Scratched

A dog needs only a few seconds sniffing people to decide whether to snap at them, ignore them, or jump on their legs wagging its tail. Damaged perceptions are the only reason why humans need more time. -Daniele Bolelli, On The Warrior’s Path




Lunchtime BJJ at Gracie Seattle.

One of the very few upsides of missing a lot of class is that when I *DO* show up, I get a hug from Rodrigo. :) He and Carlos both regarded my kinky finger for a long time with serious expressions. Carlos pronounced, "Is broken." Bryan volunteered cheerfully, "It's the knuckle. Probably have bone fragments in there."

I did get to flip him off- him and several other of my teammates- so that at least was fun.

After trying various fashions of taping up my fingers, I settled on taping the bad middle finger to the index finger at the top joint. I asked Bryan to roll light a little bit with me so that I could suss out the situation. Carlos didn't even want me to try. He was calling across the mat at me, "How you expect to roll like that, how you expect to compete with that broken feenger?!" I responded, "I don't know if I can or not, that's what I'm trying to find out!"

Lapel grips were the worst; even if I didn't use the affected finger, as soon as I got a hard grip, the pain was shooting across the hand and INTO the finger. Bryan flattened my hand to the mat, then grabbed it and squeezed it medium hard, shifted position, squeezed it again, then two more shifts and squeezes. "Thanks a lot, buddy." "Well, we have to see, don't we?" What a pal. Anything to help. It hurt but was bearable. We rolled a little more and he stopped and shook his head, and said, "You're favoring it." Yeah, he was right. I was favoring it enough that it would handicap me too much to really be competitive.


So I'm withdrawing. Fudge.


(Well.... that is..... mozzerella sticks. I had some today, since I no longer need to fret about making weight.)



Since I can do (at least some) drills, I participated in drills (with JB). First a hip throw, then defending the hip throw transitioning into another hip throw. Then, a takedown for when the opponent stands up in your guard. Get two cuff grips, retain the closed guard, but slide down the opponent's legs so that your guard is now cinching hir knees together. Pull the opponent's arms to one side and try to use your knees to tip hir legs to the other side. I was having some trouble with this one. I often couldn't make JB tip until I tried to tip her to the same side that I was pulling the arms- although it is plain to see that this method makes it easier for the opponent to recover (possibly to the point of passing your guard).


Evening no-gi at Cindy's. I did just drills again. Basic guard break, disengage, come back in and get KOB, to side control, to mount, to keylock. Didn't tape the finger, was careful. It hurt a bit a few times when I inadvertantly brushed it agaisnt something, but nothing unbearable.



I'm feeling really frustrated. Not being able to do the tournament is a huge letdown. It's been one injury after another, and I'm really really tired of being broken.