Everybody was kung fu fighting

Joe has been doing kung fu for over ten years. His sifu (pronounced like "sea food" without the d), or teacher, was the best man at our wedding. When sifu's school closed down Joe started taking Brazilian jujitsu about a year ago. There isn't any punching or kicking just submissions and chokes. It is really technical, a great workout and he really enjoys it. He attends classes 3-4 days a week and has been very dedicated. He competed in a competition a few months ago and won his first fight, but lost the 2nd so he was out of any medal placement early on. Even though he didn't place, it was great experience for him to understand the scoring, the kind of energy you need and to see how he stacks up against other fighters.

Yesterday he competed in his 2nd competition. He won 3 fights in a row. When I asked him how he won each fight (meaning did he choke the guy out, etc) he said he won the first fight by "murder". I had to laugh at that because I'm sure the poor guy he fought just got annihilated for 3 rounds. He said he won that fight by like 1000 points to 1, a clear victory. The next 2 fights he won by submission. They literally get 15 minutes to rest in between bouts so they really have to have the stamina to make it for 4 fights in a row. In jujitsu you use the gi (white pants and wrap top and weights like 8 pounds) a lot to maneuver and submit your opponent and Joe said by the end he couldn't close his hands all the way from gripping so hard. He lost his 4th fight by THIS much, but still managed to place 2nd in his weight class and was awarded a silver medal. He said it was a difference of 2 points between 1st and 2nd place so he was disappointed that it was so close, but was still happy to place as high as he did. Lots of coulda-woulda-shouldas I'm sure.

His next fight is in September in Long Beach and it's called The Masters. It's basically for people over 30 .... old guys by jujistu standards. People come from all over the world to compete and we can't wait to go. Joe is going to take a break for the next few weeks and then back to training. He already has his new training strategy in place and is excited to get to work. When he got home from Phoenix Devon wouldn't take his eyes off him. He clearly missed his Daddy even though he was only gone over night. He wanted Joe to hold him and tuck him in. It is really sweet to see Deon interact with his Dad and to see him start reaching out for him. Joe gave his fancy silver medal to the baby and Devon looked at it, looked at Joe, and then put it in his mouth ;)