I also began to take more dangerous jobs.  Bodyguard gigs were becoming an increasingly important--and dangerous source of income.  

    I loved the thrill of battle.  Next to helping a person to defend themselves and making love, the exhileration of going into battle is the best feeling I have experienced in life.

Before I go into battle, I imagine a beautiful day at the beach.  I see the ocean and the sand.  I smell the salt water.  I feel the warm sand beneath my feet.  I hear the sounds of seagulls flying overhead.  
   
    I look over and see Molly, smiling.  

    When the bad guy attacks, I never think about my response.  As he steps toward me, I take a quick long stride on a diagonal line toward my right, and perform a quick pivot on the ball of my right foot.  I am now behind my opponent.  From here I can follow with a quick attack to a soft part of the neck or head.  My attacker drops to the ground.  

    When the police find the body and identify it, they see that the man I dropped was wanted in three states for various violent crimes including murder.  The man had similar intentions with my client until I stepped in.  

    At the end of the fight, I grudgingly walk back to the car with the beach behind me.  Alive to fight another day.  
   
    You may be wondering how all of this is possible.  I make fighting sound like such a clinical procedure.  

 You have to understand that both aiki-jutsu and jiu-jutsu are built on the idea that an opponent's momentum can and should be used against him or her.  This thinking probably developed alongside the rise of armor.  When forced to fight someone hand-to-hand, it become very difficult to strike your opponent effectively when he was wearing armor.  Thus, throws and joint-locks became increasingly important in aiki-jutsu and jiu-jutsu.  Strikes in these arts would increasingly rely on striking a vital point down the center of your opponent: the head, mouth, throat, diaphragm, stomach, or crotch.  Most points down this center-line are very sensitive and can incur a great deal of damage.