Force

Last night we worked on headlock escapes while the opponent is lying on your chest.

It's a cool technique, and harmless enough for the person doing it. You push your arms against the opponent's face hard, then swing both legs up and around his face. You pull him backwards to the ground with your legs grindingly tight against his face.

There are a number of variations, but that's pretty much it.

Doing it a couple of times is no problem for either participant, but there is wear and tear on the opponent's face. The uniforms don't help either. They are very abrasive when pushed against the skin with any force.

Although there were many people there, I spent most of the night with the same guy. He's a nice fellow, and we are both amongst the larger people present. His one flaw is that he seems unable to do any technique without piling on a great deal of muscle. He tries not to, but just can't stop. As he uses muscle when being the opponent, I have no option but to use a bit of force back. Not as much as he's using, but more than is pleasant.

I noticed about halfway through the night that his face was turning blotchy, and maybe even a tad swollen and bumpy. I don't mind looking hurt, as long as I'm not really injured, and I assumed the same was happening to me.

Facial markings like these fade rapidly. By the time I got home I looked pretty normal except for a bit of redness here and there. By this morning even that had largely faded.

All of the three of four other partners I had briefly last night looked perfectly normal. Only Mister Resistance and I got reddened up. I'm sure I didn't cause any abrasion to any of my other partners.

I have noticed that Mister Resistance seems to have a little problem getting partners when it's pair-up time. He always gets one, but is usually one of the last paired.

I don't mind him at all. The muscle he uses is pretty static. There’s no chance he'd hurt me as there could be if he flailed about. To me he's just a different version of an opponent. I like them all.

Last night I paired with a stocky, two-stripe White Belt. I've done some things more than him, and he some more than I. We are good at giving each other feedback. I also had Michael. He's a slender guy in his twenties. He often has trouble with new things for a repetition or two, but then he always gets it and is good to go. Fast learner. I also had Madeline. She's the smallest person in the class, but might just be the one that moves the best.

I had them each after the instructor told us to, "get a new partner". Soon, however, gravity pulled me back to Mister Resistance. When he didn't have me, he ended up with others amongst the larger people.

I bet it would be really uncomfortable for the smaller folks.