Inside of Pluto

So two full weeks in Los Angeles.

For me, that means about 20 classes at Gracie University, three visits to Disneyland (and/or California Adventure), lots of hanging around with Denise, and a pile of restaurant meals.

It is a lovely place to hide out from cold weather, especially a nasty winter like early 2018 has experienced.

Training at Gracie University is the rewarding part, and also by far the most painful. It is also the part that anybody who reads this blog will find the most interesting.

As great as the training has been, there have also been a number of interesting human interactions at the gym.

This time around, a lot of people seemed to remember me.

One of these was Jackie. She used to be the front counter person, but now works someplace back in the office area. I ran into her in the hall, and she remembered me by name. I used this opportunity to ask her a few questions that had arisen in my mind about the new Gracie University facility.

It turns out I was correct about the big empty area behind one of the, “employees only,” doors. It is earmarked as a second mat space.

Jackie is one of the people I first met back in 2014 during my initial visit to the Gracie place in Los Angeles. Another was Bill.

I am an ancient guy around here in my early sixties. Bill is about a decade older than me. We were both Blue Belts in 2014, me with one stripe and he with none. I have gone on to progress through 8 more rank levels. Bill has only made it through a couple.

Physically he is fine, but seems to need more repetition to nail things down than the young kids do. He trains regularly, and is much better than he was 4 years ago, but had not improved as much as even I have.

When I reach his age, I hope I’m still as active as Bill on the mat, but likely my progress will have slowed in a similar fashion. I hope I am tough enough to take that with good grace.

This visit is one where I seem to be honestly noticed. I’ve received lots of nods and handshakes from people I have worked with in years past, and also have been greeted by a number of instructors.

Both Rener and Ryron Gracie have talked to me on several occasions. It has all been small talk, but very welcoming.

A really big kick happened a couple of days ago. We were working on some high-level rear choke defences. My partner didn’t understand some point or other, and called out for help from Ryron Gracie, the session’s instructor.

To explain the point to my partner, Ryron had me take his back, and fire in a full-lockup rear choke. He went on to clarify the confusion. He also decided that he should show the entire group of 60 students.

He called for everybody to stop, and pay attention. I took his back again, and he went through the clarification for everybody. We did it over and over, for five or ten minutes.

That’s the first time I’ve ever been demo helper in Torrance.

All-in-all, this time it wasn’t strictly all about the training, although that has certainly been top notch.

This visit has been about acceptance as a part of things. They have always been welcoming, but my place was as a satellite far beyond the orbit of Pluto. This time, I’ve slid inside of that barrier.