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I walk into the academy, not knowing what to expect. The ceiling was all pipes painted black. There was a black carpet on the ground, and next to it is a big blue mat. The walls are decorated with poster that have japanese writing. The wall above the mat has all the belts. On the mat there is a man who is dressed in a uniform with black pants and a blue top. He seems to be teaching a class of little kids. I walk up to the front desk and is greeted by a young women who looks to be in he early 20s. “Hi, can I help you?” she asked. “Hi, I would like to sign up for Jiu Jitsu.” “Ok, if you could sign these papers and then put on this gi, the changing rooms are to the left.” She slides me a couple of papers and a clear bag with a white uniform in it. I sign the papers and she tells me the next class is in 45 minutes. I go into the changing room and put on the uniform. I look at myself in the mirror. Short brown hair, brown eyes, 6Ft 3in, 200lbs, I fit the gi. Walking back to the front desk with my belt in hand, I ask the woman how to tie it. She says, “First put one end on your left hip. Circle the other end of the belt around you twice, then stick that end up under the two loops. Finally cross the right end over the left end, then put the end on the bottom through the hole and pull tight.” While I wait for the class to start a man stands next to me. He is wearing a white gi top like the one I have on, but he is wearing a pair of black pants and a brown belt. I turn to him and introduce myself. “Hey i`m Eric, what do the black pants mean?” “Hello my name is Dave. The black pants mean that I have passed a course that certifies me as a jiu jitsu instructor. So is today your first class?” “Ya, I have driven by this academy so many times, and I always wanted to try it, so here I am.” “Well, it`s always good to see new faces. Class is about to start, lets bow onto the mat.” We lined up on the mat in rows. The head instructor took us through some warm ups consisting of jumping jacks, triangle push ups, and scissoring sit ups which were the worst. I found out that a scissoring sit up is when you are on your back and your legs are floating above the ground. Then as you sit up you bring your knees into your chest while your legs are still not touching the ground. After warm ups we spread out and got into groups depending on rank to work on techniques. That is when I was finally introduced to the head instructor. He said, “Hello my name is Sensei Kieth. Have you ever had any martial arts experience before?” “Um well no but I have seen other martial arts,” I said a little embarrassed. “Well ok, i`m just going to say this now. The style of American Jiu Jitsu practiced here is not a sport at all. Unlike Brazilian Jiu Jitsu we have only one rule. That rule is to do what ever it take to get home safely. Whether that means taking your thumb and gouging out their eye or taking the knife that is around your throat and giving it right back into their side. This martial art is not a fancy or flashy one, but I guarantee, it is an effective one.” A little shocked I just stood there for a brief second wondering “What have I gotten myself into?” He obviously saw my jaw drop to the floor and said, “Sorry that was a little over the edge but it is the truth. So lets start out with the basics so that you can do more techniques. First I am going to teach you how to fall properly with out hurting your self.” Sensei Kieth first squatted down and fell backwards in a diagonal direction. As he fell his hand slapped on the ground. He showed me the proper way to fall again then he explained the key points to do it. Tuck your chin in, don’t use the back of your hand to hit the ground, and most of all relax. Dave the brown belt I had met earlier got called over to help. For the next 5-10 minutes he helped improve my falls. My main problem was tucking my chin. I didn’t understand the importance of it until I bounced my head off the ground for the 5th time. The sensei came back a little while later. “So now I am going to have Dave teach you how to block punches safely,” Sensei Kieth said. Dave showed me how to block with your forearms so it hurts them and not you. After a few reps of all seven blocks I realized that Dave was more muscular than it seemed. At first when I saw him he was short, a little on the husky side and had black wispy hair. Now I realize that he was not entirely fat, he had quite a bit of muscle. 5 minutes and 4 bruised and beaten up arms later, the Sensei came back over. “OK so now I am going to show you your first technique. This one is a little tricky, it is called ippon 4. There are 13 ippons, these are the basic foundation techniques that help build up to the advanced stuff,” he exclaimed, “So for ippon 4 the uke comes in with a right straight punch at the center of your chest.” A little confused I asked, “What is an 'uke'?” He said “Well uke is a Japanese word for attacker. Anyway as the uke comes in with the right straight punch you are going to move over to your left side and do block number 4. After you block immediately take control of his wrist with your right hand. While your right hand is holding onto his wrist use your left hand to deliver strikes to his jaw and floating rib. Ok well that is just the beginning do you need to see that again or do you think you understand it to try just that a couple of times?” “I think I understand it well enough.” I said. I tried it a couple of times and found I got it pretty easily, so I asked to see the rest. “So you get the first part right? Ok so now after you strike the uke, this is were it gets tricky, get control over the wrist with two hands then place your left foot next to theirs. Pinky toe to pinky toe. After that take the arm that you have control over and place the elbow on your shoulder. Once you have that, pull their wrist down and apply an arm bar. Let go once the uke taps. Try that and then I will show you the ending.” It was a lot to take in but I was willing to try it. I get the beginning down and then the arm bar. It was a lot and I couldn’t believe there is more to the technique. Sensei Kieth comes back over, “let me show you the ending. So after you get the arm bar on then you are going to step with your right foot behind your left foot. This will lead you into a koto wrist lock. Once you have the koto extend your wrist slowly and pull it down towards your hip.” “Wow,” I thought. Trying it a couple of times I had difficulty in it. Class would soon be over and I wanted to get it right. As I was working Dave comes over and says, “This is a tricky technique, try and take it slow, keep coming back, and keep practicing.” It was right after that that class had ended. After changing back into my regular clothes I walked out of the changing room and saw the advanced class starting. I decided to wait and watch. While they were doing the exercises I walked up to the front desk and said thank you to the girl sitting there. “Hello my name is Eric, I don’t think we have been formally introduced.” She looks up from her computer and says, “Hi Eric i`m Rachel nice to meet you.” I turn back and see that the advanced class is starting their techniques. I look over to a group of 5 brown belts that are working on throws. I hear one of them call out a technique called a tomoe nage. One moment they are standing the next they one is being flipped, and is sailing through the air. It was official, my mind was blown. I left the academy that day thinking, “I am going to learn how to do that.”

