Lazy Goy

The other night my friend Kim contacted me about taking Jiu Jitsu lessons formally. Yes we have spent time trying out the moves we have seen on UFC but we never really had any formal training in the art. He said that a dojo is willing to take in new people for training. Given that I love Kenjutsu more than anything else, I hesitated.

A few minutes of talking and convincing, I gave in. I have been living a sedentary lifestyle for the past months, years even, and I guess its time to give my sweat glands a reason to work. If my muscles and bones were made of steel, they would have been so rusty by now.

This afternoon we went to the address given to us by Mark. The dojo was shared by different martial art disciplines. There’s karate, taekwondo, and judo. By the time we arrived, the taekwondo practitioners were already packing up. Since we can’t find Mark yet, I lit up a scag (cigarette) and we waited for him outside.

When Mark arrived, he introduced us to the coach and some other guy whose name I forgot. I think they both have high ranks in Jiu Jitsu, I’m not quite sure. Me and Kim were welcomed warmly which we gratefully returned by giving them flying armbars!

Actually, when we started with the warm up routine, I can hear the bones and muscles in my body writhing in pain (and I can feel them too!). It has been a few months since I have stretched the parts of my body like that.

We were given a glimpse of the different techniques that are used in Jiu Jitsu. Unfortunately, we were also asked to “play” with them and by play means to use what you have learned on your sparring partner to gain points.

The session ended with me catching up with my breath and dehydrated.  Despite the pain that my body is experiencing right now, I quite enjoyed the activities. The big question now is whether I’ll go back and continue practicing or not. I have a day to think about it.

Illustrations by Kim