Tag Archives: BJJ

Aug31

The Lawyer Saga (A Jiu-Jitsu story, not real life)

Posted on August 31, 2026 by Ilsa Rey

I’ve had this running gag with Lawyer about me ignoring him. It started months ago when I looked past him to instead greet Balloon Man, whom I hadn’t seen in forever. I apologized to Lawyer for–his words–shunning him, explaining I’d already seen him plenty of times. He acted too offended to forgive.

I’m shocked I have a picture of this incident from so long ago. Balloon Man, L, looks like, “Why is this woman speaking to me? What is she even talking about?” Lawyer, middle, is like, “Uh, I’m standing here too, Ilsa!” Wish I could remember what was actually being said.

Then there was the time we were all waiting at the mat for class to begin. I called Lawyer’s name, then looked up and away as soon as he turned toward me, which made him laugh.

Another time, I waved to Lawyer before class started. He ignored me. Finally he saw me and stepped toward me. “I waved and you shunned me,” I said. He apologized and extended a fist. I bumped it and said, “Now we’re even.”

“No, we’re not,” he said.

Read the rest of this entry →

Aug26

Beating up my Jiu-Jitsu training partners–on accident!

Posted on August 26, 2026 by Ilsa Rey

Standard

Beating up my Jiu-Jitsu training partners–on accident!

Whoa! Another post already? I know, but I’ve got gobs of stories waiting to get written up.

Remember that time I elbowed Her Royal Highness in the head right in front of her husband, the instructor? (Probably not, but that’s okay.) That incident didn’t go over well. “If she has bruises, that reflects poorly on me,” he said.

More recently I was caught slightly slapping Thoughtful One in the face.

“Slap his shoulders, not his face,” Instructor… instructed.

“He just has a perfectly slappable face,” I quipped.

“I don’t think so,” Instructor said. “I wouldn’t want to slap him in the face.”

“Me neither!” I blurted quickly as he walked away.

I later told HRH about this incident. She assured me Instructor knew I was being sarcastic as he is too. I had yet to see that play out.

Read the rest of this entry →

Aug23

Saturday morning Jiu-Jitsu

Posted on August 23, 2026 by Ilsa Rey

Standard

Her Royal Highness (HRH) letting me know I’d be flying solo.

She kept me company while I got ready for class then…

Read the rest of this entry →

Aug1

And so it happened

Posted on August 1, 2026 by Ilsa Rey

Standard

We knew the day was coming, but knowing in advance didn’t make its arrival any easier.

The New Girls, Blonde and Brunette, officially joined Master Cycle. That meant Instructor split Her Royal Highness and me up to partner with the lower belts.

That I should be considered a “higher belt” is ironic, but here we are.

I was with Brunette for what was her first MC class, and it went fine, from my perspective. The challenges are old hat to me, but later I got a text from her saying she wanted to cry after class.

And so I talked her down, much like HRH had done for me, telling her it would all be okay, eventually.

Being the elegant lady that I am, I described it thus: “I know it’s rough going from top dog in Combatives to little puppy not yet potty trained in Master Cycle” and explained it’s tough for all of us, but everyone is so kind and helpful.

And so the Ilsa has become the HRH, though I don’t think Her Royal Highness has ever wet the mat.

Read the rest of this entry →

Jul28

Back to our regularly scheduled program

Posted on July 28, 2026 by Ilsa Rey

Standard

In other words, I went back to Jiu-Jitsu Saturday morning after my surgery on Monday. The doctor had warned, “Nothing more than a stationary bike. Don’t get your blood pressure up.”

I don’t have a stationary bike, so I basically got slothful for several days. Feeling my muscles shrink and my stomach sag, I at least did a set of push-ups Friday. My nose throbbed afterward, however.

Oh well. It’s been too long since I’d Jiu-Jitsued it up, so I donned my gi and fresh nose Band-Aids and headed to the mixed beginner (Combatives) and advanced (Master Cycle) class.

Read the rest of this entry →

Jul19

It’s been far too long since I’ve given you…

Posted on July 19, 2026 by Ilsa Rey

Standard

It’s been far too long since I’ve given you…

Surfer Dude stories! (I can hear your applause from here.)

Instructor and HRH were on a family camping trip one Saturday morning, so Surfer Dude (SD) taught Jiu-Jitsu. Toward the end, Smiley Guy asked SD what to do if someone gets their head out from under your leg (#onlyinJiuJitsu). SD showed it once, but class was over, so we didn’t practice that.

Rolling time, and I was with SD. At one point, he pushed my leg off from over his head, so I immediately pressed his chest back down with my other thigh, as he’d just shown.

“Oh-ho!” he said, eyebrows raised.

Later, I was standing, pondering how to get past his legs as he was in what I’ll call dead-bug position. Suddenly, his face brightened (uh-oh), he sat up, and pushed me over backward.

“Hey! That’s cheating,” I said. We both laughed. The timer rang, and he fist bumped me. “Good job,” he said.

I was practicing another day with SD when he said something along the lines of, “You can’t keep a good man down.”