Two days later I was bored and had nothing to do. I decided to go onto my computer and look up jiu jitsu. I found out that original Jiu Jitsu was used by the samurai and it was a form of open handed and armed combat. It later developed into Judo and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Both, I found out, were sports. Wondering what each of them were I looked them up. In the judo video filmed at the olympics, there where these two guys who had their hands locked on each others gi`s. They seemed to be pushing back and forth trying to gain the dominant control over the other. Then suddenly, as if it happened in slow motion, one of them wrapped his arm around the other mans neck and pulled him over his hip, and onto his back. “Wow, i`m going to learn this?” I mumbled. Going back I looked up a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu match. Unlike Judo, Brazilan Jiu Jitsu is more of a grappling match, which is ground fighting.

__**The Samurai**__

The warrior of Japan In battle with out a sword Jiu Jitsu is his weapon

Merciless Merciless Merciless

Sun bright with a golden glow Shadows pointed west over the hills Dancing shadows frantically move

Merciless Merciless Merciless

Leather hitting leather Bone cracking bone Bodies hitting the ground a barrage of countless strikes

Merciless Merciless Merciless

Subtle but powerful The Gentle Art at it`s most The sword less samurai prevail

The Mat The mat is bright, rose red.

To the left are the slackers, talking instead of working.

At the front is the Sensei working with the brand new students.

laughter fills the room as childish jokes are echoed from one student to another.

Loud thuds come from the higher ranks working brutally hard throwing each other.

Muffled chatting is heard in the distance from parents waiting for their child's class to get over.

One of the Higher ranking brown belts go over to the lower ranks to help them and to get review for himself.

All in all the mat is normal today.