The Hardest Hit in the World…and My Revenge!
The fellow who delivered this dastardly strike to me, it was actually a side kick, was my friend and fellow karate classmate. His name was Gary, and we were freestyling, and I threw a kick, he parried, and he gave my ribs such a side kick! It was a powerful, classic kick, and I could feel my ribs bending inward, and it was the hardest strike I had ever experienced in the martial arts.
Truth, even now, decades later, I have no idea why my ribs didn’t break. At the time, I couldn’t speak, breathing was near impossible, and I should have stopped and taken a rest, told Gary to kick with less force, seen to my protection. Being young, dumb, and full of…uh, immortal attitude, I continued.
Cleverly, I turned to the other side and kept fighting. I kept my distance, moved sideways around Gary, used good strategy, and after a minute I could breath. Then I did something that probably wasn’t a very smart idea, I attacked.
I thought I was recovered enough to do it, and I launched my own side kick. Gary slapped the side kick away and threw his own side kick. I was taller than him, and his kick came up and lifted me all the way off the ground.
Thirty years later, I happened to be at the doctors for a routine checkup, the doc noticed that one of my testicles was shrunk. Even as the doctor made his observation, I knew exactly when it had happened. That second kick that Gary threw was the hardest strike I have ever experienced in this lifetime, it should have broken my ribs, but it didn’t hit my ribs, instead, it just squashed my coconuts.
When it happened, I just continued to freestyle, somehow continuing, somehow surviving, but, eventually, I was to have my revenge for Gary’s lack of control. He stopped training, actually went to another school and taught, and then, six months later, he came back. I had not halted my training, I had continued learning, and I had accomplished something I call CBM, Coordinated Body Motion.
All parts of the body move as one unit, and it is slow at first, but once one gets it, it is not just fast, it breeds intuitive responses. Freestyling with Gary at this later time I began kicking him, and kicking him, and kicking him, and because he didn’t have CBM, didn’t have intuitive responses, he couldn’t block my kicks. I kicked his ribs until they bent, but I didn’t go beyond, he was, after all, my friend, and though friends make mistakes, they should always watch out for each other.
Al Case analyzed martial arts for forty plus+ years. A writer for the magazines, he had his own column in Inside Karate. You can find out more about CBM, Coordinated Body Motion, and other things, by getting a free ebook at Monster Martial Arts.
Did you enjoy this post? Why not leave a comment below and continue the conversation, or subscribe to my feed and get articles like this delivered automatically to your feed reader.
Comments
No comments yet.
Leave a comment