no one wants to see you naked

     Judo is just about the most fun you can have without getting naked.

     And, at my age, no one wants to see you naked. 

                                                                          - Dr. AnnMaria De Mars

I don't do Judo, but the quote works for Jiu-Jitsu just as well.

A typical Jiu-Jitsu day is pretty awesome. My drive down takes about half an hour. Most of the way there are no alternative routes, and any kind of snag is a big deal. They are pretty rare, but I allow lots of extra time.

I arrive at about 5:30pm, while the kids class is still running. After a bit of watching, I head to the change room to get all gi-ed up. The kids always finish with a dodge-ball game, and then the mat is turned over to the adults.

I stretch, perhaps chat a little, or sometimes roll with somebody. At 6pm, the Combatives class starts. This is the Gracies' fancy name for White Belt classes.

There are usually about a dozen White Belts, and maybe 2 or three Blue Belts who are there to help. This class runs for about an hour. If the number of White Belts is odd, I am often tagged as the extra partner. If not, I help with correcting the students.

At 7:00pm, the White Belts leave, and it's time for Master Cycle, which is the Gracies' label which means “Students Blue Belt and Above”. There will be about a dozen of us, and all are various levels of Blue Belt. Like the White Belts, we will be shown the day's material and we'll go off to work in it together.

After about 45 minutes of this, it becomes sparring time. Our instructor will let us know what the expectations are for that session (position start-up, intensity, or any weird rules <one hand>) and off we go. After about five minutes, we switch partners.

I really like sparring, and enjoy all types of partners. We currently only have two guys who are significantly larger than me, and I wish we had more. It is important to have people around whom you cannot beat with force.

You might think that rolling with a really bit, strong guy might be unpleasant, and it is for maybe the first dozen times. After that it becomes no big deal. They usually get on top, and squish down with their mass, making escape difficult. You just get used to having your face crushed between a chest and the mat. The part of this that I enjoy is defending, and waiting unconcernedly for them to leave an opening. Then it's bang, reversal.

We also have a few folks much smaller than me. I have been accused of using muscle on them, but really try not to, nor to crush. All are really fast when they want to be. Rolling with the very smallest is like trying to pin down an eel. Her movements are incredibly unpredictable, and she gets away with the strangest things.

All the rest or the students are vaguely my size, although only one is an old fart like me. OK, he's a decade younger, but still.

Anyhow, all of this is just wonderful fun. I have a friend, Pete, who plays rugby (non-contact) and is about a decade older than me. I think that for him, rugger is just as much fun.

There are lots of other, more suitable old-folks physical activities, but they just aren't as intensely fun. Golf? Tried that. Yoga? Pleasant enough, but not actively fun. Walking? Is anything duller?

Anyhow, that's why I so enjoyed Dr. De Mars' comment that I used as a quote earlier.