Well, it seems street thugs in DC have stopped carrying so many guns, and started carrying more hatchets. Yes, hatchets are the new thing, odd as it may sound. The sister of a senior student at my school works in an ER, and lately they have been getting more and more victims of hatchet wounds. In DC, if you've been caught with a gun, it's a BAD idea to get caught with one again. So, many gang members are now carrying hatchets, which are not in any way illegal. Wierd, huh?

So, in our sanshou class, we rolled up newspapers the length of hatchets and went at it. What we found is that you're basically fu.cked. A hatchet is a bit.ch to defend against. Not that it can't be done, but it's so risky you really don't want to try. (It was kinda funny, actually. Afterward we all hard big black marks on our arms from the print on the paper, not to mention big red marks on our bodies. Anyway...)

Just thought I'd share this odd and scary piece of info.