Tonight we did sparring drills in class. Sensei paired me with another student who, like myself, has experience is other styles. Sensei also gave us the "freedom" to expand on the drills he gave to the class. I know that I am going to have bruises tomorrow to go along with a small cut near my eye. My opponent had a very quick punch and he caught me with my guard down.

I caught him a few times myself. Once with a roundhouse to the short ribs and another time with a punch that landed just above the collar bone. I still have to shake the habit of bouncing when I spar. It is a habit I picked up in Tae Kwon Do as a way to stay on the balls of my feet.

I love the fact that we are doing this sparring without safeties. While I understand that the safeties are meant to protect both combatants they also allow one to be a little sloppy with techniques and control. Without them you have to focus on controlling the strike even more as well as executing properly to avoid injurying yourself or your opponent.

A little test today showed that all my training is having positive results. Sensei had us lie on the ground and do leg raises. They focus on tightening your abdomen in order to keep your legs raised 6" off the ground. Well while we do that he came around the class and punched students to make sure we were doing the exercise properly. In my case he also stood, full weight, on my abdomen twice each for about 5 seconds. He weighs about 180lbs.

My training is paying off. A few weeks ago and my spleen would have been through the floor. Maybe by the time I get to BCT I will be ready for the DI to do the same while in boots carrying a 40lb pack. Then again, I doubt it.