Sho mo nai!

(=_=;) Eyes... barely... open...

Man oh man oh man am I worn out today. Not that it should come as a shock or anything considering that
1. I got to participate in full-on sparring in jujutsu for the first time.
2. After that I went out for two hours of karaoke
3. After karaoke we stood around talking for an hour
4. There was that 45 minute drive home

In jujutsu I was initially kept from full sparring because they wanted to teach us (the newbies) some of the basic holds and escapes first. The first sparring we attempted was choke and joint holds barred. Basically, that meant breaking out of the "closed guard" and trying to sit on the other person's stomache for four seconds. The closed guard is when you wrap your legs around your opponent's waist, and lock your feet/ankles behind their back.

But this time they let us do full-on sparring. You know, to get used to the fact that the other person is going to try to choke you or inflict pain on your joints. On the one hand this is really good for me, because having done judo, I'm not nearly as much of a newbie as the other noobs. So I got to fight with some of the other guys who have been doing it for years. And it is fun.

But after matches I was getting these massive headaches and seeing stars, and I was like, "Why the hell is this happening?" And then afterwards when we (the newbies) were being shown more holds, it became clear. In showing a follow-up choke hold he mentioned that whereas in judo they generally put pressure on the trachea to literally choke, in jujutsu they more try to put the pressure on the arteries providing blood to your brain. So what it means maybe is that I'm stupid. Or maybe stubborn. I just don't want to tap out, I guess. On the bright side I lose less, on the downside, I get a big headache after. Give and take, eh?

So after jujutsu I am as sore and tired the next day as I normally was after judo. Maybe even moreso. At least sore in different places. And so so tired. Add to that the not going right to bed, but instead doing karaoke... That was with a friend who is taking off to university in Saitama (right next to Tokyo).

Good grief am I tired today.

posted by Fletcher @ 10:14 p.m.