This is what makes me angry

[fbhjr]

Phoenix Swords gives sword lessons to kids. We do not try and give them any real martial arts knowledge. You can’t in 5 minutes. It is just too little time.
So, we show them a couple of sword swings, let them bang their sword against one of ours and go back and tell their friends “I got to sword fight!”
We don’t spar. We don’t show them how to spar. We show they a few strikes and one “tricky” move. If the kids are young, I usually lie down in front of them and have them shout to their parents “I win!” while photos are taken.
That’s all it is about. Making some kid happy and being able to brag to their friends.
I couldn’t count how many thousands of times we’ve done this since we started doing it with the group before Phoenix. (I know one faire where we did 150 just in one afternoon.)

Yesterday we had one boy of around 10 ask for a lesson. He really wanted to use what he thought of as “pirate swords”, even if they were a bit heavy for him.
Because I could see he was tiring quickly, I only did about half the normal lesson with him and went to the “trick” ending pretty fast.
But, he was having trouble with it. The sword was a bit big for him to handle comfortably and he was having some trouble with if he should move left or right with it. (A problem I know well.)
I was just about to tell him he was doing it well and take a dive for the cameras when I hear the belt salesman three tents away from us start shouting.
“Tell him to do it like flowing water!” the guy shouted. “He’s doing it wrong now!”
I could see the kid could barely hold the sword anymore and was ready to stop.
The guy came up to the rope around our area.
“Like water!” he said, making a swirling motion with his arms.
“Don’t worry, sir,” I said. “He’s got it well enough.”
The man pushed down our rope and stepped into our fight ring.
“He’s doing it wrong!” the man said. “I’m showing you how he can do it right!”
“Sir! You are NOT on my insurance and CAN NOT be in this ring!
He stared at me.
“I have been teaching children this lesson for 12 years,” I said. “Trust me that I know how to handle it and GET BEHIND THE ROPE!”
He did. And walked away. I’m sure he has a low opinion of me.
I told the boy he had done very well and thanked him for taking a sword lesson with me.

This belt seller may be the best martial artist in the world. He may give the most fantastic sword lessons in creation.
But, he should NEVER walk into someone else’s roped off area without asking first.
And, he should never tell a little kid who was so excited to try that he is doing it “wrong”.
It’s about the kids having fun.