There was no one else in my weight class at the tournament, so I ended up doing an exhibition match with one of my sempai, David Tómas Mateo Martínez. It was also my husband Joe's first jiu-jitsu tournament, and for his match he had to fight David "Danger" Kluthe. Even though Martínez outweighed me by 91 pounds, I still think I chose the right David, because Kluthe has recently been dubbed "Lincoln's Most Dangerous Man". I originally intended to go against Joe, but about halfway through his match he suffered a dislocated rib, and had to drop out of competition. That's what happens when you take on Danger! Only kidding, it was just one of those things.
I want to give a shout out to my coach Ray, who came up with a great game plan for me, that I failed to execute (I tried, Ray, I swear!). He did a fine job with his own game plan though, spending 00:01:45 in total mat time over 3 matches, and ending up with the gold. Respect!Even though The Davids submitted us, The Ethridges had a great time today. Joe's rib should heal fine, and I did not hurt my knee. I even got to walk out of there with a gold medal. It was a good day!
I like to call this video "Where is Gina?"
I think Joe did very well for his first match. Especially considering that his injury happened near the start of this video, and David Danger is a reigning purple belt gold medalist!