Pedicures are not good for sparring.
You probably read that as “sparring is not good for pedicures.” Seems a bit obvious doesn’t it, that intense physical activity would damage a pedicure? Au contraire. A good pedicure will stand up to a lot.
No, I mean that having gotten a pedicure makes sparring harder.
Huh? What kind of airhead must I be, I’m sure you’re thinking.
Part of the pedicure involves removal of dead skin. The latest craze is having little fishies chew away at the dead skin. For a more moderate price, though, it’s a girl with a razor.
At my last pedicure the girl was a little too enthusiastic with the the razor. So my heels are a little tender. Not to mention the divots.
At first I wasn’t going to go to sparring, then I thought, hey, Sifu Patty is always getting on me for going flat-footed. If my heels hurt, I’ll stay up on the balls of my feet like I should.
Guess where else the girl with the razor scraped? I no longer have protective callouses on my toes and balls of my feet. About 40 minutes into class I was trying to figure out how to spar while balancing on the sides of my feet, as I now had blisters forming on my big toes and the ball of the foot.
It hurts to walk. My heels hurt, my toes hurt, the balls of my feet hurt. There’s no where else to to stand. Nothing to do but sit on the couch with my feet up and a drink.
