Choose Strong
For Tim.
The ride was smooth and it took us less than 40min to arrive
at the City College of San Francisco for the first event of the
Jiu-Jitsu World League 2019 Season. Tim missed a special
class for competitors on Saturday as I landed back at SJC only
in the evening. He gained about three pounds in my absence
and did not do well in our brief warmup sparring earlier in the
morning. None of these boosted confidence. In the car, he
told me once he was scared.
"Too late for that now. If you have to think, think of Toby."
Toby was one of Tim's training buddies. Two years younger
and smaller, but very skilled, he had already won medals
at tournaments. Being the stronger, however, Tim can often
muscle his way out when they spar.
After some hectic search on campus, we located the venue.
We took a picture in front of the giant poster and I felt it was
enough to have come and in that Tim had already won. "And I
see a whole army of my countrymen here in defiance of tyranny"
roared William Wallace in "Brave Heart." We all face challenges
every day, but how often does one have chances like this?
Once Tim went in the fenced mat area, I realized to my
horror that he hadn't weighed in yet. They didn't gave clear
directions at the checkin. I had to reach him. The two guys
guarding the only entrance, however, wouldn't budge in
despite of my plea for an exception--this was our first time,
after all. Well, I didn't waste time fuming. I went to another
corner, scaled the fence in front of everyone and let myself
in (and later proudly marched out in front of the two sentries).
There were only two fighters within his bracket. I couldn't
see as well as the coaches but they told me Tim was calm,
rare for first-time fighters. Grappling with the bigger, stronger,
but less experienced opponent, Tim was aggressive and able
to dominate with technique. They fought two rounds during
which Tim swept and attempted several submissions and
eventually won by 30 points. Watching the two wrestling on
the mat from 20 yards away, I felt like I was dreaming.
Tim appeared extremely relaxed and good-natured afterwards.
"What a beautiful day!" he began as we were heading out of
the parking lot. "This is a nice building" he then exlaimed
at the main structure of CCSF and "That fire hydrant looks
great!" "Do we want to have something to eat?" I asked as we
were passing the Tartine Bakery. "Whatever."
He felt tired soon, however, and we stopped at Costco for
quinoa salad. The next day, he woke up with some neck and
knee pain, and a flu. It was all worth it as he brought his
giant medal to school.
