Wrestlemaniac Wednesday - Brothers Don't Hit, Brothers Hug!

I managed to complete a Judo throw during randori (sparring) for the first time last night, which was a pretty big thing for me; even better, it wasn't just a regular throw. I went in for o-soto-gari (the most basic throw), and my sparring partner blocked it and sort of trapped my leg; instead of panicking and trying to free myself, or beating myself up for not being able to catch him with my first throw, I actually remembered a move they showed us last week, pivoted on my free foot, and threw him. I wasn't able to catch him with any more standing throws the rest of the night, although I did manage to do something similar to wrestler's fireman's carry and toss him on his back later on. All in all, a pretty good night, which has inspired me to make this officially Wrestlemaniac Wednesday.

Sometime within the last couple of months, The Lovable PigPen decided to revive the time-honored tradition of testosterone-fueled males everywhere known as "two for flinching," a tradition which gives him endless delight because he gets to practice it on yours truly, one of the jumpiest fools on the face of the planet. Well, the other night while he and I were wrestling around he got me to flinch, doled out the request couple of punches, then got a strange look on his face and said "I saw you flinch too!" and punched me twice in the chest. I just stared at him as he started babbling about not talking back and how he was going to beat Tony Stark's ass; it was at that moment that I realized he was directing his comments towards the Iron Man t-shirt I was wearing . . . a t-shirt, might I add, that PigPen got me as a birthday present. Next thing I know, PigPen has tackled me and is raining blows down on the pictures on my shirt, calling out threats to Tony Stark the whole time. "I hate you Tony Stark! Hate you! Don't make kick your iron butt!" Things like that. I, meanwhile, am more ineffectual than usual at protecting myself because I'm laughing too danged hard at his antics. Sure, he may be a soulless ginger bastage hell-bent on destroying me, but he's a funny soulless ginger bastage hell-bent on destroying me, ya gotta give him that.

In addition to the good news about the FBI, Cap'n Shack-Fu also told me that he should be back in our area pretty soon which is cool, since I haven't had a chance to hang out with him for about a month and a half. Not telling how long he'll be around before they try to ship him off again. I'm sure I'll goad him into at least one sparring session before he heads off again, although with the amount of pent-up aggression he's probably developed over the last month and a half on deployment, I might be sorry. Then again, what else is new?

Now, while I've been able to goad The Lovable PigPen, Cap'n Peanut, and Cap'n Shack-Fu into full on wrestling matches, I have not yet managed to draw out the more violent tendencies of Li'l Random McEvil. Now, I know they're there; I've seen him dole out plenty of punishment to his friend B.B. But Li'l Brother informs me that he likes to keep his violent tendencies confined to just one particular individual, and sadly B.B. has apparently beaten me to the punch, so to speak. This of course does not deter me from trying to awaken the sleeping giant that is Li'l Random's violent side, but so far he has been able to resist responding in kind. Part of the fun of picking on Li'l Bro, though, is seeing which if a zillion random reactions will result; sometimes he'll just curl up into a semi-fetal position, other times he'll clutch onto something and holler "base, I'm on base!*" Occasionally he'll take the "gee, I think I just felt a gnat land on my arm, but I'm not sure, because it was as if I hardly felt a thing" approach, which is always delightful. Probably my favorite of the old stand-bys is his motto "Brothers don't hit, brothers hug!"; I maintain they do both. Monday night he pulled the "see, I would retaliate, but I would hate to embarrass you in public like that. That's how good a friend I am" gambit, which was new. Not so new is the fact that if PigPen is around when I'm picking on Li'l Random he transforms into The Ginger Avenger, coming to the "rescue" of "poor defenseless" Li'l Random**, a fact that somehow Li'l Random didn't clue into until I mentioned it recently; he then decided to test it out Sunday night, tattling on me to PigPen, who then came after me while I tried to use Li'l Tattletale as a shield.

*One time he declared a water bottle as base when Shack and I were ganging up on him; we weren't really sold on the validity of a mobile base, especially when he tried to convince us the next day that the bottle he had was the same one, even though it was a different brand and design. We did not fall for his tricksy ways.
**Apparently PigPen doesn't want any competition for the title of "Group Bully" . . .