Nov12

Giddy, y’all. Gi-ddy! (There’s a pun in there.)

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Giddy, y’all. Gi-ddy! (There’s a pun in there.)

First, if you’re new here and don’t want to be lost, read this paragraph. If you’re old hat, feel free to skip along. The brief recap: I did Jiu-Jitsu for nearly a year and was In. Love. Then, in September 2022, when testing for my next belt, I injured my foot and ankle. Things got gnarly, and I spent some time in a wheelchair. I nearly went back this past June but busted my knee before I could. I somewhat convinced myself the universe was against me doing Jiu-Jitsu forevermore.

Then this happened…

I’m still on Gracie Jiu-Jitsu’s distribution list. So, imagine my excitement when I saw the announcement for a free two-hour self defense seminar. I dug my old gi from the back of my closet, pulling off the plastic cover, singing, “Awwwwwww,” like a heavenly chorus. I tossed the bag aside and held up my beloved uniform, saying, “BEHOLD!”

My daughter, witnessing this, laughed, shook her head, and pushed her glasses farther up her nose.

I signed myself and two of my girls up and spread the word to others. Only one person took me up on it. Any guesses?

Sensei! (Year-old pic from the time my Taekwondo teacher sat on the side to observe a class. I was on crutches then.)

My girls and I were a few minutes late, so I felt bad slinking in while Instructor (omg, when’s the last time I’ve typed his name?!) was, you know, instructing. Nevertheless, he interrupted himself to call, “Hi, Ilsa!” from across the room while everyone was quietly lined up on the walls. [Garsh.]

I fist bumped–the traditional JJ greeting–an upper (blue) belt, with whom I have fond memories, and found a spot on the wall. When Instructor finished explaining the basic trap and roll, I jogged across the room to group hug my two favorite students to work with in the old days.

Another old pic from when these two, who had been behind me in the class, earned their second belts. L to R: “Thoughtful One” because he got Instructor (middle) a baby gift, and the last guy didn’t get a nickname, but he’s a lawyer, so, oh, I don’t know, “Lawyer”?

Lawyer was the one I ran into at Halloween. Thoughtful One told me he saw my Karate Kid shower costume because Lawyer showed him the pic.

Then I moved down the line to a few others for quick hugs, including, most notably, Surfer Dude, my fave teacher, other than Instructor, of course.

Instructor and his little brother, Surfer Dude, back when I earned my fourth stripe in the pre-injury days.

Quick greetings done, I turned to find everyone partnered up and Sensei standing in the middle, waiting. I went up to him and literally bounced from foot to foot with my hands clasped below my chin. It was HAPPENING! Months, I tell you, Months of daydreaming about getting this man on the mat and showing him what I’m made of.

And it was finally here!

Did I take him down? Eh. He has more old injuries than I do, so I took it easy. I did lose sight of that at one point and we grappled a bit, which was a little demoralizing. He’s stronger and I wasn’t necessarily “winning,” but I like to think I held my own before saying, “Okay, okay, back to the task at hand.”

When Instructor showed a standing takedown move I know well, I got excited, but then he said, “We won’t be doing that today.”

“I want to do it,” I told Sensei.

“No,” he said.

“Pleaaaaase,” I pleaded.

“No.”

Party pooper.

I got the bug out of my system when class was over. Surfer Dude was fixin’ to leave, but I intercepted him.

“Take your keys back out of your pocket. Kick your shoes off,” I told him.

“What?” he said with a smile but did as I requested.

I backed my way onto the mat with “follow me” hands. “Let’s roll,” I said.

The upper belts were standing nearby watching, so I HAVE WITNESSES to the fact that I submitted the Mighty Surfer Dude with a Kimura arm lock, my specialty. He tried to roll out of it, but I had him trapped too quickly.

“Wow, you got me,” he said.

Traditional arms up in triumph, like I haven’t done in more than a year!

“What was that, 30 seconds?” I asked the audience.

“I’d say 20,” said Blue Belt.

We rolled a bit more, and I submitted him three more times, but I’m sure he let me. Then he said he needed to get me one time before we ended. I knew that would not go well for me. I held him off as long as I could (not long) before he caught me in a rear naked choke from which I could not escape.