“Oh, so since you just got out from the bottom of my side mount, you’re a good man, huh?” I said.

“I didn’t even think of that. You’re the one who made the connection.”

“Oooh, look at me. I’m Surfer Dude. I’m so great,” I said in my most obnoxious voice.

“Is that what I sound like in your head?”

Read the rest of this entry →

Jul8

The New Girls

Posted on July 8, 2026 by Ilsa Rey

Standard

When I returned to Jiu-Jitsu in January after the broken foot, there were two new women in the Combatives (beginner) class. Since they were unknown to me, they were scary. Nevertheless, I asked one to take that picture of me with HRH on my first night back.

On a Saturday seminar, one of them—I’ll super inventively call her “Blonde”—was my partner. Once you partner with someone, the camaraderie is born. All level of discomfort disappears.

Now both new ladies are my friends. Along with HRH and Little Sister, we went out to tacos on a Tuesday after a joint Combatives/Master Cycle class. I’ve also been on a group text with the two of them. It makes me laugh to think how “scary” they were initially.

Blonde has since made it to Master Cycle. We partnered together on a Tuesday where we only do instruction for the first half of class, followed by rolls. I often like to use this time drilling what we’d learned, hoping it will help cement the new techniques in my mind.

Instructor doesn’t favor this approach.

He walked toward us and, not looking at me, asked Blonde if she wanted to drill or roll.

Read the rest of this entry →

May20

Ich wünschte ich wäre hier

Posted on May 20, 2026 by Ilsa Rey

Standard

I could also say: Ojalá estuviera aquí.

And soon it will be: [whatever “Wish I Was Here” is in French].

The publisher asked authors if they’d like their Kindle e-books translated into German and Spanish.

“Sure!” I said. “Why not?”

“They’ll be up within 72 hours,” was the response.

Clearly, that means they’re AI-generated. I hope the robots did a good job. Not that humans can’t make mistakes, of course. In fact, as well-refined as AI has become, maybe it did a better job than a human could. Still, some carbon-based life form proofreading after the fact would probably be prudent. I’d like to say I could do it, but…

Conozco ein bisschen Español y Deutsch pero nein Français. And certainly not enough of the first two to be a decent judge.

If anyone wants to 1) test their foreign language knowledge, 2) help out a blog buddy, and 3) enjoy a good book, especially as a fun summer read, try Wish I Was Here in the lingua of your choice! [Click/tap See all languages and editions then choose a language from the drop-down menu. It’s only $6 or free if you have Kindle Unlimited. Yes, I have an affiliate link, FWIW.]

Other ways my book goes international

The Travel Architect emailed me a pic of my book on her lap at the airport as she awaited a flight to Copenhagen.

“Oooh! Send me a pic of it at cool places,” I requested.

A couple of days later, I received an email titled Malmo City Library, Sweden.

Read the rest of this entry →

Apr28

Deadline Dithering? (IDK. I just like alliteration.)

Posted on April 28, 2026 by Ilsa Rey

Standard

Deadline Dithering? (IDK. I just like alliteration.)

First, thanks to those who offered their editing opinions in response to my last post. Most significantly, I amended that troublesome sentence to: “One way or another, we would’ve wound up The Crazy Freshmen, aka Space Cadet, me, and Beaker Brain, Isaac.” That takes care of that, yes?

I had combined short paragraphs, as instructed by the editor, but most of you agreed they were better separate. Later, I went back and looked at the combined sentences, and it just didn’t feel right. So, I separated them back a little more.

The comma after “Hopefully” will come over my cold, dead body!!! Okay, fine, maybe not, but what about here: “Hopefully Ben could avoid being named publicly.” I need a comma after that one? Really? I might point out that my blog editor friend didn’t flag either of these on his read… I might point that out, but I won’t because that would be rude.

I have until August 16 to turn in my final draft of Wish YOU Were Here. Shouldn’t be a problem. But do you know what I AM seeing as a problem?

Friggin’ Book 3!

I sent this to HRH, commenting that these were the only appropriate socks to wear while writing. They were a birthday gift from her. Laptop in foreground if you’re struggling to work out that brain teaser.

Read the rest of this entry →

Mar25

Where my mojo at? And some book stuff.

Posted on March 25, 2026 by Ilsa Rey

Standard

I’ve been back at Jiu-Jitsu for three months but am still discouraged by the slow climb to where I was before my foot broke.

Sometimes I wonder if I should stay home, watch TV, and eat garbage with Hubby instead of go to class.

Sometimes I’m just tired and not feeling it.

Sometimes I go anyway.

Then I find myself smiling and fist bumping the friendly students who greet me and ask how I’m doing.

Class begins and Her Royal Highness and I get the giggles over our inability to properly execute the moves. I’m grateful that, rather than be annoyed, Instructor laughs with us. I consider whether he’d be so amiable if it had been me with someone other than his wife.

I had somehow managed to throw her on her back while flipping myself over on my head rather than over my shoulder. It’s a wonder I didn’t hurt my neck, but since that’s not a lower extremity, it was fine. Later squashing my toe and needing to ice it after class is par for the course, however.