I’ve done something unpleasant to my thumb (right hand, of course) at Krav (of course) and so am typing with fingers and one thumb, while watching the other go a bit purple. Ooops.
We were doing gun disarms today – kind of weird and disturbing in the context of the Cumbria tragedy to still get that playful “I’m a spy/cop/gangsta” thrill out of a toy gun that all good feminists are supposed to despise. But there it is.
It’s compounded by the fact that, when done well, the disarm is cool, slick, make-you-look-like-a-superspy. Or, more accurately, make other people (like the instructors and some of the longer term participants) look like a super spies. I’m not very fluid. Yet. Anyway, we did a ridiculous number of squats and lunges and sprinting and quite unpleasant leg focussed work for cardio, then moved onto practicing practicing practicing the technique.
I was getting the hang of it a bit more by the end. Twisting my body, grabbing the attackers wrist with one hand, the other on the back of the gun, twisting to sharply wrench it from them. Then quickly backing up, strong legs, shouting, pointing the gun.
I’m better when I commit to it, really shouting and treating it like role play. Trying to rid myself of the inhibitions that tell me I look and sound stupid. I guess I’d rather look stupid in a room full of other people also looking stupid than *not* do it properly and end up being MORE unsafe because I half-think I half-know what to do if I was ever called upon to use any of this.
At the end, when knackered, we did a pressure test. The idea is to take the technique one step closer to how it might be IRL. Legs sore from the cardio, we spun for 30 seconds to get dizzy. Then, the other people in the group attacked, one at a time, again, shouting, making demands. Your objective is to get the gun off them, back up, pointing at them all the time and get away.
It’s scrappy as hell – they don’t let go. They try and trip you up. They shout at you. They fight back. If you don’t get the technique right quickly, you then have to find other ways to get the damn thing off them. Anyway, one time I was attacking (and being comprehensively disarmed) my thumb made a sharp cracking noise and went slack. I can move it, mostly, but it’s developing a pretty good purple bruise on the pad.
Got a fancy-schmancy meeting tomorrow in That London, for lunch. I’m going to end up holding my cutlery like a 4 year old. Or worse, like an American. I’ll take comfort in the knowledge that if he teases me too much about it, I could probably kick his ass. Rarr!
