One of the things I wanted to do this year was to improve myself as a person. This can come in terms of skills and in terms of being comfortable with myself. One of the skills I’ve wanted to learn for a while was martial arts. I’ve seen TV shows and read manga about fighting, and it was pretty neat. My dad did martial arts when he was younger. So, when my brother and I were growing up, he would show us some moves. I used to always run away from these scenarios and watch from a safe distance. As I grew older, I developed an aversion to physical contact. It’s not bad enough where I will not shake someone’s hand or hug someone if they are going for a hug, but if I can avoid it, I usually wave my hand as a greeting or farewell. So, I thought that doing a martial art where there is a lot of physical contact would be a type of immersion therapy of sorts.
The people at the class were really welcoming. They taught some techniques to get from a side control or back control position to an arm bar or choke position. Really tiring stuff and I am bruised all over. But I think that it was a good experience. At the end of the class, we had five minute “roll” sessions, which seemed to be just a free-for-all “sparring” type of thing. I totally understand how these professional fighters get so winded. Like just a minute or two of these sessions got me so tired and the partner is putting a lot of pressure on the body. Thankfully you can take breaks. I don’t plan on becoming a master jiu jitsu person, but I do think I’ll go a few more times to this class. I also may try out some other martial arts places around the area to see how I like those.
Jeffrey's Thoughts 