Ed

There were about thirty or forty of us paired up, working on the mat, when the class was interrupted.

The Grandmaster of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, Rorion Gracie, was there. He wanted a group photo taken with all of us, himself, and Ed O'Neill.

In case you don't know, Ed O'Neill is not only a Gracie Black Belt, he's a star in the TV series Modern Family. Before that he starred in Married With Children.

The photo taking took a couple of minutes and then the class resumed. We were right at the part when we switch from training to sparring. We were dismissed to grab a drink, or get our mouthpieces, or whatever.

I don't stay for all the sparring sections, and so headed for the change room. I changed, alone, and in came Rorion Gracie and Ed O'Neill.

Ed looked at me, and came forward with his hand extended. He was sure we'd met, and I assured him we had not. He then asked if I was one of the visiting out of town instructors. I briefly explained that I was in LA for two months to train. About then, Rorion had to leave to attend to something.

My conversation with Ed went on. He talked about his injured rib, and a bit about his training. He mentioned that his Black Belt was his proudest achievement. He talked a lot about Jiu-Jitsu in general.

Throughout, he was smiling. I played the roll of the polite listener. After about ten or fifteen minutes, I said my goodbye and left to let the man get changed.