Betsy gets thrown

Jiu-Jitsu was canceled Saturday because Instructor’s wife had a baby in the wee hours of the morning. When class did resume, a student, whom I’ll call Thoughtful One, slipped me a card and a pen. Many others had already signed the congratulations on the new baby card before it made its way to me. He was also collecting cash, “No pressure, though,” he said several times, to purchase a Target gift card.

I couldn’t help but feel ashamed of myself for not having been the Thoughtful One. I figured saying congratulations to his face would be enough. And it probably was, and yet… as the lone female, shouldn’t I have been the one to organize a card and gift? Yes, I know that’s stereotyping women. Still, I felt I should do more as the only mom and the student in class the longest.

So, this morning I ordered this for Instructor’s new daughter:

I’ll let you know how it’s received.

While I was shopping Amazon, another shirt caught my eye. (Oh, gosh, not THIS again!) It combines my love of Jiu-Jitsu and cats, as well as what has become my signature move, the Kimura. Last time I did it on Surfer Dude (SD1), he said, “You like that one, don’t you?”

“It’s my bread and butter,” I told him. (I don’t fully understand that expression, but it’s what came out of me at the moment.)

I didn’t buy it, though. I’m not trying to single-handedly finance Amazon’s entire line of Jiu-Jitsu shirts. (Besides, the Kimura requires two hands. Or paws.)

A couple more Instructor funnies:

“If you’re in a fight with someone and realize he’s skilled, you say, ‘Hey, man. Do you do jiu jitsu? Where do you train?’ Then suddenly you’re friends and you’re going out for açaí.”

In a certain move, “Your foot slaps the mat, not just because it’s effective, but because it sounds cool.”

Sorry, just two for now.

When I took my daughter with me last week, an upper belt Master Class student greeted us as, “Betsy. Mini Betsy.” Later, when my daughter and I were working on the mat, this student said to her, “If you get this right, no chores for a week!”

And since my daughter was there, I got to fulfill a wish of getting my first time being thrown over the back on video. SD1, ever accommodating, agreed to throw me. “But first I need to teach you to break fall,” he said.

Then Instructor called time.

“Never mind. You’ll be fine,” SD1 said. And he threw me, though slowly. It didn’t hurt a bit.

Because I don’t have the ability to post videos, I took multiple screen shots for you. Scroll as quickly as possible to get the full effect. This slideshow is also entertaining if you watch it backwards!

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My daughter apologized for stopping the video just before I threw my arms up in the classic, “Woohoo!” gesture. Ah well.

Next goal: throw someone over MY back. 🙂

Do you have any bizarre life goals? Do you think Instructor will like the onesie?