I sent Tim early this year to learn Brazillian Jiu-
Jitsu. So far, he has enjoyed it, especially after
choking his partners in sparring ;-) Tim paid great
attention to his diet and exercise for the past year
and won a silver medal for Presidential Fitness
Award in PE. He has become much stronger.
I joined him a couple of months later in the same
gym to train twice a week. So far only basic moves
and no sparring. It's like learning a new language:
over time and after enough repetitions, the moves
become natural and I will be able to connect and
flow through them. Thanks to years of physical
exercise, my fitness is good in the adult group and
I have no problem keeping up with younger guys.
I like the people there. The instructors are
blackbelts and even Ralph Gracie himself comes to
teach sometimes. There are basic rules but
absolutely no guru-worship and the teachers are
down-to-earth. Most teammates are very fit and
behave friendly and with respect toward each
other. Everyone seems to realize the importance of
taking care of his/her training dummies (i.e., the
rest of the group) ;-) I consider myself an odd
ball in most places but here it seems no one cares
and I can focus on learning without worrying much
about social factors.
One original goal for me is to become a good-
enough training partner for Tim as he grows up.
I'll be happy to see him earning a blackbelt in his
20s or 30s and to acquire the kind of confidence
and emotional depth which I never had at that age.
It'll be great to start a physical tradition in our family
to break away from the Confucian.
