No egg and spoon race

Last night's JJ class was one of the best I have ever had the privilege to run. As it was the session after the grading, I thought we would do something a little different and devised a mini-tournament, dubbed 'The IJJC Sports Day'. Two teams were picked by brown belt team captains, David and John. Each participant had to compete in one of four different categories. I made sure there was something for everyone, from the crash and bang of sparring to the red-faced choking of groundfighting. There was also more sedate but no less skilled categories of random attack and syllabus demo. Red verses blue teams battled it out and the atmosphere was very good with each team cheering on their competitor. It was pretty much neck and neck all the way but in the end, blue team won thanks to a good groundfighting match between David and John. Props should go to man of the match Aubrey for a stunning display of sparring skill. We are all still mentally rewinding the amazing leg sweep that sent poor Charles flying. I'm glad the event went smoothly and everyone seemed to enjoy it. I look forward to IJJC sports day #2 soon.

In BJJ class, we are currently visited by a Brazilian cage fighter and BJJ purple belt Henrique 'Lagartixa' Santana. His fight name translates to the Lizard but after five minutes of sparring with him, he was more like a Komodo Dragon! Let me see, I remember shaking hands and then grabbing his gi lapel, the next thing I knew, he put me in a armbar never to escape. It took what must be one second for him to submit me. A club record surely. I fared little better as we continued. The lizard producing a seasoned repertoire of BJJ subs against me while I struggled like a small worm desperately avoiding being gobbled up. It was a great experience since advanced BJJ students are hard to come by. I look forward to more tangles as the Lizard teaches the Meerkat more punishing lessons from Brazil.

Finally, a shout out to club regular Effie, who has given up her job to train for the forthcoming Winter Olympics. Good luck!