-^-for posterity-^-

some sort of kung fu was going on and i was going to watch. it happens all the time at night around the main campus. there are two lights that hang from the main meeting hall. all the kung fu students meet under the lights and kick and punch into the evening.

they all wear loose blue robes tied with yellow belts. the instructors are, on average, overweight men in extra loose robes. the students are all young and about a third of them are female.

on a normal night, they will stand in rows depending on their level. each level will have a different teacher who will yell commands and the students will follow a set pattern of kicks and punches. at the end of the night they will pull out small punching bag type things and people will swing and kick back and forth until they are covered in sweat and forced to go home.

tonight was a competition.

they fought wearing padding, however inadequate in certain, vital areas. there were helmets that kept falling off because they used velcro to strap them on. there were vests that looked quite sturdy but that didn’t quite come down far enough. there were gloves that, instead of being tied on, were pulled on like mittens.

two of the competitors would come out for a brawl. they would bow to the main judge, turn, and bow to each other. at the should of the referee, they would begin to fight. the beginnings of the fight were normally brutal. they would kick at each others bare shins. they would swing for the face and, when engaged closely, they would end up throwing each other to the ground floor. there were a few swooping kicks that threw the kicker to the ground and one swooping kick that connected on the defender’s jaw and send him sprawling to the ground.

the lesser skilled people would go after each other with abandon. they would always end up tied up in a flurry of arms and legs. a helmet or a glove always came off and the fight was postponed.

i watched them for a while and they never got angry with one another. there were very violent blows landed and there were also cheap shots taken. normally, both people left with arms draped around one another’s shoulders. it was really a sight. i couldn’t imagine something similar happening where i come from.