I heard my dog’s low gutteral growl long before this guy startled me one morning. At first I thought it was a live person standing outside his home. Wait a minute. No arms, no legs. It’s a boxing mannequin. I’ve seen standing and hanging body bags, but never a punching dummy like this. Especially not in our neighborhood.
Of course, you can buy your own on Amazon. And he gets great reviews. Once you fill the base with a few hundred pounds of sand or water, he can take a lot of abuse. I wonder how many of these the delivery guy has dropped off at homes?
What do you think? Would you rather take out your aggression on a cylindrical heavy bag, or something that looks like a real person? I’ve never done any boxing or fighting. I’ll bet some find it very satisfying land punch after punch and work off the day’s stress.
I’ve got a few young grandchildren who are learning Tae Kwon Do. So far they’ve just practiced forms and broken a few boards. But as they move up in belt color, it won’t be long before they will have to spar. That’s got to be a whole different experience. Hitting someone or being hit by someone is where it gets real.
Thinking back through my career, I don’t remember ever really wanting to take a swing at someone. I am sure my professors at the seminary discouraged that kind of pastoral care. However, I imagine there were some who wanted to get “real” with me. The prophets always took it on the chin, right?
I prefer running to martial arts. I’m sure I could have outrun any overly-aggressive parishioners.
Waite for it... 