Last night the ninjas all met at our secret rendezvous up in the hills somewhere. That sounds WAY cooler and more mysterious than it really is, btw.

We trained in the dark on a tennis court, surrounded by stars, nearby streetlights, and mosquitoes. On the northern horizon, heat lightning flashed in the sky and boomed like a wandering giant.

There wasn’t much weapons work last night, instead the focus was on defending and counterattacking against someone who is coming at you in a stand-up boxing position. I learned a few things that seem like they would be easy and obvious, but of course are not.

Move your body out of the way. Get off line and take the balance of your opponent. Make your movements swift and light, but direct. It’s pretty hard to explain in words… I think I did alright. Though I did fail to get outside of a punch Brian swung at me, which almost knocked my brand-new contact lens out of my left eye. I managed to save it, and poke it back in with no light and no mirror.

Training in martial arts is also learning how to take hits.

Tomorrow my roommate and I are going to a women-only seminar that the dojo is offering. It will be my first time training without Brian, so we’ll see how that feels.