Last week an old friend invited me to a BBQ/Introduction/Family Day at the Jiu Jitsu studio he trains at, University Jiu Jitsu. There would be food, self defense demonstrations, kids and adults of all ages are invited to participate. Some of you know my 5 year old has been taking a youth karate class for the last 9 months or so, which is good, but it’s very loose and lacks any real structure. And often the class gets derailed by little shitheads one or two annoying kids that maybe have had too much sugar. Elias wants to spar and fight and wrestle around but he also wants to learn. So it seemed like a good opportunity to introduce Elias, and myself, to something new. So we got his gi and my camera and went for a “roll”.

This is Part 1 of a 3 part series. University Jiu Jitsu is run by Saulo Ribeiro, a 4th degree Black Belt and Jiu Jitsu World Champion, and a very kind man. This first post covers the some of the self defense segment, but mainly it’s of a Judo demonstration given by the highly respected Judo Master, Jin Iizumi Shihan. Part 2 will be of a roll between Saulo and a young but capable kid named Michael Jr. Part 3 will be my buddy and his roll with another Blue Belt and some other stuff.

I do want to say Thank You to Saulo Ribeiro and his staff for having us, teaching us, then feeding us. Everyone there was so nice and welcoming and we will be back. Pardon my son and I for not knowing the rules or etiquette of the studio if we violated any.