Good Night

The last half hour at tonight's Jiu-Jitsu was outstanding. We rolled.

There was just enough time for 5 five-minute match ups. This is always fun, but tonight something interesting was going on.

The least surprising was Tobias. He's strong, fast, and determined. We are a pretty even match, as I have twice as much free-rolling experience and training. Every time we roll, he improves in relation. Tonight was no different. Sooner or later he'll be able to dominate me, and this process continued.

I also had a go at Scott. He's been a Blue Belt longer than the rest of us, but took a couple of years off. He also rolls around with non-Jiu-Jitsu friends, and does some stuff weirdly. He just doesn't seem to trust the basics. Tonight he was different. He was defending using correct responses. In Jiu-Jitsu if you respond wrong you end up either choked, have a joint locked, or with some bastard sitting on your chest. It was the best he's ever done rolling with me.

Madeline is always impressive when rolling. She is fast, athletic, and has the best technique in the class. We rolled a couple of nights ago, and she somehow took it to an even higher level. Tonight it showed that her progress wasn't a one-time event.

I wondered if last time it was due to a change in her attitude, as she was pretty darn intense. Tonight, we were both laughing a lot, so that wasn't it.

I was partnered twice tonight with Elizabeth. She's one of the newer Blue Belts, and has a nasty injury with one arm. She always comes to training, even though she can't really do much physically. She has had to be very careful when rolling, and has to be careful who she works with. I try and be very careful with her.

Today, about five seconds in she caught me in a hip throw. Nobody ever throws me, but Elizabeth did. The whole match kinda went that way. I defended a lot, and did careful attacks. Elizabeth defended against those, and attacked a lot. She was still unhurt when we finished.

Later, Elizabeth and I rolled a second time, and it was a replay of the first time, minus the lovely throw.

Tonight everybody I fought was improved from last time we rolled, especially Elizabeth, and it wasn't because I stunk more than usual.

Every single one of them has improved.