I know how you feel Apollo. I dabbled in a lot of martial arts. When I took some Kyokushin lessons in Japan they were like PUNISHMENT TIME!

Me: ...wat? You want to hit 'me', what is basically a small, skinny bag of brittle bones in a flesh covering, to take hits?
Master: *Proceeds to smack me hard with a bamboo pole in the stomach*

On the plus side I can now break a shinai over my stomach without feeling much ._.