When I was done with Surfer Dude, I found Sensei off to the side looking at his phone. “How dare you not watch me when I’m being awesome?” I griped.

It was childish of me. I 100% own that, but every time I do anything remotely athletic in front of this man, I feel woefully inadequate. Like the time my daughter found a volleyball and basketball in a side room of the Taekwondo gym, and Sensei corrected my volleyball skills. When it came to the basketball, I took a shot and missed. He grabbed it, whipped it one handed from behind the half court line, and swished it.

Son of a…

So here, in the ONE AREA I can show him up, and he’s missing it.

What a jerk.

Heh heh. Kidding.

After class, he and I picked up free two-week passes that we may cash in come January, post-Taekwondo black belt test. Whether or not the girls and I continue on to second degree black in Taekwondo, we have yet to decide. I’d very much love to kick the rust off my Jiu-Jitsu skills. Surfer Dude was being kind when he said, “I’ve still got it.”

I still kinda got it. But I want to own it again.

There was one last thing I needed to do before leaving, another thing I’d been daydreaming about should I ever return: Snow angels on the mat.

These are still shots from the video my daughter took. Too bad I can’t play vids. They’d be better quality, and you’d hear her laughing.

Step one: The “break fall”
Still falling.
Arms and legs out…
And coming back in. (Repeat as needed, which I did.)

The downside: one of the many rapid-fire skills Instructor taught in this brief session was the double leg takedown. I gulped and leaned to Sensei, “I’m going to get PTSD.” This is the move that sidelined me from Jiu-Jitsu. He said we didn’t have to do it, but I pushed through, slowly.

Now, hours later, I’m surprised that my knee, the more recent injury, feels no worse for wear, but my ankle is definitely feeling it. I guess it’s a good thing I didn’t go back in June, as originally planned. Hopefully the two weeks in January will go okay.

Still worth it. Still a blast. When I walked out, I realized I hadn’t said goodbye to everyone, so I looked back. The blue belts, still against the wall, lifted their arms and called, “Bye, Ilsa,” just like in the old days.

My gosh, I’ve missed this!

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70 responses »

    • I was literally praying that I wouldn’t get hurt, especially since I’m roughly five weeks from black belt testing. At least if I did, it would likely be Sensei’s fault, so, you know. He couldn’t be TOO mad at me for pushing testing back again if that were the case. But also, I figured the odds of injury should be small. And it was a chance to come back for a free nibble. 🙂

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  7. What a cool, tight-knit community of bad-asses you have there. So it looks like sensei is all-around good at athletic pursuits. Worry not, he probably stinks at personal finance, or cooking, or handyman skills, or some other thing at which you excel. 😉

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      • Happy for all the wonderful times/experiences you had there. Sad because they may be over (though you will definitely find a worthy replacement).

        And about a serious injury, not telling us-all–you can’t do that. We will want to see how Betsy’s hutzpah and never-quit attitude takes you to the next step. Don’t even think you can hide in a corner.

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      • Yeah, who knows, Jacqui. Maybe this was an Indian summer of Jiu Jitsu, but now the winter is coming for real. I guess we’ll see.

        You’re right. I can’t hide from y’all. What a sad sad post that would be, though. If I don’t have a worthy replacement at the ready (like a two-book deal) it will be a hard post to swallow.

        Liked by 1 person

    • For a bit. It was fun. And I forgot to mention that the standing takedown that Sensei wouldn’t let me do on him, I did on my daughter after class. I heard some oohs and ohhhhs from a couple students. They didn’t know I’d been there a, uh, few times, before. 😛

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  16. Oh, oh, oh – there is so much JOY in this post. I love it – I felt like I was there with you but thankfully didn’t have to do any take downs (or get taken down). I’m so glad you went and I love the reunion you had with your JJ buddies. Clearly they love you as much as we blog buddies do. Yay!!

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  23. Pingback: Betsy goes back to Jiu-Jitsu aaaaaaaaannnddd you can probably guess what happened next. | Motherhood and Martial Arts

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