Barton and Megan training in Budo Taijutsu in Alabama.
Last Saturday, Barton and I went out for a night on the town with dinner with our friends, Sloan & Wendy & we heard our friends of The Chris Hendricks Band play at a local bar. It was great to be out as Barton & I had been working really hard the week before & it’s nice to hang out.
As the night went on, a couple of people in the place had a bit too much to drink; they were pretty plastered. One guy kept coming up to me & Barton, which was fine because he was harmless, but he kept asking me to dance. It was funny the first time, not so much after that. I was sitting behind Barton & Barton became a barrier between the chaos on the sidelines & Sloan, Wendy and I. Barton’s concern was that this guy was going to fall back into our friends playing, but he also wanted to protect our little corner.
I’m not sure if the band members saw Barton block the guy’s hand as he reached over for me or if they saw his feet keeping him from coming any closer.
When I talk about Barton & I, how met training in martial arts, the first question that people have is, “How can Barton train in martial arts, in a wheelchair?”
I asked that question, too- on our first time trained together. And I do what everyone does the first time they train with Barton- pull the punch. What does that mean? It means I didn’t give Barton a realistic attack. If there’s not a realistic attack, Barton can’t give a realistic response. Finally, after chiding me, I gave a realistic punch, and he barred my arm & used some unexpected defense techniques.
While in the movies, martial arts can be big and showy, high kicks and complicated maneuvers may not be effective in a realistic situation. In training with Barton, it’s not so much what you do see and more of what you don’t see. Barton plays with angles, timing and distance in addition to all of the fun and pointy parts of his wheelchair. Whether he’s driving his motor wheelchair or in his manual one, it doesn’t matter.
There are down sides- hence our “No hole Fixer Up” Party on Sunday, where a few friends will help us repair the house from the holes in the walls from Barton’s wheelchair (Peace vs War Speeds). I can’t say all of the dents are Barton’s fault.
I’m privileged to have a man so willing to step in when needed to protect his family.
