Heavy

Apparently, I can do as much Jiu-Jitsu as I want these days, and my knees are okay with it, but as soon as I do some Judo, my knees are like "We will no longer bend without causing you pain!". Thank you, knees, I've been looking for more excuses to avoid throwing! My knees have felt fine for the past couple of weeks, then came Throwing Sunday in Ethridge class...and now the pain is back. This is really getting old. Or maybe it's just me that's getting old.

Other than the fact that my knees are acting up again, I thought throwing class actually went pretty well on Sunday. I was relaxed for most of it, except for one particular throw that Joe was doing. For some reason, I did not want to be thrown in that way, and my body kept involuntarily defending when he was trying to practice, so Amy just had him move on to a different throw. Even though we were using the crash mat, we were practicing the throws by landing on each other with full impact, and about the sixth time that Joe slammed into my ribs, I was very thankful that I did not marry a heavy man!

I like it because it doesn't put pressure on my knees.

It was cool that Amy had Joe practice his throws the "Judo way" (with traditional gi grips), because he is a Judoka, and she had me practice them the "Jiu-Jitsu way" (from the clinch), because I am a Jiu-Jitsuka (that way they would also work in no gi). Although I was a little disappointed because she said we could start by practicing our favorite throw, so I asked if I could do o soto gari, and then she said it had to be our favorite forward throw, and I was like "I don't have one, I hate them all equally!". Even so, I think my throwing is improving.

During randori at the end of class, Amy told us we had to win by ippon, and even though I didn't score anything on Joe, I was pretty happy with my defense. He threw me a few times, but I was able to adjust my position mid-throw so that I wouldn't land on my back, and so he wouldn't get control of me on the ground. Finally she gave him ippon credit for a throw, even though I turned to my side, because he executed it very well. Although Joe's not heavy, I still don't want him in top control on me, so I'm glad I was at least able to defend that!

"All your weight, it falls on me, it brings me down." -Collective Soul