Through The Mind Of A Junkie

So your husband or boyfriend is the only person you have wrestled. Yeah,

me too, before I tried jiu-jitsu. I have never wrestled, I don’t have brothers or

anything. My fighting tactics are to charm you with my smile, with my brilliant

language. I am not great at running; I have a trick knee that needs a rest from

twists and turns. And I am female, one of only a few in my class. But this is

changing. While it looks like I am getting up close and personal—wrapping my

legs around the waist of a new training partner, there may be one second of that

Yeah-Don’t-Know-You-Slightly-Awkward feeling. But the next second, it’s all

about the sequence and science of the moves: grab the sleeve, get foot on hip,

move core to the side, shoot legs up high, grab ankle, tuck ankle under knee,

hips up, pull head, wait for tap. And my partner and I are talking each other

through the moves. Focusing on the science and the sequence of the move

completely clears my brain of the everyday stress of my day job and any other

challenge I am facing that day. This is the one time of day that my focus is 100%

on my body and mind working together. It is an hour of mediation that frees my

mind, helping me take on the challenges the next day will bring.