Blue Belt

Chapter 15

                                                                 XV.

    It was just a few days later and suddenly the pace of our involvement really began to move along when Vargo told us we would be attending the next group sparring session.  The problem was it included all belt levels below brown, including the brown stripes like Cody.  Supposedly he was testing for his brown belt in the next few weeks, but that did not mean the likes of him would not be at this upcoming session.  While I was anxious to get started sparring, there was something about my practicing against Charles that made me feel a bit more like Tomas or Kim.  The one comfort was that this particular session was going to be led by Brandon, the brown belt who I felt good around.

            "Wow, we have a good sized group here today."  Brandon announced to a group of around twenty some who had shown up to the session.  My class stayed close to one another as different groups of people seemed to huddle together.  We began with a lot more stretching than I expected.  There was a fairly serious atmosphere that built up for this.  The level of visiting was down considerably from the form class.

            "Normally it will be just the blue belts and us."  Ron whispered to me.  "This is a once a month deal that's normally not fully required."

            "Ahh."  I replied softly.

            I was initially paired up with Ron as we did some practice with defending particular moves with all of our pads on.  We would know exactly what was coming, but it gave the instructors working with us a chance to be real particular about the technique we were using.  I thought of it as kind of like doing a one on one form with pads and contact.  I still could not help shake a slight internal level of discomfort.  I just did not feel all that confident when looking around the room at the many other students present.  After twenty minutes or so we went to free sparring, in which Brandon asked us to try to incorporate some of the moves we had just learned in the routine we had done.  I felt better sparring Ron.  I was on a level playing field and was scoring some definite strikes to both his chest protector and his head gear.  My confidence level went up further when I jumped forward at him with a front kick, got him square around the stomach, and he actually stumbled backward and fell down.  I quickly went toward him to help him to his feet, and was learning quickly what Jed had referred to as being proud of the fight but also not disliking your opponent at the same time.

            "Okay, switch it up."  Brandon said.  People began shuffling about the room searching out a new partner.  I somewhat intentionally moved over towards Tomas, but then he went with Ron, so I ended up walking towards Larry.  I wanted to avoid Charles without making it look like I was avoiding him.

            "I think we could break this group up a bit."  Brandon said as I had not realized he approached us.  "I know your new, but geez, mix it up."  He walked back over towards a few of the blue belts and grabbed two guys and a gal who I really only recognized but did not know personally.  He ended up pairing me, first, with the blue belt who was quite a few years older than me and had a mustache.  He was slightly shorter than I as well.  He extended out a hand and introduced himself as Barry.  He seemed nice enough.

            "Okay, let's begin again."  Brandon announced.  I was not sure what to expect here.  I immediately went in for a punch but it was blocked.  I then went with a round house kick to which I hit his upper thigh.

            "Keep your kicks up now."  Barry said to me in a friendly tone.  He then came at me with a punch that I blocked. 

            "Stop."  I heard Tiara say as she approached us.  She was one of the black belts here who was helping Brandon run the session this evening.  She came over and adjusted the way I had been holding my hand up in defense, along with the stance I was using.  "Much better."  Tiara added as she continued watching.