His left hand simultaneously grabbed her right elbow, controlling the joint and preventing her from rotating the blade back toward him. The entire sequence took perhaps 2 seconds, but Bruce had already established a position where the sword was temporarily neutralized. Kiko’s training immediately activated. She executed a Thai Sabaki, a body rotation designed to break free from grabs and reestablish optimal distance. She succeeded in pulling away from Bruce’s initial control, but the brief contact had given him crucial information about her strength, balance, and reaction speed.
They separated to neutral distance, and Ko adjusted her assessment of her opponent. He had moved with precision she had not expected, and his timing had been impeccable. She attacked again, this time with a tsuki, a thrust aimed at Bruce’s solar plexus. a faster and more difficult technique to defend against than the men cut. Bruce demonstrated why decades of chiso training creates reflexes that operate faster than conscious thought. His hands moved in a tan sao and bongso combination, deflecting the thrust just enough to pass by his torso while simultaneously closing distance again.
