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[Kensei]

Okay, got a quick one for you guys. About eight years ago I was at the club after a good work out, just chatting with my instructors wife, I used to call her Momma-san. We were not awair of what was going on in the work out area of the club when all of a sudden I was called to come back to the training floor.
My instructor was testing a student who was leaving for Japan for his 3rd dan black belt and he needed someone to spar with for the test. This is "semi-contact" fighting. We normally get very "spirited" during our sparring, but their were mitigating factors in this fight. First off the guy was 6'6" and I am 5'5" tall. Secondly we had both beat eachother once in tournament fighting that year and we always had a bit of a competition between the two of us when the tournaments came round, that and I had beat him in the last meeting. I am a bit faster than him and had learned...I thought...how to use my distance against him.
So the sparring started and it was not point fighting, just fighting. I got at least three points on him and I was reset to start by the "ref", my instructors son. My instructor yelled for the other student to fight harder if he wanted to pass the test.
We were told to start and I thought I would rush in and get inside again to work in "my" range, but he had other ideas. His leg automatically came out and he started to front kick right for my chest, I was a bit to busy thinking of getting under his arms and insde to think he would kick. He was all legs and I was a bit more worried about rushing into a fist than getting hit by those slow legs of his...which I should have been looking for. The air rushed out of my lungs and I quite litterally wrapped myself around his leg, Feet hitting him at the same time in the thigh as my forehead landed on his shin!
I then landed hard on my knees on the floor, and that was the last thing I remember other than coming around in the change room as they dumped water on my face, a old Karate trick...apparently it is not bad enough that you just got Knocked out, now they want to drown you as well!
I was then told by my senior, the Ref, that I was insane! Of this I knew, but apparently the second my knees hit the floor I was back up swining wild at the student that was testing, and even landed a sloppy right cross to the bridge of his nose! a feet as he was at least a foot taller than me and I probably had to hop to get that done. My senior said it took my instructor and him to stop me and calm me down enough to get me into the change room...which is were the attempted drowning occured.
My instructor said that I was KO'd and my instincts took over, I even looked out of it and glassy eyed, but would not stop the attack!
The next day I had a perfect purple mark on my solar plexis and after a quick visit to the emergency...they know me well...found out I had torn a rib from the sternum, not much fun I can tell you and everything from eating to breathing hurt for a good two weeks after that.

Now the funny thing is that the person testing passed his test and moved to Japan to train at the head quarters for JKA Karate and teach english for two years. when he came back I competed in my last tournament against him and beat him again! We are good buddies, but I will never forget that testing to this day.