Scott Bush

Our dojo, Northwest Martial Arts, held a demonstration at the University Street Fair
today. In 2007, the attendance at the fair was down, and the dojo’s demonstration was watched by “four” people. Today’s 80-plus-degree weather guaranteed a larger audience. It also guaranteed something we hadn’t thought of: hot feet.

As a student of both karate and aikido, I was performing both kata (a pre-determined “routine” of punches, kicks, and stances), one-step sparring, beginner aikido techniques, and some target drills. We set out a number of multi-colored matts–a bit thinner than those we use in the dojo–a few minutes before we actually began. The crowd gathered, the sun beat down, and our sandals came off.

Luckily, the young kids started first with a few minutes of rolling so they weren’t subjected to the hot mats. But by the time we started with the kata it was quite uncomfortable. I was thinking, “damn, these mats are HOT” but we were beginning so my mind wasn’t thinking too much about it. But after returning for one-step sparring it was excruciating. We rushed through the aikido techniques (basics like kotoroshi, shihonage, kokunage, and ikkyo) but by the time we were doing the target drills, I was wincing and hopping around to keep my feet off the mats as much as possible. Apparently, it looked to some members of the audience like I was just “excited to start punching,” so that’s good.

All in all, it was a good demo. It’s always good to practice in front of people, although honestly I don’t remember much about what I did. I think I missed a section of one kata and my throws weren’t great but I did get through it. Check out our dojo’s Facebook group to read the kind words our aikido sensei had to say about me “manning up” despite the heat.

Soon I’ll post a photo of the red, blistered flesh that I call my feet.

Update: The photo is posted for your podiatric voyeurism.