First Large Scale Test

by Crazy Ivan

Got our first chance to really try the 3 on 3 version of the Fu game last night and I have to say that the game passed the test with flying colors.  If you don't know the game I'm talking about, you can read all about it at this link.  I'd advise it since a lot of what follows won't make much sense if you don't know the game.

To be clear, we'd played before, but this was the first time where we had enough Myachi Masters around to (a) field multiple teams and (b) still have people left over to referee.  The game is remarkably exhausting so we were playing first team to 3 points and then we were swapping out teammates here and there and giving a few people a rest.

Myachi Man, Kid, Monk, Animal, Bones, Bamboo, Rush, Unknown, Strike*, Metal* and myself all got in on the game and we had some epic battles.  Kid got a bit of video on his phone so hopefully we'll have some evidence of the awesomeness of the game before long, but for now you'll just have to trust my testimonial (or ask Myachi Man, Kid, Monk, Animal, Bones, Bamboo, Rush, Unknown, Strike* or Metal*).

(* Myachi Masters in Training)

We didn't have enough room to really play the way we'd want to.  We were playing in the driveway at the House of Skills so it was relatively easy to corner the defender and 6 people in such a small arena made it really hard to pass.  By and large one player defended each team's Myachi throughout each round.  There were a couple of passes, but generally speaking you'd have one guy defending the Myachi, another guy defending him and a third guy attacking the other team's Myachi.

That changed from time to time, of course.  Sometimes one team would double team on attack and leave one guy to defend the Myachi by himself.  That tended to work alright as long as the other team didn't decide to double team at the same time.  Then it often turned into a race against the clock.

The game went, in a lot of ways, exactly how I hoped it would.  The gameplay was fast, intense and filled with highlights.  One thing that surprised me was exactly how many elements of different sports we brought into the game.  Strike and Monk are pretty good basketball players and they were using a lot of their basketball skills when they defended.  Unknown plays offensive line so when he was protecting the primary defender (the dude with the Myachi) he created a wall.  There were also heavy elements of lacrosse, soccer, ultimate, footbag, hockey and, of course, martial arts.

There were also a few huge highlights, though I don't think I could do them justice just by describing them.  One of my teams scored short handed while I was in the penalty box (accidentally hit Bones in the head) and that was pretty cool to watch.  At one point when Bones had his team's Myachi he went on the offensive and suddenly there were three guys attacking Monk.  He weaved his way out of it like nobody's business.  At one point Bamboo got in trouble, outran the Myachi and had to kick it to Rush to keep the game going.  At one point I had Metal all over me like Velcro and had to make about 4 saves in a row to give my team time to score.

Next time we play, we'll have multiple cameras.  I can't wait to see this thing presented like a genuine sport.  Unfortunately, this probably won't happen until Bones, Bamboo, Pinky and I get back from Tennessee (in August), but the good news is that we'll have a lot of time to practice up and get our strategies in order.

In fact, I'm even willing to lay down the gauntlet against Monk, Mav and Animal.  Each team gets a few months to practice up and draw up crazy plays and then we duke it out for world domination at the end of the summer... I'm liking the sound of that...