“Some days the bear eats you…

…and some days you eat it.”

I first heard that quote from James Earl Jones in the movie “Gardens of Stone”. In the movie, Private Willow’s wit helps his unit pass a major inspection. He ate the bear.

Well, last night, the bear ate me. And by bear, I mean everyone I rolled with.

Here’s a short list of my pitiful excuses: still-sprained left index finger, sore right elbow, bruised/sore left ankle (when did that happen??).

(Note to all you youngsters out there, this is what it feels like to be an over-40 blue belt. Everything hurts. All the time.  So enjoy your superhero powers and wolverine-like healing ability.)

So gripping Stephan’s collar was not fun. Sitting in Terry’s guard, not fun. Getting arm-bar’d by Jeb…TOTALLY NOT FUN.

So I left the mats feeling humble and, well, old.

Which is the beauty of training jiu Jitsu, right? One day, you have great rolls and you feel like things are clicking. The next day, you get smashed and humbled. I wonder if I’ll experience the same years down the road when I’m a brown or black belt?

So let’s tape up all those ouchies, and get back to training. That Brabo Choke isn’t going to learn itself….

In the mean time, take care of each other. Cheers!