, I doubt he would have knocked an empty styrofoam cup off a table with the kind of energy he was expending. Because of this, I could not do the technique correctly. It was very annoying. "Punch at me," I said. "And put some energy into it!"
"Yeah, but you're a girl," he answered.
"What difference does that make?" I asked, but he just shrugged.
Finally, he started putting a bit of force into it, and I sent his fist flying off to the side. Unlike him, I'm not afraid to use a little force. I wasn't going as hard as I could, by any means, but just the right amount to make the technique work.
Afterwards, when we'd finished, he walked away, rubbing his wrists and saying, "I'm gonna have bruises."
Jeez. He wouldn't last two minutes in my karate class. I couldn't help but smirk, and afterwards, when I told the sifu about it, he got a good laugh out of it, too.
Last night, I trained with one of the new women in the class. She's a complete newbie, but she's not afraid to work at the techniques, and she wasn't afraid to kick or punch at me. There are a few other new women in the class, too. I can only hope they're not afraid of what they're doing. Together, we may create an army of estrogen.
However, he was not punching directly at me, but somewhere off to the side. To top it off, he was punching with no power at all. I mean, I doubt he would have knocked an empty styrofoam cup off a table with the kind of energy he was expending. Because of this, I could not do the technique correctly. It was very annoying. "Punch at me," I said. "And put some energy into it!"
"Yeah, but you're a girl," he answered.
"What difference does that make?" I asked, but he just shrugged.
Finally, he started putting a bit of force into it, and I sent his fist flying off to the side. Unlike him, I'm not afraid to use a little force. I wasn't going as hard as I could, by any means, but just the right amount to make the technique work.
Afterwards, when we'd finished, he walked away, rubbing his wrists and saying, "I'm gonna have bruises."
Jeez. He wouldn't last two minutes in my karate class. I couldn't help but smirk, and afterwards, when I told the sifu about it, he got a good laugh out of it, too.
Last night, I trained with one of the new women in the class. She's a complete newbie, but she's not afraid to work at the techniques, and she wasn't afraid to kick or punch at me. There are a few other new women in the class, too. I can only hope they're not afraid of what they're doing. Together, we may create an army of estrogen.
