Kendo Practice Day 2:

Since it seemed so enjoyable to the two Japanese dudes kicking my ass, i thought you all might find it interesting as well.

Today I trained with a guy on the men's Kendo team. Whereas the girl had the standard "arms in front, sword pointing at me" stance, this punk had this cocky "arms in the air above his head, sword pointing at the sky" stance. You know what that stance says to me? It says "Brad, look at all this open chest space, c'mon in! Give it a shot! It looks sooooo easy, doesn't it? C'maaaan...what are you, some sort of pussy? Hit me!"

I believe I can sum up both of my fights with this guy in the following sentences:

Me (to myself): Wow, that looks like a pretty vulnerable spot, maybe I should-

-WHAM! I get cracked right on the top of the head. Hard.

Me (to myself): All right, ouch. My ears are ringing a little, fool me once shame on-

-WHAM! I get cracked right on the top of the head. Hard.

Then I get frustrated and start flailing at the kid and land an illegal blow on the armpit-above the chest guard, below the head guard. He winces, the judge goes "ooooo".

Me: HAHA! Got you you fucker!-

-WHAM! I get cracked right on the top of the head. Hard.

Now I ask you, is this any way to go in to a weekend? Did I sign up for this? Sure it's sort of fun and all, but now I have two golf-ball sized lumps on my head, one right in the center, and the other just at my hairline above my right eyebrow. I'm serious. I'm talking the kind of lumps Daffy Duck gets when Bugs Bunny wails on him with a mallet. The worst part? Now I have to go out drinking with a splitting headache. The headache isn't supposed to come until tommorrow! What's the deal?!?

Did I mention that this kid was doing these vicious overhead hits one handed? It's ok though, I got in one more of those illegal armpit hits before the day was done. The little bitch.