Elektra-fying

I know I keep saying that Thursday nights are fun, but tonight was fun of the SUPERACEBESTWITHCHERRIESONNATOP caliber.

There were just four of us in the class, so after warming up (and learning the ninja secret for balancing on one leg and stretching your thigh muscles) Sensei promised us some fun. This involved setting up a combat scenario with one person with nunchakus being attacked by two others, one armed with a jo stick and the other with a knife, and incorporated blocks, strikes, throws and disarms as we worked on the techniques. Most excellent, dude.

After an hour or so, we picked up the fourth weapon on our syllabus for the first time, to whit a brand new pair of sais - mmmm, shiny. The rest of the class was spent learning the basic technique for striking and returning by using a motion of the forearm rather than flicking with the wrist. The sais that we've got are perfectly weighted for turning smoothly in the hand and it is supremely satisfying when you get the move to flow correctly (and highly embarrassing when you fumble it). The techniques require equal dexterity with both right and left hand, so it's going to be good training for other disciplines as well.

By golly, I've earned my glass of beer tonight!