Big

At Jiu-Jitsu last night I was quite pleased. There were 7 Blue Belts present. That's just about all of the Blues I've ever seen there, all at once. Besides them knowing a lot more than us Whites, all of them but one are adults.

It is nice to roll with adults instead of the teenagers. They are bigger, meatier, stronger, and move more like somebody one might have to fight.

There was also a really good turn out of White Belts. The place was pretty crowded. One of the White Belts was there for his very first lesson. He was adult, too. Not only an adult, but a really big one. Up until now there have been only two adults in the White group other than me, and they are both quite slight in stature. The new guy was the biggest guy in the room by far. I like training with everybody, but the occasional big partner is wonderful.

One is rarely attacked by people half one's size, not that Martial Arts are only about self defence.

Last night I had five different training partners. By luck, I ended up with one White Belt and four Blues. All were more or less my size. It helped with the technique sequence we were working on.

The aggressor is on top, the defender does a twisting, leg grabbing thing and pushes up violently with legs and hips, ending with an armbar. With a small partner, the violent leg-hip thing would launch them to the moon. How can you practice the armbar if the other person is flying through the air?

We have a vibrant, healthy club. For a small town, it was remarkable that over twenty people were rolling around last night; both genders, and all ages between teenagers and....well...me.