Well the past two weekends have been full. Just not entirely Kassa full. My wife and I made the journey up north for my highschool reunion last weekend and so Kassa got to stay with his good buddy Tequila. I have a feeling he made short work of many of Tequila's toys. Tequila's peps sent Kassa home with a few indestructible ones that he had taken a liking to. Kassa and I enjoyed the baseball diamond early Saturday morning however Saturday brought a whole new adventure for me.
As some may be aware I am involved in a local Judo club. One of my instructors and his instructor have been working a new style of competition called Xtreme Judo Grappling. It involves teams of 5 guys. Each guy on the team fights his corresponding opponent on the other teams. There is no kicking or punching in Judo competition under this or the traditional rule set. In a nutshell, you try to thrown your opponent hard, flat on his back. If you fail the match continues on the ground where you try to choke him, arm bar him, or pin him for a period of time. Under the Xtreme rules they have added some leg locks and wrist locks as well as more flexibility in the gripping rules. on Friday I found out that some of our more distinguished club members were not going to be able to compete and so (dispite the fact that I haven't trained in months) I volunteered to be part of the very first ever XJG competition. There were three teams. One from Atlanta, one from Dickson TN, and ours from Columbia TN. I would say the guys on the other teams was probably in the late twenties or early thirties. The average age on our team was probably about 42. Our lightest (and probably most accomplished competitor) was coming off a serious knee surgery in august and so our hearts were in our throats anytime he stepped out on the mat. Luckily he came off unscathed. My matches were pretty quick, and not in our favor unfortunately. I fought a guy 20lbs heavier than myself and lost in a hold down. Then I fought a guy whose pedigree was a long read. He fought on the National Judo team. Again I lost to a hold down. But regardless of the outcome, I had a good time and got to be part of the first ever XJG competition. When I got home I had another surprise. My wife had watched the prelim of the UFC Brock Lesnar vs Cain Velasquez fight and agreed (offered even) to go and watch the fights at a local pub. I seized the opportunity (before it disappeared) and watch the fights we did. There was a great line up and we a really good time.
Sunday was back to sitting on the coffee shop patio with Kassa and reading a book and moving very very slowly. It was a fun weekend and I got to let my alter ego out of the box. Rest assured though that Kassa had a good time as well.
