No, Really, I Am an American

For about a month now, I’d been saying to Clint that we should spar sometime. Every time we made arrangements to do so, either he or I back out for various reasons.

This was not the case this week.

I met with Clint and Laura at Tanimachi Exit 3 to take them to the park. The weather was supposed to be temperate, which was another reason I suggested meeting.

Clint is a saber fencer; he competed on the national level, studied privately with a maestro and everything. He also taught a little fencing in Ren Faires. Laura’s training is not so explicit, having only sparred and competed with karate but she expressed interest in learning some weapon techniques.

I trusted Clint’s teaching method more than I trusted mine, so I left it to him to teach Laura the basics. There were a few things that I chimed in on, and I helped do footwork drills while Clint played about with the various shinai that I brought with me.

After about an hour or so, it was finally time to spar. Naturally, Clint and I squared off first. There were a few friendly passes, but it was incredibly difficult to gauge him. I sent out my circle, and was surprised at how it merely stopped when it got to Clint. I was further baffled when it allowed Clint to step inside. This is something that rarely happens.

I don’t remember exactly when or where I realized it, but I stopped at one point to explain my reluctance to engage in combat. “I don’t know what it is, but there’s something different about you.” I have no doubt that Clint has skill, but there was something decidedly lacking in our passes. I explained to both of them about the circle, and how with most people it either bends upon “contact” with my opponents and yet with Clint, it didn’t find him at all intrusive as it would against say Jacob or Mike.

There were a few more exchanges and after a moment’s breath I found an allusion that seemed to sum it up for me: “Have you ever watched Rurouni Kenshin? It’s like you’re the Tenken.”

Laura agreed and Clint was pretty happy about the reference. Clint is a blank fighter. There is nothing but a smile on his face and his fighter’s ki is playful and docile in some respects.

“I lack aggression and I’m not competitive,” he admitted. He had me on the ground and he didn’t take the kill and I had promptly admonished him for it. “It always got me into a bit of trouble in competitions.”

Thus, he is the Tenken only without the ruthlessness. He is still a competent and comparable opponent.

I sparred with Laura next. It was more drilling than anything else; a few passes and some instruction along the way. There was definitely a difference between her and Clint. Whereas Clint was allowed in my circle, Laura was obstructed. Not surprising considering her own observation in that she is incredibly competitive.

After a brief water break, Clint thought it would be fun to take us both on. We all did reasonably well all things considered. For a man who is not overly aggressive, he was doing pretty well. I watched a bout between Clint and Laura thereafter and the only way I could describe it as was playful. They are too good of friends to truly be looking to hurt each other. Clint managed a typical head shot characteristic of a saber fencer rather soundly on Laura. I was impressed that he was able to pull it off given the off-set balance and weight of the shinai versus a saber. He also managed to coax Laura into a decent attack after some references to a fellow neither one of them are quite fond of. I made the mistake of following this and that’s how I received a sound hit on my thumb. We had been fighting with the shorts and I forgot to put the gauntlets back on. My thumb now sports an interesting bruise covering about 70% under my nail and even through to the other side. I proudly named it “George”.

It was after all this that we decided to call the day. Clint and I dubbed Laura “the Wildcard” as she is the novice of us and there is truly no telling what she will end up doing in a bout.

After sparring with both of them, I couldn’t help but wonder what Jacob would have made of them.