I know what I like.

 

Compared to the martial artists I've known over the years -- and boxers -- some of whom were pro and champs -- I know very little about the fighting arts.

But I know what I like.

So in pursuing a hybrid stick fetish I'm being loyal to my own inclinations, background and limitations.

And I think I'm onto something with this idiosyncratic kali/jojutsu combo.

I'm not sure what in the sense that I cannot articulate the synthesis I am experiencing, but to look at it this way I own up to tapping into a certain logic:

• I'm not interested in punching or being punched.
• I'm not interested in grappling or rolling on the ground.
• I don't want to hurt anyone.
• Inasmuch as I'm into self-defence, I want to keep any hypothetical attacker at some distance from my body so that they cannot harm me or get me down.
• I want to rejuvenate my flexibility in those regions of the body I'm being crucified by age and chronic illness.
• I  seek to tune my  'movement awareness' which is all about registering where your whole body is in space as you move it about.

Unlike the Soul Line Dancing I used to do and teach -- this stuff has a large upper body quotient.  It also has a rhythm -- enough for me to appreciate the accompaniment of music.

And its focused and concentrated in a way that 'gym work' is not. En route, you can register attainment by getting better at what you try to do -- the drills you perform.  There is always something new to learn which challenge your ability to master it. Each time the 'flow' becomes more complex and demanding. ..and more satisfying as you build in confidence.